We have a chair that is magic. If I sit on it, you come back, always. This ratty old chair was pulled out of the dumpster when you were living in student housing and had no money for furniture.

Every time you leave you say, “Roma stay and be a good dog.” I run to the chair and watch you ride away. You always look back and wave. I know I look sad but I’m a hound dog so I aways look sad.

I can tell how long you are going to be gone by the type of bag you take. If you take the leather bag you will be back in time to feed me dinner and take me for a walk sometimes by the fern bed where you found me. If you take the little green bag you are only gone for an hour or two. You come back wet, smell like chlorine and are tired. The best is the blue backpack because that means we are hitting the trail. We spend all day walking the woods and gorges behind the house. My least favorite is the big red and black bag that has all the camping and climbing equipment in it. That means I will have to sit in the chair and wait a long time for you to return.

But, you always come back. And that makes me very happy! I bark, run around in circles and you let me lick your face. I know you love me because you smile when you see me and the dark things in the middle of your eyes get big. However, I love you more. Not only do you feed me and give me a warm place to sleep but you pet my head and let me love you and you love me back.

Unlike the people who dumped me, when you say you’ll come back you always do.

(Roma died on Christmas Day 1999)

When: Monday, April 22

Time: 3:30-4:30 pm

Where: The Edge

Who: 11-18 years

This small back yard has lots of shrubs which blocks out the view beyond. This gives a feeling of coziness. The small scale becomes a small retreat.

Use the power of perspective. Long straight lines make a space seem bigger than it is. To create the illusion slant the far end of the lines toward one another. In this picture the split-rail fence inhanced by the rows of shrubs makes the yard seem larger than it is.

Break up open areas of a small space so it feels larger. In the picture on the left the bed of roses, annuals, and perennials divides the small back yard. This creates the illusion of a larger yard.

Create an interest. The patio made of paving stones makes a distraction. The combination of paving stones draws your eye so that you hardly notice the small landscape..

Make a destination. The attraction in the picture on the left is the pergola covered with wisteria. Putting the pergola in the back corner of the yard gives your eye a destination. With the help of the stepping stones the yard feels more spacious.

However, the summer before Tim’s junior year in high school, Otis did not come out to greet the family when they returned from Disney World. Sometimes Otis would take off for hours but never days. Tim took off to look for him and found him beaten lying in the brush. Otis’s bottom jaw appeared to have been split down the middle and he was missing teeth. His legs were at an awkward angle.

A quick trip to the vet told the whole story. Otis’s injuries had been caused by a baseball bat. His back, legs and hips were severely damaged and his jaw was radically fractured. Surgery was an option but it would be extensive and expensive. There was no guarantee he would survive.

So, they brought Otis home to die. Only they forgot to tell Otis these were his final days. EverydayTim took Otis to their swimming pool where he submerged Otis on his lap. After a couple of weeks he started gently moving his back legs so his muscles would regain some tone and strength. Over the next few months with regular pool workouts and lots of vanilla shakes he regained the ability to walk but with a limp.

Tim wrote in his book, “Otis never ran again, but after an initial period where he seemed ashamed or worried that he’d done something wrong – which made me upset at the physical injuries he’d suffered – he settled back into being himself. He was a bit frail, but he was our Otis, no less, the one we always knew and loved.”

Otis lived to be 13 and died when Tebow was away playing college football.

Aliy Zirkle came in second, 23 minutes behind Seavey. Had she won, she would have been the first female winner in 23 years.

1967 was the 100th anniversary of Alaska being a U.S. Territory after being purchased from Russia. Dorothy Page, chairman of the committee, got the idea of a sled dog race over the historic Iditarod Trail. Joe Redington Sr., later known as the Father of Iditarod, gave his support.

Redington had two reasons for organizing the long distance race: to save the sled dog culture and Alaskan huskies which were being phased our of existence due to snowmobiles and to preserve the historic Iditarod Trail between Seward and Nome. The race is a reconstruction of the freight route to Nome and commemorates the part that sled dogs played in the settlement of Alaska.

Joe Redington was quoted in Nan Elliot’s book, I’d Swap my Old Skidoo for You. “When I went out to villages ( in the 1950′s) where there were once beautiful dogs , a snow machine was sitting in front of a house and no dogs. It wasn’t good. I didn’t like that I’d seen snow machines break down and fellows freeze to death out there in the wilderness. But dogs will always keep you warm and they’ll always get you there.”

Greg Gaul taught several of our patrons how to play poker. They were still playing and having a good time when the program was over which was great.

Lena was in charge of the art projects. They colored pictures that had a 1920′s theme which were made into buttons.

This was an opportunity to learn some 1920 slang. A canary was a woman who could sing and a meat wagon was an ambulance.

Lesson 1: read the recipe before you start adding the ingredients. Lesson 2: fill your measuring cup to the top, don’t scoop the Crisco from the container. Lesson 3: turn the mixer on low when mixing the eggs, sugar, vanilla and shortening. There was a small casualty when the mixer was removed from the bowl while still rotating. Everyone quickly recovered and they were back on track. Lesson 4: stir the dry ingredients in by hand because the mixers won’t stir the stiff dough. Lesson 5: yes, you do have to roll out the cookie dough to make cookies, a big ball of dough won’t cook properly.

Once the cookies were cut into shapes, sprinkled with colored sugar and baked the teens thought the program was fun. Everyone agreed the best part of cooking is eating the finished product.

Monday, November 26, 4:00-5:00 PM, The Edge

Using a large griddle, several people were able to cook their omelet at the same time. The teens learned to crack an egg, whisk the egg and cook the egg until it was set. Cheese, onions and green peppers werre available to make the omelet unique. Lesson learned – you don’t need to smash the egg with a spatula to make it cook faster, it only makes a mess!

Making a waffle is easy. We used the ‘complete’ buttermilk pancake mix that only water had to be added. Some of the teens used a waffle iron for the first time. Lesson learned – adding the right amount of water is important. Too little water makes the waffle batter look like biscuit dough, too much water and the batter spills out of the waffle iron. Add butter and syrup to the waffle and it is a teen ‘hit’.

Making an easy and nutritious breakfast doesn’t have to take a lot of time. This waffle was made in minutes and there were no leftovers.

Experienced Yugioh players bring their own player’s mat and a deck that they have built just for dueling. Math skills are required to keep track of the life points.

Magic, the Gathering, is played by teens 14+. This card game has been around for years so many adults remember playing it in college. This is a strategy game and the cards can have collectable value.