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Aerial view of the Purple Island
THE PURPLE ISLAND
There is an island named Banwol Island off the coast of western South Korea that is known as The Purple Island.
Home to only 150 residents, this island community sports 400 vibrantly purple rooftops, 230,000 acres of lavender, 30,000 purple wildflowers, and a picture-worthy purple bridge connecting it to its island neighbor.
LAVENDER FIELDS FOREVER: The Purple Island has over 133 miles of lavender fields.
This farming community has reinvented itself by transforming into an attraction perfect for the Instagram era. And with the country's borders essentially closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, travel-hungry local people are flocking to the area. Between June and August of 2020, more than 100,000 visitors came to Banwol Island, a 20% jump from the previous year.
The project was planned in 2015 as part of South Jeolla Province's branding initiative to "create attractive island destinations" and was inspired by the purple bellflowers (aka campanula) that are native to the area.
Tiny Banwol and Bakji Islands have fewer than 150 total residents. Since the purple project began, the farmers started growing kohlrabi and beets, both of which are on brand. The local government planted 30,000 New England asters and 21,500 square meters of lavender fields.
Visitors can walk between the two islands via another purple bridge.
Purple brick road in Banwol, South Korea.
The purple phone booths are very popular with the tourists for photo ops.
Since 2018, more than 490,000 guests have visited the islands.
Banwol
Island's
signage
is
beautiful,
vibrant
purple.
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To cater to the new waves of tourists, they have added more amenities on the island, including a cafe, restaurants (one each on Bakji Island and Banwol Island), bike rental services and a small hotel. It takes about six hours to drive to the Purple Island from Seoul, South Korea.
Banwol's big gamble of turning their tiny island into the Purple Island attraction seems to be paying off big time. South Koreans who leave the country and return are subject to a two-week quarantine when they come back, so most locals are opting for domestic tourism since the pandemic began. We can only imagine the hundreds of thousands more tourists who will flock to the Purple Island from other countries when the pandemic finally ends.
I would love to visit the island to view the sea of purple flowers, purple phone booths, and walk across the purple bridges and purple brick roads.
GINNY FIRST FEBRUARY 5TH
JOHN TORSKY FEBRUARY 12TH
HAPPY WORK ANNIVERSARY!
Brrrrrrrr!
Cold Weather Safety Tips
Now that winter weather has finally arrived in Kentucky, we're all pulling out those heavy coats, scarves, hats and gloves that we packed up last year. The time has come once again to layer up and don your heavy winter gear before venturing out into the cold. Here are some cold weather safety suggestions to help you enjoy this winter season.
When you are outside in extremely cold temperatures, frostbite and hypothermia are a possibility, so you need to protect yourself.
1. Wear layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing.
2. Wear a hat. Try to stay dry and out of the wind.
3. Cover your mouth to protect your lungs from extreme cold.
4. Mittens, snug at the wrist, are better than gloves.
Ice Safety
To keep pipes from freezing on an outside wall:
1. Let hot and cold water trickle or drip at night from a faucet.
2. Open cabinet doors to allow more heat to get to un-insulated pipes under a sink or near an outer wall. 3. Make sure heat is left on and set no lower than 55 degrees.
3. If you plan to be away: (1) Have someone check your house daily to make sure the heat is still on to prevent freezing, or (2) drain and shut off the water system (except indoor sprinkler systems).
If Pipes Freeze:
1. Make sure you and your family knows how to shut off the water, in case pipes burst.
2. NEVER try to thaw a pipe with an open flame or torch. Use a hair dryer instead.
3. Always be careful of the potential for electric shock in and around standing water.
Bundle up!
Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide poisoning is a silent, deadly killer claiming about 1,000 lives each year in the United States.
1. Install a carbon monoxide detector in your home.
2. NEVER run generators indoors.
3. Open a window slightly when using a kerosene heater and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
4. NEVER use a gas oven to heat your home.
5. If your heat goes out, you can keep warm indoors by closing off rooms you do not need, dressing in layers of lightweight clothing, and wearing a cap.
Wood-burning stoves, fireplaces and heaters
1. Always keep a screen around an open flame.
2. NEVER use gasoline to start your fireplace.
3. NEVER burn charcoal indoors.
Follow these simple cold weather survival tips to have a good, safe and warm winter.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
AMERICAN HEART MONTH
GROUNDHOG DAY, FEBRUARY 2ND
VALENTINE'S DAY, FEBRUARY 14TH
ASH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH
NATIONAL LOVE YOUR PET DAY, FEBRUARY 20TH
PRESIDENT'S DAY, FEBRUARY 21ST
WORLD SPAY DAY, FEBRUARY 22ND
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly is a Council Chronicle series that offers a glimpse at unusual stories in the news around in the world. They are intended to provoke thought, inform and elicit a range of emotions from joy, outrage, amusement, hope or anger. These are a summary of stories worth knowing. Each month we will feature a story of the Good, the Bad & the Ugly around the globe. If you come across a news item that falls into any of these categories, please email it to me for possible inclusion in the monthly e-newsletter.
THE UGLY
DAD RETURNS DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY GIFT AND KEEPS MONEY FOR HIMSELF
A woman posted in the online forum, AITA (Am I The A--hole) asking for guidance about her husband's recent behavior. She explains that their daughter, 11, received a new bicycle from her uncle for her birthday. She said that her daughter was "over the moon" with excitement because the bike had been on her wish list for a very long time. Her uncle (the mother's brother) couldn't really afford the extravagance of the bike but really wanted his niece to have it.
Days after his daughter was gifted the bike of her dreams, the poor excuse for a father Dad contacted his brother-in-law and asked for the receipt. The husband then returned the bicycle to the store while his daughter was at school and kept the money for himself.
When the little girl returned home from school and found her bike missing, she was inconsolable. The wife asked her husband about the location of the bicycle and he informed her that he had "returned it because it was a distraction, it was the dead of winter and he was going to use the money for something useful".
This led to a huge argument between the couple and the wife demanded that he give her the money he got from the return of the bike. The soon to be ex-husband refused to give her the money and stormed out of the house. The wife went to the hiding place where her husband stashes his money in their bedroom and took some of the money to re-purchase the bike for her heartbroken child.
Mom bought the bike back for their daughter and her husband was furious. He became verbally abusive and told her she should never have touched "his" money. He also called her "sneaky, a thief and juvenile for taking money from his savings."
The poor little girl caught in the middle of all this drama about her birthday gift told her mother tearfully that she doesn't want the bike anymore because her dad doesn't want her to have it.
The husband has accused his wife of turning their daughter against him by making him out to be the bad guy.
Is the deadbeat husband or the wife the one in the wrong in this situation?
Pictured above and below are Santa's little helper's dropping off the books collected for our holiday book collection to the Family Scholar House for their children's library.
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Thanks to Ginny First for organizing another great annual Metro Council Holiday Charitable Drive. Also, thanks to the employees who donated and Santa's elves for assisting with the delivery of the books.
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Nissa, after being adopted into a loving home
Before & After Rescue Dog Transformation
Who can resist a heartwarming makeover, especially when it involves a sweet dog? Whether they were abandoned, lost or mistreated, these down-on-their luck dogs were in dire need of a loving presence in their lives. That's where caring animal shelters, pet rescues and foster parents come into the picture. With a little love and much-needed TLC, these rescue dogs started thriving — inside and out. These before-and-after transformation pictures speak for themselves. Hopefully, it may inspire you to adopt a rescue pup of your own.
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NISSA
This is a picture of Nissa when she was found on a North Carolina street. . Her eyes were swollen shut and she had so many other health issues that a veterinarian recommended she be euthanized.
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I know it's very difficult to look at this picture. Poor Nissa was in bad shape. It hurts my heart to see any animal in this condition, but thank goodness there was a happy ending in her future. I wish all strays fared this well.
Instead, a rescue organization placed her with a caring foster family. That family needed a dog sitter for Nissa for one weekend while they went out of town. The rescue sent one of their volunteer's to dog sit Nissa. The sitter, Candice, fell instantly in love with Nissa and adopted her. As you can see from the 'after' photo, Nissa has been transformed since she found her forever home. All she needed was lots of love and care.
Candice says, "I hope that Nissa's story is a reminder to everyone that you should never give up on an animal."
Please consider adopting a pet from the animal shelter or a local rescue if you have room in your home and heart for a new furry family member.
Side-Eye Pics are a series of photographs of people or animals behaving strangely or annoyingly. They are doing things that make one pause and take a second look. Their actions are perplexing enough to those observing them to earn them the side eye.
THE EYE(BROWS) HAVE IT
Something tells me that this elderly gentlemen is a practical man who believes in recycling, repurposing and multi-tasking. What a great idea to have your eyebrows serve as sunglasses, an umbrella and they have the added bonus of preventing eye contact with people while using public transportation. It's a win-win!
I bet this is really going to catch on and someone is going to get rich making eyebrow extensions similar to the false eyelashes that are all the rage right now, like those pictured below.
Doesn't this little cutie remind you of the late painter Bob Ross?
MARILYN PARKER FEBRUARY 5TH
CARA ROBINSON FEBRUARY 13TH
KEISHA DORSEY FEBRUARY 18TH
LISA FRANKLIN GRAY FEBRUARY 22ND
HEATHER BLAZIS FEBRUARY 23RD
KEVIN KRAMER FEBRUARY 28TH
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Cette édition est dédiée à la mémoire de ma Mère bien-aimée. Joyeux anniversaire céleste, maman. Tu es tellement aimé et manqué.
1. The name of the ancient city Phoenicia, or Canaan, means "Land of the Purple" and was the hub of the ancient purple dye industry. The Minoans, an ancient civilization on the now Greek island of Crete, are believed to be the first to produce purple dye.
2. If you're born "in the purple" you are born of high or noble birth.
3. A purple pedestrian bridge joining Ohio and Kentucky can be rented out for weddings, parties, and more. Called the "Purple People Bridge," the former railroad bridge spans 2,670 feet across the Ohio River near Cincinnati.
4. Because purple dye was so difficult to obtain and expensive to produce, purple became the royal color in many parts of the world and is traditionally associated with royalty, power, and wealth.
5. Samuel "Sammie Purple" Cohen formed Detroit's "Purple Gang," a local gang of Jewish thugs and bootleggers in the 20's and 30's. This may be the only time we ever write the phrase "Jewish thugs" and mean it.
6. China's famous "Forbidden City" in modern Beijing is technically called "The Purple Forbidden City," a reference to a secret purple area in heaven thought to be centered near the north star.
7. Hastings Elementary School in Westborough, MA has an annual "Purple Day." The children ask everyone to wear purple to show that individuals can change behavior as a model for how to make environmental, earth-protecting changes. Wear your purple proudly (check the the school's Purple Day page on the website for the exact date each year, usually around May 17th or 18th) to show the kids at Hastings Elementary School that by acting locally, they can affect a lot more than just Westborough.
8. Purple is the hardest color for the eye to discriminate. Purples have been used in the care of mental disorders because they have been shown to help balance the mind and transform obsessions and fears. Purple can calm the mind.
9. Purple was the most favorite lipstick color in the 1960's, followed in the 1970's by...white.
10. Carrots were originally purple. Dutch farmers created orange carrots in the 17th century to honor King William of Orange.
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This is Cinnamon, Brianna Wright's (D-4) fur baby. She is 14 years old. These photos are from her birthday in November.
Cinnamon loves to sleep, eat, and cuddle.
Brianna said, "We are truly best friends."
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Cinnamon is enjoying her 3-tier birthday cake that her momma, Brianna baked especially for her. Yum!
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Thank you to Brianna for sharing her adorable canine child, Cinnamon with the Council Chronicle.
Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Chicken Pasta
Crock pot cooking is my favorite way to cook. I love using the crock pot, also known as a slow cooker, for Fall and Winter meals. I get up in the morning, put my ingredients in the crock pot, set it and forget it. The house is filled with the most amazing aromas as I go about my day reading, watching movies, napping and playing with my fur babies.
It's an easy, hands-off way to cook healthy, filling, flavorful meals. An added bonus to crock pot cooking is the easy clean up. There's not a lot of pots and pans to clean after dinner is done. These meals are also great for those days when you get home in the evening, your lunch is a distant memory and your stomach is letting you know it’s ready to filled ASAP! All you have to do is plate your food, maybe toast some bread or throw together a salad to accompany your meal and dig in!
EASY PESTO MOZZARELLA CHICKEN PASTA
This meal is a perfect, easy dish that cooks itself while you’re busy with other things. It takes less than five minutes to assemble before you leave for work. The chicken, pesto, and lemon cook while you are away, then cooked pasta and mozzarella cheese are added before serving. At the end of the day you have a delicious dinner that tastes like you’ve been cooking for hours.
Ingredients:
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1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts (1.5-2 pounds works fine, 3 chicken breasts)
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1/2 tsp. salt
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1/4 tsp. pepper
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8.1 oz. Classico Traditional Basil Pesto (check ingredients for nut allergies)
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1/2 cup salted butter
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1/2 lemon
The following ingredients are added at the end:
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1 lb. dried rotini pasta (cooked and drained, see directions for more info)
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1/2 cup grated parmesan (I use the powdery shake bottle type)
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2 cups shredded mozzarella
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1/4 tsp. dried basil to garnish
Instructions:
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Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Spread over the pesto, squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken. Cut the butter into slices and lay over the chicken.
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Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
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Near the end of the cooking time, cook the pasta according to the package directions and drain well.
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Shred the chicken with 2 forks. Add the cooked pasta and the parmesan cheese, stir everything until the pasta is coated with the buttery pesto sauce and the chicken is evenly dispersed throughout the pasta. Add the mozzarella cheese over the pasta. Cover for about 15 more minutes or until the cheese has melted.
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Serve and enjoy!
5 BLACK AMERICAN HEROES WE SHOULD KNOW
There are a number of unknown heroes that are rarely discussed in classrooms, or around the dinner table, and while their names might not be familiar, these people have shaped history and deserve the spotlight.
A fuller understanding of Black history isn't just about looking back into the past, it's about improving the future for America.
“It is also the case that history of a nation helps said nation better comprehend what ails it, so as to prescribe effective remedies," said Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at University of Houston.
Here are five African American heroes you might not know and as we celebrate Black History Month, there's no better time to learn.
THE HARLEM HELLFIGHTERS
The Harlem Hellfighters
The 369th Black infantry regiment was an all-Black U.S. regiment nicknamed the “Harlem Hellfighters” which formed during World War I.
In the first World War, they became the first African-American infantry unit, and spent more time in combat than any other American unit. Initially deployed to help unload supply ships, they regiment was then loaned to the French Army and spent 191 days on the front lines.
Though the unit lost 1,500 men, and only received 900 replacements, the Hellfighters were the first unit of the French, British or American Armies to reach the Rhine River at the end of the war.
The Hellfighters received their formidable nickname from the Germans; "Hollenkampfer" in German translates to "Hellfighters." Because most of the unit hailed from Harlem, New York, the name stuck.
The Hellfighters were lauded in Europe for the bravery. But when the war ended and the Hellfighters returned home, they faced racism and segregation from the country they bravely defended.
The summer of 1919 was called the "Red Summer," and marked by violence against Black Americans at the hands of white Americans.
RONALD MCNAIR, Jazz In Space (NASA / Getty Images)
Ronald McNair
Ronald McNair was 9 when a South Carolina librarian told him he could not check out books from a segregated library in 1959. Refusing to leave, a determined McNair sat on the counter while the librarian called the police, as well McNair's mother. The police arrived, told the librarian to let the young boy have his books, and McNair walked out alongside his mother and brother.
McNair went on to earn his Ph.D. in physics at MIT and became one of the first African Americans selected as astronauts by NASA, alongside Guion S. Bluford, Jr. and Frederick Gregory.
McNair's first spaceflight was the STS-41B mission, aboard the "Challenger" shuttle. He successfully maneuvered the robotic arm, which allowed astronaut Bruce McCandless to perform the first space walk without being tethered to the spacecraft.
The second space flight for McNair would be his last. He, along with six other NASA astronauts, were aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded 73 seconds after takeoff in 1986. Everyone on board the shuttle was killed.
Today, the library in South Carolina where McNair was once refused books is named after the heroic boy determined to make a difference.
BESSIE COLEMAN, PIONEER AVIATOR
Bessie Coleman
While Amelia Earhart is often celebrated for her piloting heroics, it is pioneer Bessie Coleman who broke down barriers for women in aviation.
Coleman took flight in 1921, becoming the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license. She was inspired to take to the skies at 27 after her brother, a World War I veteran, told her that women in France were superior because they could they could fly. Despite her drive, Coleman was denied flying privileges in the U.S. because she was Black and a woman.
Determined to become a pilot, Coleman began learning French, before leaving for Paris to pursue her dream. After successfully earning her pilot's license, Coleman returned home and on September 3, 1922, she made the first public flight by a Black woman in the U.S. in a plane she borrowed.
Coleman worked her way into barnstorming, a form of entertainment involving aerial stunt tricks. In April 1926, while performing in Florida, Coleman's plane began nosediving at 3,500 feet. Because she was performing tricks that did not allow her to wear her seatbelt, she was thrown from the aircraft and killed.
DR. ALEXA CANADY, HOLDING A PATIENT
Alexa Canady
Born in Lansing, Michigan in 1950, Dr. Alexa Irene Canady broke both gender and color barriers when she became the first African American woman neurosurgeon in the United States in 1981.
While majoring in zoology at the University of Michigan, Canady became interested in medicine after attending a summer camp on genetics for minority students.
After receiving her B.S. in 1971, Canady graduated cum laude from the College of Medicine at the University of Michigan in 1975.
While she was initially interested in internal medicine, Canady later developed an interest in neurosurgery. She was accepted as a surgical intern at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1975. She was the first Black woman to be enrolled in the hospital's program.
"I made it to Minnesota for residency, and before I knew it, I was a neurosurgeon. I had achieved my dream," Canady wrote in a personal essay for the University of Michigan. "And that’s all it was to me, because being the 'first' anything was never my goal."
Canady said that it was not until she began talking to people in the community that she realized the importance of her milestone.
"One, it was important for the children, who would no longer see neurosurgery as yet another world that they couldn’t belong to. That’s the side everybody appreciates," she said. "And that was equally important in changing society’s expectations. So while being first wasn’t important to me, it was important for many others."
Dr. Canady served as the chief of neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital of Michigan from 1987 until her retirement in June 2001.
ROBERT SMALLS
Robert Smalls
Robert Smalls was only in his early 20s when he risked his life as a Black, enslaved man in the U.S. South to sail his family to freedom.
Haunted by the idea that his family, which included his wife, Hannah, and two children, could be sold and separated, a common practice during slavery, Smalls devised a plan.
On a moonlit night in the spring of 1862 during the Civil War, Smalls, an enslaved Black man, and a crew of fellow enslaved people, stole one of the Confederacy’s most crucial gunships from its wharf in the South Carolina port of Charleston.
Smalls, a maritime pilot, and his crew hijacked the U.S.S. Planter, a well-stocked ammunitions ship, after the three white officers left overnight.
Smalls and the crew sailed the vessel, carrying 16 passengers, into free waters, and handed it over to the Union Navy.
This intricately coordinated escape astonished the world. Smalls was hailed as a hero in the North, and helped lobby President Lincoln to allow Black men to enlist in the Union Army. After the war, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
'WOULD YOU RATHER' QUESTIONS ARE GREAT CONVERSATION STARTERS AND JUST PLAIN FUN.
1. Would you rather have no one come to your wedding or your funeral?
2. Would you rather get rich in a way that disappoints your family or just make enough money to live?
3. Would you rather have no internet or no cell phone?
4. Would you rather live in a new country every month or never go on vacation again?
5. Would you rather go back in time to meet your ancestors or go into the future to meet your great-grandchildren?
6. Would you rather be homeless or in prison?
7. Would you rather know the date of your death or the cause of your death?
8. Would you rather have front row tickets to a musician you’ve never heard of or listen to your favorite band perform from the parking lot?
9. Would you rather eat fast food every day or never eat at any restaurant again?
10. Would you rather get a tattoo or a lip piercing?
Purple Rose Heart-Shaped Tattoo
PRAYER FOR EQUALITY, PEACE & UNITY
I pray for equality, unity and peace in every city in our country. Equality for all people in every country. I pray for justice for all those who have lost their lives needlessly and unjustly. I pray that all people, regardless of race, religion or socioeconomic status be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. I pray for change so that healing can begin in this country and around the world.
Amen.
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