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An Eye For New England--Grace Metalious

COMMENTARY
An Eye For New England
December 4, 2005
By WILLIAM MORGAN
 
Grace Metalious was a perceptive observer of the New England townscape and its architecture, but this aspect of her writing was obscured by the fuss over her 1956 novel, "Peyton Place." An "expose" of the secret lives and passions of one town's denizens, the book had a frankness that created a national sensation - and sold more than 10 million copies.

Today, with its 50th anniversary nearing, it seems incredible that the novel and subsequent movie (filmed in Camden, Maine, after it was rejected by Gilmanton, N.H., and Woodstock, Vt.) could have caused such a stir. But in the more inhibited Ozzie and Harriet era, parents were horrified at the thought of their offspring devouring "Peyton Place."

Mrs. Metalious' husband was fired from his post as Gilmanton's grammar-school principal, because, as the novelist said, "to a majority of people who live here, it is a dirty book. People suddenly decided that George is not the type to teach sweet, innocent children."

Beyond the publicity, Metalious was a not inconsiderable writer, especially for a hitherto unpublished and relatively unsophisticated 31-year-old housewife.

That the setting and embellishing details of the narrative go unnoticed in this telling of the larger tale is one mark of a good novelist. From the opening sentence ("Indian summer is like a woman"), "Peyton Place" is filled with handsomely turned descriptions: "She could see the belfry of the grade school, the church spires and the winding, blue road of the Connecticut River with the red brick mills, like growths attached to one of its sides."

Metalious appealingly captured the essence of northern New England, from the courthouse ("a large white stone building with a verdigris-covered dome"), with its wooden benches "which seem to be a part of every municipal building in America's small towns," to the general store and the annual town meeting.

Beyond the six-block business district along Elm Street, the richer residents of the town live in mansions on Chestnut Street. But the houses in protagonist's Allison MacKenzie's neighborhood are mainly "simple, well constructed, one-family dwellings, most of them modeled on Cape Cod lines and painted white with green trim."

Any architectural historian who has labored over building analyses cannot help admiring Metalious' succinct description of Peyton Place high school: "It was made of brick, with windows so large that each one made up an entire wall, and it had a clinical, no-nonsense air of efficiency that gave it more the look of a small well-run hospital." The elementary school, meanwhile, is dismissed as "Victorian architecture at its worst."

The most imposing structure in Peyton Place is Peyton's Castle, a dark and sinister pile overlooking the town. The model for it was Stanton Harcourt, in Windham, N.H., built in 1906-15 by Edward Searles, one of the nation's richest and most eccentric men. Searles had inherited a fortune from his much older wife, the widow of railroad financier Mark Hopkins.

Local legend holds that Stanton Harcourt is a copy of Searles' ancestral estate in Oxfordshire, a 15th-century manor house of the same name. But the Windham castle was designed by Henry Vaughan, architect of such Gothic Revival monuments as the chapels for St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., and and Groton School in Groton, Mass., and the early parts of Washington Cathedral.

The castle's massive granite walls and portcullis gate appear in Peyton Place, and one of the characters declares: "Every stick and stone, every doorknob and pane of glass in the castle was imported from England ... this here is the only real, true, genuine castle in New England." It is easy to understand how this imposing curiosity near the novelist's native Manchester became such a presence in her first book.

By introducing the problems that arise when a New England town tries to reconcile economic growth with preservation of its past, the author was an unwitting observer of conservation battles to come.

As the mill owner and epitome of the old-style capitalist, Leslie Harrington stands up against any sort of municipal planning or zoning - long anathema to the independent Yankee: "When you start telling a man he's got to do this, that or the other thing, you're coming pretty damned close to infringing on a citizen's rights."

When the town meeting moderator defends the selectmen's right to restrict the type of dwellings to be constructed in Peyton Place, a voter asks, "You mean to say that you kin tell a man what kind of house he's gonna build?"

The ambience and cultural insights of Peyton Place are absent in the book's sequel, "Return to Peyton Place" - truly trash for cash. Two later Metalious novels, "The Tight White Collar" and "No Adam in Eden," are also set in mill towns. The last includes a long description of Manchester's sublime 19th-century industrial millscape. But for capturing small-town New England in the Eisenhower years, it is "Peyton Place" that strongly evokes a sense of place.

William Morgan is the author of "The Almighty Wall: The Architecture of Henry Vaughan" (MIT Press).

The Hartford Courant

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-plcpeytonplace1204.artdec04,0,5772022.story?coll=hc-headlines-commentary

Book honors history-making women

Book honors history-making women
By Christy McKinnon
Staff Writer, http://www.keepmecurrent.com/

CAPE ELIZABETH (Dec 1): Nonesuch Books at the Mill Creek shopping plaza in South Portland is holding a book signing with Kate Kennedy on Sunday, Dec. 4, from 1 to 3 p.m.

A Cape Elizabeth author is bringing to light little-known Maine women who led extraordinary lives.

Kate Kennedy’s second book, “More than Petticoats: Remarkable Maine Women,” tells the story of 13 courageous, notable Maine women.

Among them is Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby, a hunter, fisher and outdoorswoman in an age when there were few others women doing so. She was given the state’s first Registered Maine Guide license and promoted tourism in Maine to the nation.

Another is Florence Eastman Williams, known as "Flossie," who spent many summers in Scarborough and worked at Scarborough Downs. Williams was a clairvoyant who also worked as a hostess at a soldiers' club on Portland's waterfront during World War II. She became known to legions of soldiers as "Mom," and many of them visited her even years after the war.

Author Kate Kennedy, though not a Maine native, has lived in Maine since 1977. She and her husband Nathanael Greene live on two acres in Cape Elizabeth. (Photo by Christy McKinnon)

Kennedy’s affinity for Maine developed during her summer vacations at her family cottage on Chebeague Island. She spent a few weeks each summer “poking around the clam flats,” said Kennedy and leading the laid-back island life.

Splitting her childhood between New Jersey and California, Kennedy decided during her undergrad years at Wellesley College in Massachusetts that she would eventually live in Maine.

In 1977 she moved to rural Skowhegan, home of Margaret Chase Smith, who is included in the book. Prompted by a North Anson high school guidance counselor she launched a reading program for illiterate adults. “The stories were really hard luck,” said Kennedy of the adults she tutored. The work proved difficult and straining.

The success of the training depended on whether the adults could devote ample time to studies. Though her students all wanted to learn there were constant setbacks. Kids would get sick and lessons missed. “It took a lot of patience and it felt really frustrating,” she said. Dissatisfied with the results of her toil, Kennedy decided to stop. But the program kept going without her, and is still running.

Kennedy then moved to Portland to be with Nathanael Greene, a Portland adult education administrator. They married in 1980.

She took a part-time job teaching at-risk children at Portland High School. “I never imagined that I would teach high school,” she said. Though she never anticipated teaching high school, the part-time position allowed her time for writing, which she used to craft her first novel, “End Over End” published by Soho Press in 2001.

“End Over End,” a small-town murder mystery, received praise from the New York Times Book Review. “Kennedy’s prose is replete with sensuous detail and keen insight,” wrote Judith Bolton-Fasman.

While it was her first published book, she had written three more before – none published. The first of those she said was a beginner’s blunder and called “awful.”

“I never want to show anybody,” she said. The other two she is keeping on the back burners for now. “They’re characters that want to be read, be seen,” she said.

While it took Kennedy four years to write “End Over End,” “More than Petticoats” was finished within a year, in part because she had left her part-time teaching job at Portland High School beforehand.

“I just sort of wore out,” she said. She saw teachers who stayed long after they had lost their passion for teaching, and refused to travel that road. “I loved this for a long time and now I don’t and I need to have the guts to leave,” she said. So she did.

Kennedy’s Maine edition of ”Women in Petticoats” is one in a series commissioned by Connecticut’s Globe Pequot Press. The series covers 20 states and will eventually cover all 50.

Globe Pequot stated three restrictions for inclusion – the women must be deeply rooted in Maine, born before 1900, and the selection must be diverse.

Kennedy calls her selection “just a smattering” of influential Maine women. “I know you could write 10 of these books,” she said, “anybody given the task would’ve come up with a different list.”

Popular U.S. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith was included amid a throng of lesser-known women. “A lot of them weren’t well known but they should have been,” said Kennedy.

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=12208

A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

A cable salesman who sees a family's storm-damaged house leads an effort to get them a better place.
Sandra Mathers
AOrlando Sentinel Staff Writer

December 4, 2005

POINCIANA -- Call it fate. Maybe even Divine Providence.

It began the October day Marc Letourneau, a Bright House salesman, met Eduardo Rodriguez, a retired mechanic raising four children alone.

It was a day that changed both of their lives.

Letourneau knocked on the door of Rodriguez's hurricane-damaged rental home in Poinciana that day to sell him cable service. The salesman, a French-Canadian, spoke no Spanish. The mechanic, a native of Colombia, spoke little English.

But one thing was clear: The Rodriguez family couldn't afford cable for its small television. The family had been living in substandard conditions in a moldy house with few furnishings since Hurricane Charley in 2004.

"Everything they had was roach-infested," said Letourneau, 36. The [home's] owner had pulled out the rain-damaged carpeting but never replaced it. . . . They were sleeping on mattresses on the concrete floor."

Letourneau said he was "inspired" to do something to help the family, struggling to survive on Social Security and welfare. What he gave Rodriguez, with the help of many, was nothing less than a new life -- with a set of surprises beyond an impoverished father's wildest dreams.

Letourneau, a Winter Springs resident, calls it an "Extreme Home Makeover: Community Edition," after the popular ABC-TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

On Saturday, Letourneau drove Rodriguez and the children -- Gersson, 13, Natividad, 10, Alejandro, 4, and Derek, 3 -- to a sparkling 2-year-old, 2,300-square-foot rental home, stylishly decorated with donated furniture by dozens of volunteers.

In the garage: a blue 1994 Honda Accord, purchased by Letourneau, to replace Rodriguez's barely running, 20-year-old Dodge van, and new bicycles and helmets for each child.

And out in the driveway: Jonathan Bates, manager of a nearby Winn-Dixie grocery store, presented Rodriguez with a store shirt and apron for his new, part-time job as a bagger.

At 70, Rodriguez is a slight man, with thinning hair and the deep creases of a hard life on his face. His second wife left him and the children a year ago. He does not smile easily. But, as his excited children romped through their comfortable new home, followed by enthusiastic volunteers, Rodriguez gazed at his surroundings.

"Wow . . . beautiful," he said softly, in English.

Through an interpreter, Rodriguez said he left Colombia for New York 32 years ago and later moved to Miami. He said he relocated to Orlando three years ago for a better environment for his children. But this particular environment, a new home, is something he never expected to have, said Carolina Caicedo, a Bright House employee from Colombia who translated for Rodriguez.

"He said he never had this kind of life before," Caicedo said.

"He said Marc coming into his life was a blessing."

The family explored each attractively furnished room: a "decorator" master bedroom with walk-in shower bathroom, spacious living room -- complete with big-screen television -- and dining area, a modern kitchen with pantry and counter space, a family room with floral couches, a dining table and another television, two bedrooms for the children and their own bathroom.

"He [Rodriguez] said he could work all his life and never afford a widescreen TV," Caicedo said.

The makeover was Letourneau's idea, but he enlisted a cast of volunteers to help. He canvassed houses in a new area of Poinciana. Lisa Roberts, a Coldwell Banker sales agent handling rental homes there, persuaded the owner to reduce the rent to qualify for the Section 8 subsidy Rodriguez needs.

Letourneau then drew up fliers listing needed items and distributed them at his church, Willow Creek Presbyterian in Winter Springs.

Bright House donated free cable service for a year, gave the family two days at Disney World and some new clothes, and rented a truck to help move furniture. Cable-company employees and church members donated time and home furnishings.

Letourneau found the living-room sofas on the side of the road in excellent condition. He persuaded a friend buying a new big-screen television to "donate" his old one to the venture.

"My husband is a salesman," said a grinning Deborah Letourneau, a portrait photographer. "He doesn't take no for an answer."

One of her clients donated the living-room tables and a dining-room set.

Letourneau said the project is his first philanthropic gesture.

"It felt normal," he said. "I was in my element. I could do this for a living."

Sandra Mathers can be reached at 407-420-5507 or smathers@orlandosentinel.com.
Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/osceola/orl-house0405dec04,0,7625342.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-osceola

Tales from a river rat

Tales from a river rat

After living a hermit's life on the backwaters of the Mississippi River, Kenny Salwey tells his story to a worldwide audience while making the case for environmental protection.
BY DAVID HAWLEY
Pioneer Press
Posted on Sun, Dec. 04, 2005

BUFFALO, Wis. — Never mind the grizzled beard, the dried deer blood on his crusty coveralls or the tall rubber boots that were salvaged from a leaky pair of chest waders. Kenny Salwey is an author, a lecturer and the subject of a British-made documentary.

But he freely admits that his billing as "The Last River Rat" — which also is the title of his first book — is "poetic license." He's probably not the last, though it's hard to say how many are out there.

"Who would look at the book if they called it 'One of the Last of the River Rats'? " Salwey asked, his husky voice sounding like he gargles with mouthwash made from molasses and crushed porcupine quills.

It's a rich, word-chewing voice, and Salwey, who appears today at St. Paul's Mississippi River Center, uses it to spin tales of a life lived on the backwaters of the Mississippi and the lessons he's learned about the need to protect the environment. He also talks about a man who took from the land and now wants to give back.

There was a time when Salwey, 63, lived a hermit's life in Whitman Swamp, a 6,000-acre Mississippi floodplain forest about 10 miles south of Alma, Wis. Nominally the caretaker of an inactive fur farm for owners who live in other parts of the country, Salwey hunted, trapped, fished, dug roots and occasionally worked as a guide.

For a home, he "inherited" a tiny tarpaper shanty that floats on barrels in the marshland. Later, he built a one-room shack on the edge of a spring-fed slough that everyone calls Big Lake, making the cabin out of rough-sawn oak that he painted with old motor oil to prevent the green wood from warping.

Both shacks are still there and still used. But Salwey, who married a woman he met on the lecture circuit a decade ago, also lives with her in a more conventional home on the bluffs east of Alma.

"She's the brains in the family," Salwey said of his wife, Mary Kay, who oversees environmental education programs for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

It's been a long journey from Salwey's rat days to his present life, though both worlds remain intertwined.

"I eked out a living as a river rat for 28 years — and I do mean eked," Salwey said as he sat in his Big Lake shack beneath drying bunches of ginseng hung on ceiling rafters. Outside, the walls of the shack are decorated with skulls, shells and strings of traps. A sign over the entry reads, "La Maison de Salwey," in tribute to a French-Canadian heritage.

In the old days, Salwey really was a rat. On the rare occasions when he went into the village of Buffalo, the closest town, mothers would wrap their arms around their children and hustle them away when they spotted the grungy man sauntering down the sidewalk. Game wardens knew him, too, and Salwey collected his share of citations.

In 1988, however, one of the wardens talked Salwey into giving a nature talk to a group of teachers in Wabasha. Salwey, who later wrote that he was "as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs," had an epiphany: People were interested in what he had to say.

And he had something to say, based on experiences and on years of privately devouring the writings of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Sigurd Olson, Henry David Thoreau and others. Soon and for years, Salwey regularly talked to school groups, teachers, environmental groups and policy-making government bodies.

Salwey also started writing for specialty publications, such as Big River Magazine, and in 2001, he collaborated with writer J. Scott Bestul on a book, "The Last River Rat: Kenny Salwey's Life in the Wild." Published in Stillwater by Voyageur Press, the book attracted the interest of filmmaker Neil Rettig, who spent 18 months with Salwey in Whitman Swamp and elsewhere.

The result was "Mississippi: Tales of the Last River Rat," a 50-minute documentary produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel. The film's U.S. premiere was last March in Alma — the first-ever premiere in the community.

Salwey's latest book, "Tales of a River Rat," came out this year from Voyageur.

All of the activity has taken Salwey, who grew up on a nearby farm, away from the river and the bluffs that are his lifelong heritage.

"I even had to go to England to do voiceovers for the film," Salwey said. "It's a web of opportunity that I never thought would happen."

Nonetheless, Salwey said he and his wife managed to take four deer during Wisconsin's season. After butchering one animal — he says he still relies heavily on game for food — Salwey took the chest carcass to his cabin and strung it up on an overhanging board to provide bird food for the winter.

"It's part of the circle of life," he said. "We're all fellow travelers in the circle of life."

David Hawley can be reached at dhawley@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5257.

Life on the Mississippi

Kenny Salwey will talk about his life as a river guide, trapper and storyteller at 1:30 p.m. today at the Mississippi River Visitor Center, located in the lobby of the Science Museum of Minnesota in downtown St. Paul. The event is free, but reservations are required. Call 651-293-0200.

"Big Lake" spreads out before Kenny Salwey at his shack on the Mississippi River near Buffalo, Wis. "I eked out a living as a river rat for 28 years — and I do mean eked," says Kenny Salwey, an author, lecturer and subject of a British-made documentary, as he sits in his shack on a Mississippi River slough near Buffalo, Wis. Salwey will speak today in St.Paul.

Left: The skeleton of a channel catfish hangs on the side of Salwey's shack, located on the edge of the spring-fed slough that everyone calls Big Lake.

St. Paul Pioneer Press
http://www.centredaily.com
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/13316344.htm

Highlands luxury

Highlands luxury

Whether guests are in search of adventure or pampering, Pennsylvania's Nemacolin resort knows how to please.

By Jerry V. Haines
Special to the Baltimore Sun
December 4, 2005

In retrospect, Gen. Edward Braddock's army could have used a weekend at the Nemacolin Adventure Center.

In July 1755, while advancing toward the forks of the Ohio River with the intention of ousting the French from Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh), the British general and his soldiers were met by heavy fire from French and Indian forces. Losses were heavy; Braddock was mortally wounded.

Historian Henry Steele Commager describes the scene: In the face of attack, "there was confusion, mismanagement, terror, panic, and flight." In other words, sort of like a bad business venture, but with muskets.

The Adventure Center, just one feature of the 2,800-acre Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, 190 miles west of Baltimore near Uniontown, Pa., offers corporate team-building and trust-generating exercises.

Perhaps if Braddock and his regiments (which included young Col. George Washington) had spent time up in the treetop-level rope course or engaged in combat paintball or encouraged each other to scale the 50-foot climbing wall, discipline might not have deteriorated. And Braddock's retreating troops would not have had to conceal his body under the surface of the road that now passes by the resort and its mocking French-style chateau and Indian-theme boutique hotel.

Alas, Braddock was 250 years too early. Today's generals of the business battlefield bring their troops to Nemacolin to retrain, refresh and reward them. Although an estimated 40 percent of the resort's guests are couples and families who come not for business but merely to unwind amid luxury, a typical weekend morning also will see the conference rooms crowded with people brainstorming, reviewing performance and making projections.

Were you merely driving by, you might wonder what all this is doing way out here.

The old National Pike - U.S. 40 - looks like an ordinary two-lane blacktop, the bulk of its traffic diverted onto Interstate 68, a few miles to the south. What local businesses there are along the old road are what you might expect in rural Pennsylvania: a chain saw shop, small cafes, roadside fruit markets. A billboard advertises a backhoe service.

But for many years the Laurel Highlands has been a place where Pittsburgh money comes to play. For example, in 1939 the Kaufmann family, owners of a Pittsburgh department store enterprise, had a modest getaway home built nearby - Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

Nemacolin Woodlands (named for the Delaware chief who first showed white men the Indian trail that became the National Pike) was built in 1968 as a private game reserve for Pittsburgh industrialist Willard F. Rockwell.

It subsequently passed to the Scaife family, then back to the Rockwells and, in 1987, finally to Joseph A. Hardy III, who had parlayed his ownership of a lumberyard into a multibillion-dollar building supply company called 84 Lumber.

Butlers do it all
Rockwell's original English Tudor building (rechristened the Lodge) remains, but it is now linked on one side to the five-story Chateau LaFayette, whose design is based on the Ritz Hotel of Paris and on the other side to a conference center with a 200-seat lecture hall.

Separate from the main buildings is the new Falling Rock boutique hotel, built for the 2004 PGA Tour 84 Lumber Classic, played each year on the resort's Mystic Rocks golf course. Inside, a copper-leaf ceiling tops a cathedral-like lobby that soars three stories. Native American design elements pervade, including a 27-foot cast of Chief Nemacolin.

Each guest room in Falling Rock is assigned a 24-hour team of "butlers," in charge of accommodating guest whims. (Who brought that pizza at 3 a.m.? The butler did it.)

One of the butlers gave me a tour of the hotel, and it occurred to me that the butlers, the wait staff, the shuttle bus drivers - indeed, all of the resort staff - seem to have been hired on the basis of fresh-faced earnestness. If they ever get grumpy, they apparently go off the grounds to do it.

Falling Rock also is the clubhouse for the Mystic Rock course. During my most recent Nemacolin visit, people kept telling me, "You have to see the locker room."

Locker rooms are not ordinarily among a travel destination's must-sees. But this is what the locker room in golf heaven must look like. It would be sacrilegious to snap a towel in there. The wooden lockers themselves appear crafted by an upscale casket company; there are watercolors by local artists on the walls and hand-carved chess sets on the tables. The Hardys had in mind golfers such as Vijay Singh, who won the 2004 event, and Tiger Woods, who also has played the course.

The owners like to tinker with Mystic Rock, narrowing its fairways, reshaping its greens. It has gotten a lot of attention in golf magazines. Both it and the more traditional Links course put the golfer in the middle of the striking scenery that made this area a favorite with Pittsburgh tycoons.

Hummer courses
But sometimes you want to go where the grass hasn't been trimmed to the perfect length in millimeters and where the water hazards are actually hazardous. For that you need a Hummer. The Adventure Center has six of them, and you can challenge them and your own driving skills on two courses designed by the vehicle's manufacturer.

The first is "the Rock," about the size of a miniature golf course, but it takes your Hummer over rocks, up a 60 percent incline, along a sideways slope of 40 percent and over a 22-inch wall (which doesn't sound like much, but try scaling one in your car).

You ford a simulated, 30-inch-deep river, but real water gushes in through the floor drains, then empties as the Hummer climbs out. Tip: Don't wear your good shoes for this event.

Then comes "the Crater," a mile of rocks, ponds and hilly terrain that in wet weather appears covered with Silly Putty. Each of the vehicle's four wheels seems to be going off in its own direction, but it's designed to do that. The Hummer claws and slides its way through mud and ruts that would swallow a lesser machine.

The Adventure Center also is the location for team-building, trust-boosting and realizing-that-you-definitely-need-more-time-in-the-gym exercises.

The Zip course has you sliding along a 250-foot cable, 40 feet in the air ("screaming is permitted," says the brochure), and the ropes course has you playing Spiderman on a 21-element midair rope network.

It's all safe - participants wear safety harnesses and are attached to lines tended by instructors - but there is nothing quite so embarrassing as dangling helplessly in midair as your colleagues snicker. There are simpler, ground-level exercises as well, including a military boot-camp-style wall climb that puts a premium on cooperation.

The center also coordinates bike tours, and in the winter, this is where you get your skis, snowshoes and inner tubes for the resort's Mystic Mountain trails. This winter also will see the introduction of dog-sledding along the resort's trails, even if there's no snow - the husky-powered sleds have wheels.

Nemacolin's shooting academy is five miles east of the resort, down a country road. At its central lodge, designed to look like Teddy Roosevelt's game room, participants can rent 12-guage shotguns and arrange for instruction in their handling.

The milelong course has 80 traps that launch orange clay pigeons to simulate a variety of game-hunting situations: incoming, outgoing, diving - even bouncing along the ground like a rabbit. Well-placed gazebos offer warm stoves and hot tea or cocoa. A herd of elk also resides on the academy grounds, but they are definitely not for target practice.

Tea and art
To balance all that rough-and-tumble stuff, the resort offers afternoon tea Thursday through Sunday and guided tours of the Hardy family's $45 million art collection. The family's tastes are eclectic, but the collection betrays an affection for art nouveau.

Tiffany lamps and windows appear frequently along the long walk from the chateau to the conference center. Two chairs in the art nouveau mode, but created by the late fashion designer Gianni Versace, are in the main chateau reception area. The theme is repeated by statues and paintings that look as if they came from great-grandma's girlhood books, when Egyptians and dragonflies seemed to dominate the artistic imagination.

Nevertheless, the work adopted as a mascot and symbol of the place is the more contemporary Fat Bird. Metal iterations of the bird show up throughout the resort; his image is on its letterhead and brochures. The golf trophy that Singh won? Fat Bird, in bronze. Fat Bird is based on Little Bird, a 4-foot-high bronze created in 1992 by Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero. Little Bird currently perches at the main entrance to the grounds on U.S. 40.

Fat Bird and Little Bird both could use some time in the spa. Nemacolin's spa offers fitness programs (including flexibility exercises designed to improve your golf swing) as well as 50-some treatment and salon services, such as massage, aromatherapy, waxing and body scrub sessions.

Fine dining
Two of Nemacolin's 14 restaurants recently snagged positions on Pittsburgh Magazine's "Top 25" list - notable, given the fact that Pittsburgh is 65 miles away. Lautrec, the more established of the two, unfortunately was closed for remodeling during my most recent visit, but that diverted me into the other, Aqueous, inside Falling Rock.

The Aqueous menu and style of service favor people who like to think about their food. For example, the soup du jour for my meal was mushroom, which sounds pretty basic. But instead of a bowlful of a single soup, I was given a candelabrum-type widget holding three flasks: a mushroom consomme, a cream of mushroom and a mushroom-parmesan soup that somehow achieved intense parmesan flavor without being thickly cheesy.

Portions are small - they don't want you looking like Fat Bird. A minimalistic salad of heirloom tomatoes consisted of slices of six varieties, accompanied by fresh mozzarella.

A signature entree, Lobster³ - called "Lobster cubed" - is the chef's three takes on lobster, including lobster claw, poached lobster tail and tempura lobster knuckles, served with salsify, anise and lotus root. A small point, but typical of this chef's cerebral approach to food: Even the accompanying potatoes had three forms - chipped, mashed and homemade tater tots.

Dessert was deconstructed apple pie: barely sweet little cubes of apple but bracketed by smears of caramel and cinnamon, so that I essentially could create my own pie by the forkful.

The next day, I visited the resort's equestrian center. The horses were taking the day off in nearby pastures, and the stables were populated instead by a meowing fleet of spoiled cats. Usually, however, this is where trail rides, pony rides and sleigh rides originate. (A guided, half-day horseback ride allows guests a leisurely exploration of nearby Ohiopyle State Park.)

The small herds of goats and calves probably were intended to give the place a bit of farm flavor, but, like the stables themselves, they seemed inordinately neat and clean.

It's hard now to picture this pleasant, pastoral area as the scene of Braddock's humiliating retreat. But Washington and others no doubt learned valuable, if painful, lessons here.

Keeping the troops motivated remains essential for generals - and CEOs. General Braddock's reported last words were something you wouldn't want to see in a PowerPoint presentation: "We shall better know how to deal with them another time."

When you go


Getting there


The closest commercial airport is at Morgantown, W.Va., some 35 miles away. The Pittsburgh airport is about 70 miles from Nemacolin. The resort has its own airfield for private planes; call 724-329-8555 for reservations and information.

Driving, the resort is about 190 miles west of Baltimore in the Farmington area of Fayette County, Pa. Take I-70 to I-68 at Hancock, then, from Exit 14-B (Uniontown), follow U.S. 40 west about 20 miles to Nemacolin.

Where to stay
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa, 800-422-2736, nemacolin.com. The following lodging options all are on the grounds of the resort. Prices are brochure prices, but rates may be lower with a package:

Chateau LaFayette: A five-story building rising out of the hills like Oz's Emerald City. Luxurious rooms, easy (indoor) walk to conference center. Doubles, off-season, start at $250 a night.

The Lodge: An English-style inn with easy access to the chateau, conference center and dining. Doubles, off-season, start at $200 a night.

Falling Rock: New boutique-style hotel is a five-minute shuttle-bus ride from the main buildings, but just off the Mystic Rock course's 18th green. Doubles, off-season, start at $350 a night.

Lodging options
Uniontown, 12 miles west, has several national-chain motels, including Super 8 and Holiday Inn. For smaller inns and B&Bs, check the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau site, www.laurelhighlands.org.

Dining
The restaurants listed below are on the grounds of the resort. All may be contacted for reservations via the main resort switchboard, 724-329-8555.

Lautrec: In the Chateau LaFayette, Nemacolin's premier restaurant has Pittsburgh Magazine's 2005 "Chef of the Year" and a 10,000-bottle wine cellar. Modern French cuisine. Seven-course fixed price dinners start at $96. Dinner only.

Aqueous: At Falling Rock. High ceilings, upscale amenities, creative menu. Dinner entrees start at $34. Special tasting menu at the chef's table typically runs $125 per person. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Tavern: Near the conference center; informal, but with well-executed renditions of traditional lunch favorites. Plates start at $18, sandwiches from $10. Lunch and dinner only.

Activities
It's not necessary to be a resort guest to participate in activities. In addition to golf and spa treatments, here's a sample of things to do:

Off-road driving academy: Hummer-wrangling in a variety of challenging circumstances. $275 per vehicle ($125 if you use your own Hummer) for a two-hour session with instructor.

Ropes course: Learn self-awareness and trust for $35 per person.

Zip line: For ages 10 and up. $15 per zip.

Dog-sledding: A guided 30-minute canine-powered ride. Limit of 300 pounds per sled; $160 for first person; $50 for each additional person.

Scenic trail rides: $60 per hour per person, group; $75 private.

Sleigh rides: $60 per half-hour for four people.

Shooting academy (724-329-6770): Hourly instructional sessions $102 ($70 if you provide your own shotgun and ammunition). Rates vary for packages depending on number of targets and whether academy equipment is used. A 100-target session, including equipment rental, is $99.

Jerry V. Haines
The Baltimore Sun

http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/bal-tr.nemacolin04dec04,1,2509976.story?coll=bal-artslife-travel

Cajun Country

Cajun Country
A rollicking road trip through the bayous of Louisiana--bring an appetite and dancing shoes, because this is a party you won't want to miss

James T. Yenckel
November 2003 issue
http://www.budgettravelonline.com

Every Saturday morning at an accordion shop in Eunice, Louisiana, there's a jam session. The musicians, about 20 of them, play virtually nonstop. My wife and I joined the crowd in tapping our toes or keeping beat with a triangle, an instrument most of us know from childhood. One little girl, about eight, caught the rhythm with a pair of spoons. Bound together, the spoons made a clacking sound when slapped against her thigh. As should be obvious by now, this is a journey into another culture; you're as likely to hear Cajun French spoken as English. It's like going overseas, but to a land where everything seems to cost less than at home: A room at a good chain motel goes for under $50 a night for two. A shrimp dinner at Mulate's, a famous Cajun family restaurant and dance hall in Breaux Bridge, costs just $12.95. With the shrimp, you get jambalaya, cole slaw, French fries, garlic bread, and a night of Cajun song and dance.

Cajun Country, made up of 22 southwestern Louisiana parishes, is a lush landscape of woods, swamps, and fields of rice and sugarcane. It's the home of the friendly, fun-loving (and also somewhat shy) descendants of the Acadians. They were a French-speaking, Catholic people who were brutally expelled by the British from their Nova Scotia farms in 1755 and found sanctuary in what was then French Louisiana.

In the early 1900s, Louisiana authorities tried to suppress Cajun culture, banning the use of French in schools. But in recent decades, the Cajuns have repossessed their heritage and display an obvious pride. One major unifying force is Cajun music and dance, which is something of a family affair.

At Mulate's, or any other family dance hall, the youngsters start to dance before their feet touch the floor. When my wife and I first came here, we saw a dad scoop up his infant daughter while the mom picked up their son; the entire family joined in a fancy two-step to a five-piece band. Around the crowded floor they twirled, the youngsters beaming in their parents' arms.

Day one: New Orleans to Lafayette, 150 miles

Either from the city or the airport, the drive initially follows I-10 north, skirting the southwestern edge of massive Lake Pontchartrain and then skimming across a swamp, an eerie blend of beauty and decay. Soon enough, though, you'll leave the interstate for State Route 22/70, a back road winding past sugarcane fields and murky bayous, the local name for a sluggish stream. The region is less than prosperous, and many residences appear to be (at least from the outside) little more than weather-worn shanties.

Follow the signs to the Sunshine Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River; after crossing it, take Route 1 north to White Castle, where you should stop for a tour of Nottoway Plantation (225/545-2730; adults, $10). The 64-room Nottoway is no shanty; it's one of the largest plantation homes in the South. It isn't Cajun, but it would be a shame to pass it by. Of Greek Revival and Italianate style-long balconies and lots of columns-the house was built just before the Civil War by a sugar planter from Virginia. As the story goes, it was saved from destruction by a Northern gunboat officer who had been a guest there before the war.

Continue on Route 1, then take Route 77 north to I-10, picking the interstate up again as it angles west. Rising up on tall stilts, the highway tiptoes across the 595,000-acre Atchafa-laya River Basin, America's largest swamp wilderness. Moss-covered oak and cypress trees stretch into the distance. Two hundred species of birds and an abundance of other wildlife are found here, drawing fishing enthusiasts, nature photographers, and boaters. Stop in at the Bayou Teche Visitors Center (337/332-8500) for information about swamp tours, which are priced from $12 to $25 per person.

Save Mulate's for evening and head into neighboring Lafayette, the capital of Cajun Country. You can get a basic course in Cajun life at the Acadian Cultural Center, part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (no fee). An excellent movie, shown with French subtitles, dramatizes the Acadian exodus from Nova Scotia to Louisiana, and the museum displays examples of early Cajun farm implements, clothing, and housing styles. When my wife picked up a pair of musical spoons in the gift shop, ranger David Domengeaux promptly showed her how to play them, slapping them against his thigh with a fine, rhythmic beat. "I was born doing this," said Domengeaux, who plays in a band in his free time.

Up the road is Vermilionville ($8), where Cajun structures (some historic, others reconstructed) create a typical village of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Visit the school, the church, a four-room home, the barn. Talk to the blacksmith, catch a ride on the muscle-powered ferry, and step into the bakery for a "pig's ear" ($1), a crisp Cajun pastry dripping with honey-like cane sugar.

End the day back at Mulate's (325 W. Mills Ave., 337/332-4648), on the western edge of the basin, about a five-mile drive. Pay no heed to the seedy appearance-it serves authentic Cajun food and music to Cajun families and tourists alike. The seafood gumbo (grande bol, $8.95) is legendary.

Day two: Lafayette to Eunice and back, 130 miles

From Lafayette, take I-49 north to Opelousas and U.S. 190 west to Eunice. First stop on Saturday is the free 9 a.m. to noon jam session at the Savoy Music Center. Marc Savoy is an accordionist with the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band. He also makes accordions, and on Saturdays he opens his shop for a jam that draws the locals for miles around. Skilled players set the pace; to join in as an amateur, do so quietly from the audience.

Get to Savoy's early, and then connect to Route 13 eight miles north to Fred's Lounge in little Mamou. The town calls itself the "Cajun music capital of the world." On Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.), Fred's becomes a Cajun dance hall-adults only-with a live radio broadcast on KVPI-AM/1050. (Tune in on your way.) The place looks like a dive, but it's one of the hallowed halls of Cajun music, packed with locals two-stepping on the tiny dance floor. A bar drink is the price of admission; we bought Bloody Marys for $3 apiece.

Double back to Eunice and check out a trio of attractions (no fee at any): the Cajun Music Hall of Fame & Museum, the Eunice Museum (to learn about the region's rowdy Mardi Gras), and the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, another unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park.

North of the swamplands, the prairie spawned Cajun cowboys called vachers, whose story is told at the cultural center. Saturdays at 3 p.m. the center stages an hour-long Cajun-music concert, and volunteers teach dances like the basic two-step. After a late lunch at Mama's Fried Chicken (fried catfish plate, $7), catch the live Cajun Radio & TV Show ($5), broadcast from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Eunice's Liberty Theater (S. 2nd and Park Ave., 337/457-7389). Return to Lafayette via Route 13 south and I-10 east. If all this hasn't sated your desire for Cajun music, dine at Bubba Frey's on Saturday nights, six miles south of Eunice (29017 Crowley Eunice Hwy., 337/550-1992; shrimp platter, $10). Local tourist information: 877/948-8004, cajuntravel.com.

Day three: Lafayette to New Orleans via St. Martinville and New Iberia, 200 miles

Nearby on the Bayou Teche, the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site ($2) occupies a lovely park filled with moss-heavy oaks. There's an eighteenth-century, rustic Cajun cabin of the type used by the first arrivals, and a nineteenth-century Acadian farmstead, Maison Olivier, which includes a family home, outdoor kitchen, barn, and slave quarters.

Continue south on Route 31 to New Iberia, where you can learn about Cajun rice culture at the Konriko Company Store ($3.25), America's oldest rice mill (or so they say). On a 40-minute tour (except Sundays), you'll see rice cakes and other products being made and packaged. For details about famed Tabasco pepper sauce, a Cajun favorite, take Route 329 to Avery Island and the Tabasco factory (no fee). Jungle Garden ($6), located on the salt island rising above the surrounding marshes where the peppers for the sauce are grown, earns its name with azaleas, camellias, and lots of exotic trees.

Return to U.S. 90 and proceed past Morgan City to near Houma, connecting to Route 20 north to Thibodaux. The final stop is the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center (no fee), a third part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. The center recalls the life of the Acadians who settled in the swamplands. Among the items on display are various fishing skiffs and a bit of dried Spanish moss. The ubiquitous moss was put to good use as mattress stuffing, wadding for early firearms, protective cover for seeds, and even toilet tissue.

Then follow Route 1 east to U.S. 90 to New Orleans. At Boutte, take I-310 north to I-10 east to the airport to catch a late-afternoon flight home. One thing's for certain: You'll never look at those moss-draped oaks the same way again.

Making plans

For a week's car rental for a mid-July trip, National (nationalcar.com) and Alamo (alamo.com) quoted $130 for a compact car with unlimited mileage. Next was Thrifty (thrifty.com) at $145.

Festivals with food, music, and a fais do-do (street dance) are scheduled nearly every week somewhere in Cajun Country. They're great fun at minimal cost. The Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission (800/346-1958, lafayettetravel.com) publishes an events calendar.

In Lafayette, pick up a free copy of the Times of Acadiana (337/289-6300, timesofacadiana.com), a tabloid weekly distributed at motels, restaurants, and other tourist sites. Its calendar lists places and dates to hear music in Cajun Country. In one issue, I counted more than 100 venues for the week.

Where to stay


http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400590.html

Shenandoah Country

Shenandoah Country
A budget drive in historic, sight-packed Shenandoah Valley and Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

James T. Yenckel
July/August 2003 issue
http://www.budgettravelonline.com



Fabled in song and story-remember Shenandoah! the movie (with James Stewart) and Broadway musical?-Virginia's Shenandoah Country welcomes visitors with a full agenda of compelling things to see and do: Civil War history, wine tastings, nineteenth-century villages, cave tours, antiques shopping, a museum filled with colorful Rose Parade floats, tubing on the Shenandoah River, a visit to a gourmet potato chip factory. Happily, many of these activities are free, and the rest won't bust your budget. Similarly, chain motels quoting rates of $55 to $65 for two are plentiful, and you can dine nightly on roast ham, fried chicken, tasty pork barbecue, and other Virginia treats for about $10 per person. Consider this four-day, 450-mile drive a down-home getaway.

By Shenandoah Country, I mean both Shenandoah Valley and Shenandoah National Park. The 110-mile-long valley is tucked between the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east and the Allegheny Mountains to the west. Traced by the meandering Shenandoah River, it is a popular regional playground. The national park embraces a 100-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge, where forested peaks climb above 4,000 feet. On this circle tour, you will drive south through the valley and return north on Skyline Drive, the park's scenic ridgetop road.

A fertile region of farms and orchards set among green, rolling hills, the Shenandoah Valley has played an important role in American history. In the early eighteenth century it was the raw frontier, where a young Colonel George Washington commanded Virginia troops during the French and Indian War. In the Civil War, it became the breadbasket of the Confederacy, feeding General Robert E. Lee's troops until almost the end. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Lee's valued lieutenant, earned his first laurels defending the valley. Both are buried in Lexington, a pretty Shenandoah Valley college town that today is something of a Southern Civil War shrine.

In a hurry, you can drive the length of the valley from Winchester in the north to Lexington in the south in a little over two hours on busy I-81. But on this trip, we'll stick mostly to U.S. 11, the Old Valley Pike, a lightly traveled, mostly two-lane road that covers the same route at a more leisurely pace. As a city dweller, I often pull over to watch newborn farm animals-calves, colts, kids, and lambs-scampering in the fields.

Getting started

Fly into one of the Washington, D.C., area's three airports. Generally, the best fares are available into Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) in suburban Maryland, a hub for Southwest Airlines, America's largest discount airline. America West, another discounter, also operates out of BWI. But the most convenient airport is Washington Dulles International (IAD) in suburban Virginia, served by a trio of discount carriers: AirTran, America West, and JetBlue. Discounters ATA and America West fly into Washington's third airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA), just minutes from the White House and the U.S. Capitol.

This drive begins at Dulles, located less than an hour from Shenandoah Valley. Dulles is 60 miles from BWI and 35 miles from Reagan National. Rental cars average $175 a week at various Dulles counters.

Day one: On the road

From Washington Dulles International Airport to Winchester, Virginia, 60 miles. The drive gets off to a scenic start, crossing through Virginia's affluent horse country. Stately stone mansions stand surrounded by acres of broad green pastures, where aristocratic-looking steeds graze contentedly. Jacqueline Kennedy lived and rode here. To view the rich, stop in Middleburg, the hub of the horsey set. Browse its elegant antiques shops just to see the museum-quality items for sale.

A few miles west, the road (U.S. 50) skirts the little village of Paris and climbs a modest Blue Ridge pass called Ashby Gap. From the summit, you descend into the Shenandoah Valley. In minutes, you will cross the Shenandoah River, which flows rather lazily in summer en route to its confluence with the Potomac River. This drive crisscrosses the Shenandoah many times.

Winchester claims to be the first city established west of the Blue Ridge. At least eight structures in the Old Town district date back to the late 1700s. Among them is George Washington's Office, a log-and-stone cabin preserved as a museum (adults, $5). It focuses on the year 1755 to 1756, when Washington was assigned to protect the western frontier from attack.

Nearby, the white home with a cannon on the lawn is Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters (540/667-3242; $5), a museum detailing Jackson's stay from 1861 to 1862, when his troops fought off Union attempts to seize the valley. Winchester is said to have changed hands more than 70 times during the Civil War.

Country music fans will want to see the home, grave site, and other landmarks celebrating the life of singer Patsy Cline, who was born and raised in Winchester. Pick up free brochures about local area attractions at the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center (800/662-1360; 1360 S. Pleasant Valley Rd.).

Details

From Dulles, take Virginia Route 28 south five miles to U.S. 50 west to Winchester. Stay at the 113-room Red Roof Inn (540/667-5000), $60; or the 62-room Super 8 (800/800-8000), $55 weekdays, $65 weekends. Dine with the local folks at the friendly, funky Amherst Diner (540/665-4450), where the pork chop plate with dressing and vegetables is priced at an easy $7.25. More romantic is the Cork Street Tavern (540/667-3777). Try the broiled trout at $9.95. Information 800/662-1360, visitwinchesterva.com.

Day two: Winchester to Lexington, 160 miles

Today's drive mostly follows U.S. 11 past prosperous farms and quiet nineteenth-century towns, each with a special attraction.

Still a breadbasket, the Shenandoah Valley markets lots of locally grown produce. But perhaps its most famous edibles are the gourmet potato chips made at Route 11 Potato Chips, a small factory in Middletown, just south of Winchester. The chips are fried the old-fashioned way-hand-stirred in small batches in bubbling kettles. Visitors can watch through the kitchen window (no charge). Samples on Friday and Saturday; best to come before 11 a.m.

On October 19, 1864, Middletown was the setting for the last great Civil War battle in the valley, when the North finally claimed victory. The story is told at the Cedar Creek Battlefield Visitor Center ($5), which overlooks a landscape little changed since then. In the distance stately Belle Grove ($7), an eighteenth-century plantation home, is maintained as a museum by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. You don't have to tour the house to enjoy its magnificent Blue Ridge views. Walk among the gardens and orchards at no cost. Both sites are part of the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historic Park.

Down the road in Strasburg, browse the Great Strasburg Antiques Emporium, where 100 dealers display objects (some expensive, most not) from America's past. My wife frequently snaps up fancy porcelain serving dishes at a bargain. Treat the kids to a swim at Half-Moon Beach Park ($5 adult, $3 ages four to nine, add $2 on weekends), a 16-acre rock-quarry lake in the woods with a five-acre white-sand beach. It's the Strasburg swimming pool.

On to Edinburg, home of Shenandoah Vineyards. In recent years, Virginia's more than 70 wineries have begun winning raves for quality vintages. Judge for yourself at the vineyard's rustic tasting room, a red barn in the midst of 40 acres of grapevines. I stopped recently to sample a fruity Chardonnay and the offbeat Shenandoah Ruby. No charge for tasting, and the view is grand.

Now it's the youngsters' turn for fun again. Take them to American Celebration on Parade ($8), a massive museum of famous parade floats located south of Mount Jackson. The museum displays 27 huge floats, all but three of which appeared in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.

I'm a Northerner, and my sympathies do not lie with the Confederate cause. This said, I can admit that I came away touched by the story told at the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park ($8) in New Market. On May 15, 1864, a band of 247 teenage cadets, hastily assembled at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, charged an attacking Union line and helped win a Southern victory. The Visitor Center movie, Field of Lost Shoes, which focuses on the death of one young Confederate hero, is especially poignant.

Enough sightseeing for the day? Relax and enjoy the scenery as you cover the remaining 75 miles to Lexington. En route, take a look at Staunton's beautifully restored nineteenth-century town center. And connect here to Virginia Route 252 to Lexington, one of the valley's loveliest roads. A twisting, two-lane pathway, it tops a series of rolling hills, yielding a view of farm-country America as beautiful as you could hope to find. Every turn presents a landscape worthy of a painting: a grand old farmhouse on the far hilltop; a tall, brick silo looking worn but solid; bales of hay rolled up in the fields; a pasture of Black Angus cattle knee-deep in lush, green grass; lots of sheep, of course; Moffatts Creek tumbling by the roadside; and thick stands of trees, where the branches reach across the road to form a shimmering tunnel in the sunlight.

Details

From Winchester, take U.S. 11 south to Staunton, connecting to Virginia Route 252/39 into Lexington. Stay in Lexington at the 50-room Super 8 (800/800-8000), $65 weekdays, $72 weekends; or the 148-room Red Oak Inn (800/521-9131), $65 weekdays, $75 weekends. Dine at Aunt Sarah's Restaurant (540/464-5227); the cod plate is $7. Information 877/453-9822, lexingtonvirginia.com.

Day three: Blue Ridge Vistas Lexington to Skyland Resort, 140 miles

Spend the morning touring Lexington on foot. Pick up a map at the Visitor Center (106 E. Washington St.).

Visit Robert E. Lee's tomb at Washington and Lee University, where Lee served as president after the Civil War, and the Stonewall Jackson House ($5), which Jackson bought when he was a professor at Virginia Military Institute. Pay your respects, too, to their famous horses. Lee's horse Traveller is buried on the grounds of Washington and Lee; Jackson's mount, Little Sorrel, stands as if alive at the VMI Museum. In a glass case nearby is the raincoat Jackson was wearing when he was accidentally shot. Look for the fatal bullet hole below the left shoulder.

From Lexington, begin the return trip north on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We will cover only 20 miles of the famed 469-mile ridgetop parkway, but it's enough to give you a taste of this spectacular drive. Keep an eye open for deer, which are plentiful. Glide down from the mountains on Virginia Route 56 to Vesuvius to visit the McCormick Farm (no charge) in yet another gorgeous pastoral setting. Here in 1831 Cyrus McCormick demonstrated the first successful mechanical grain reaper in the fields near his farm. Tour his blacksmith shop and gristmill, and a museum.

Head back into the mountains at Waynesboro, southern gateway to Shenandoah National Park. The park's 105-mile Skyline Drive was built to show off the scenery. Flowing like a stream among the rocky peaks, it offers grand valley views. Far below, green pastures and golden fields form a patchwork quilt, and the Shenandoah River makes silvery loops.

Skyline tempts motorists to stop at nearly 80 overlooks. That's one way to see the park. The best way, though, is to go for a walk in the woods. About 28 miles into the park, Ivy Creek Overlook provides an opportunity to hike a short, rock-strewn stretch of the Appalachian Trail. You might bump into a bear here, but don't count on it.

Tonight's stay is in the park. At dusk, watch the lights twinkle on in the valley.

Details

From Lexington, take U.S. 60 east to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Travel 20 miles north and exit on Virginia Route 56 west. At Steeles Tavern take U.S. 11/340 north to Waynesboro and the entrance to Shenandoah National Park. Follow Skyline Drive to Skyland Resort. Stay at 174-room Skyland (800/999-4714), beginning at $55 weekdays, $70 weekends. Also in the park is 97-room Big Meadows Lodge (800/999-4714), beginning at $70 weekdays, $85 weekends. Dine with a grand view at Skyland Resort or Big Meadows. At Skyland, the fried-chicken plate with apple fritters is $9.55. Information 540/999-3500, nps.gov/shen.

Day Four: On the River Skyland Resort to Dulles Airport, 100 miles

From Skyland, drop back down into the valley for one last look. In Luray, consider a one-hour tour of Luray Caverns ($16), which claims to be the region's largest cave. A guide leads the way through cathedral-size chambers of fantastical stone formations. Easier on the budget is the adjacent Garden Maze ($5), a one-acre footpath puzzle formed by eight-foot-tall evergreens.

Save time for a Shenandoah River trip. At Bentonville, 14 miles north, Downriver Canoe Company (800/338-1963, downriver.com) will put you on the Shenandoah in a canoe, rubber raft, kayak, or inner tube. A three-mile, three-hour tube float with shuttle service costs $14 per person. Or plan a picnic at Shenandoah River State Park ($3 per car), which boasts five miles of river frontage. And then head for the airport and home.

Details

From Skyland Resort, head north ten miles, exiting west to Luray on U.S. 211. From Luray, take U.S. 340 north through Bentonville to Front Royal. Return to Dulles quickly on I-66 east to Virginia Route 28 north.

http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400727.html

South Dakota

South Dakota

Matthew Link
July/August 2003 issue
http://www.budgettravelonline.com

Mistakenly believing that it's hard to reach, many Americans fail to visit the greatest human monument in all the nation, chiseled into the Black Hills of South Dakota. It's called Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and (for Americans) it's on a par-artistically and emotionally-with the Great Wall and the Taj Mahal. It's also only one of many wonders in the southwest corner of the state. They include the otherworldly rock formations of Badlands National Park, the burgeoning bison herds at Custer State Park, the dramatic Native American history and culture at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and the Crazy Horse Monument-the world's largest sculpture in the making.

There couldn't be a better time to visit these grand landmarks, in an area of the country where lodging, food, and sightseeing costs are among our nation's least expensive. A Swift Visit to Rapid City Though Sioux Falls is the state's largest town (and airport), you are much better situated for the drive we suggest by beginning the trip in Rapid City, five-and-a-half hours to the west (and thus much nearer to The Badlands and Mount Rushmore). Delta, Northwest, and United Express all fly into the quiet Rapid City Airport (usually via Denver), with United Express tending to be the cheapest of the three. Low-cost car-rental companies at the airport include Thrifty, Budget, and National.

Most tourists on their way to Mount Rushmore speed through Rapid City without stopping, but this neat, clean, and historic town is worth at least a full day's exploration. With well-tended gardens, historical signs everywhere, and interesting shops and restaurants, the city is a standout. And the downtown landmark you won't want to miss is the Hotel Alex Johnson (523 Sixth St., 605/342-1210, www.alexjohnson.com), a 75-year-old, ten-story tower with chalet motifs that somehow fit in. Pick up a walking-tour brochure that describes the property's ornate lobby, woodwork, chandeliers, and artwork. And why not stay here your first night? Doubles start at just $59 in winter, $89 in summer. If it's full, try the modern Microtel Inn & Suites (1740 Rapp St., 605/348-2523, www.microtelinn.com), where rooms start as low as $57 in winter, $82 in summer.

Take time to see the rest of the downtown, with its boutiques, Indian arts stores, and western shops. One store not to miss is Prairie Edge (606 Main St., 800/541-2388), which showcases remarkable Native American arts and artifacts like drums, pipes, jewelry, herbs, and clothing; it's free and interesting to browse, even if you don't buy a thing. Then have lunch or dinner around the corner at the Firehouse Brewing Co. (610 Main St., 605/348-1915), housed in a former old-time, brick fire station whose huge meals-like Hyperventilation Wings and Rings of Fire Fightin' Nachos-sell for only $7.95. You'll see real-life cowboys with Stetsons and tight jeans stuffed into their boots, sauntering about just like in olden times.

Even if you don't stay in Rapid City, stop by the Journey Museum (222 New York St., 605/394-6923, www.journeymuseum.org; $6) before heading on. Recently opened amid much controversy (it went way over budget and is in an awkward, hard-to-find location), the collection here is nothing short of first-class, with all kinds of multimedia and interactive displays on Native American culture and history-everything you'd want to know about South Dakota history, geology, and mythology.

Good times in the Badlands

Now, from Rapid City, head east along Interstate 90 for roughly 60 miles to the famous town of Wall. With billboards and signs for Wall Drug (which began by giving away ice water for travelers during the Depression) stretching from here to the South Pole, the town has become a running joke for cross-country motorists. The actual Wall Drug store (605/279-2175, www.walldrug.com) is a huge souvenir emporium taking up more than one building, offering mostly tacky but fun ashtrays, mugs, and fake bows and arrows, as well as singing mannequins and historical photos of Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and Annie Oakley. If you're hungry, Cactus Cafe & Lounge (519 Main St., 605/279-2561) in downtown Wall serves up Mexican food, steaks, and seafood in a down-home atmosphere for rarely more than $10.

From Wall, head south on 240 until you reach the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands National Park. The $10 car entrance fee is good for seven days ($5 for cyclists or hikers), and you'll want to spend at least two days at this magical outdoor U.S. attraction, rich in visuals and atmosphere.

How did the Badlands get their name?

The French Canadian fur trappers called them les mauvais terres ... traverser, or the "bad lands to travel across." The Native Americans' name for them, mako sica, also meant "bad lands." The reference captured the imagination of the American pioneers who had to traverse this unrelenting terrain in the 1800s. Named a national monument in 1939 and a full-fledged national park in 1978, Badlands, with its rock spires of different hues, is a mystical experience for intrepid domestic travelers. It's a place of intense history and controversy, which continues as Native Americans keep fighting for their land rights in this unforgiving land. Recent sit-in protests by activists postponed the digging up of ancient graves at Stronghold Table, a sacred area claimed by both the Lakota Nation and the National Park Service.

With pointed, jagged peaks made from water-sculpted, crumbling rock, stark canyons in yellow and red tones, and frequent thunderstorms (legend says caused by the mythical Thunder Birds) creating a dramatic purple backdrop, it's amazing it took so long for the beauty of this area to be appreciated and accepted on its own terms. The Badlands lie 62 miles east of Rapid City, on I-90. Turning west on Creek Rim Road after the Pinnacles Entrance, you'll begin to witness the distinct badland formations and see some of the last virgin prairie land in the U.S. Five miles west from the entrance is Roberts Prairie Dog Town filled with mounds of earth dotted with peeking little heads of dogs. A vital member of the ecosystem due to their soil churning, the irresistibly cute prairie canines are endangered by ranchers who would rather see them all gone. Their natural predator, the black-footed ferret, once thought extinct, is still unusually rare. Badlands is one of the few places left to see such amazing creatures.

The one main road east through the park is the Badlands Loop Road, which takes you through most of the park's natural wonders. A must-do is a hike along the Castle Trail near the Interior Entrance to the park. The Mars-like terrain will seem like the setting for a science fiction movie. Ranger talks are free during the summer, on topics ranging from fossils to prairie dogs. More information: 605/433-5361, www.nps.gov/badl.

Near the park entrance are the only lodging facilities in the park at Cedar Pass Lodge (Cedar St., Interior, 605/433-5460), with individual cottages and a decent diner (under $10 for most meals) and gift shop. Doubles start at $55. You can also try the Badlands Budget Host Hotel (Hwy. 377, 605/433-5335), just outside the park entrance and open from May 1 to October 1. The 21 units start at $46 per double. Camping in Badlands National Park is available at two campsites. One campsite is free, the other charges only $10 a night (14-day limit). Call 605/433-5361 for information. And for your meals, try A & M Cafe (605/433-5340), just outside the park on Highway 44 in Interior. It's a very local diner where you can witness real cowboys and Indians munching on fried chicken, homemade pies, and Indian tacos, all under $9. The place feels like a living room.

As you drive west back out of the park on Highway 44, you can take in the wide-open vistas of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland (which, unfortunately, has no buffalo on it but is leased to cattlemen for somewhat destructive grazing by livestock), adjacent to the Badlands National Park.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

A visit to Badlands wouldn't be complete without a detour south to Wounded Knee. Located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (second largest in the U.S.) about 60 miles south of Badlands National Park, this unassuming valley masks a horrific history-it's the site of a genocidal massacre of hundreds of unarmed Indian men, women, and children by the U.S. Cavalry in 1890 (including the Sioux leader Chief Big Foot). A somber graveyard marks the spot, and there's a friendly little visitors center affiliated with the American Indian Movement, with information on current-day Native American politics and the tribes' rough handling by the federal government. (The long, brutal history of Native Americans in this country can be read in the classic book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.) Obviously weary of outside government intervention but extremely friendly to guests, the residents of the Pine Ridge reservation welcome respectful visitors to their famous Sun Dances and powwows-cultural events not to be missed. To witness the ancient rhythms and colors of these Native American rituals is to fall in love with our great country and its land and people once again. For an event schedule, go to www.travelsd.com/history/sioux/powwows.htm, or call 605/867-5821, and also check out the political site www.fireonprairie.org.

There's no place to stay within the reservation, but if you choose to spend a night in the area, do so just south of Pine Ridge near the Nebraska border at the charming Wakpamni B&B (605/288-1868, www.wakpamni.com), a family-run farmhouse getaway amid cornfields, with tepees to sleep in if the spirit moves you. Prices start at $60 for a double.

You're soaking in it

Heading northeast from the town of Pine Ridge on Highway 18, you'll begin the ascent into the Black Hills. One of the first towns you'll encounter is delightful Hot Springs, a turn-of-the-century resort with over 50 buildings built from blocks of pink sandstone. The warm-temperature Fall River goes through the heart of town, and you can bathe in the healing thermal waters at Springs Bath House for only $8 for the entire day (146 North Garden St., 888/817-1972, www.springsbathhouse.com). Whether or not you do have a soak, get out of your car and stroll along the Freedoms Trail, a mile-long sidewalk that follows the banks of the river. You'll also want to stop by the Mammoth Site Museum in Hot Springs (1800 W. Hwy. 18 By-Pass, 605/745-6017, www.mammothsite.com; $6.50), a mass graveyard of over 100 mammoths and other prehistoric animals where you can watch paleontologists work on the bones.

Now you'll want to head north on Highway 385 toward Custer State Park. The hills become forested as you approach Wind Cave National Park (605/745-4600, www.nps.gov/wica), one of the world's longest and most complex cave systems (they still haven't found the end of it). Cave tours of the intricate box work, "cave popcorn," and flowstone formations cost only $6.

Just north of Wind Cave is the superb, 73,000-acre Custer State Park (605/255-4515, www.custerstatepark.info), which is surely as impressive as any national park. These green, rolling hills are home to one of the largest bison herds in the world (at 1,500), as well as an 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road full of pronghorn antelope, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, wild turkeys, and a band of friendly burros that often come right up to your car. The Needles Highway (Hwy. 87), which snakes through the northwest corner of the park, is like a visual fairyland, with thin rock spires magically jutting up above the forest canopy. A must for outdoor types is a hike up the 7,242-foot Harney Peak, a sacred mountain for the Sioux, with breathtaking 360-degree views of the Black Hills from a stone watchtower on its summit. Seven-day passes for the park are $12 per vehicle in summer and $6 the rest of the year.

All the lodges in Custer State Park are impeccably run and world-class-you will definitely want to spend at least one night here. One special recommendation (for which you'll want to make reservations) is the historic stone and wood State Game Lodge and Resort, which President Calvin Coolidge used as his "summer White House" in 1927; its rooms start at $75. Another you can opt for is a full-fledged modern log cabin with a double bed and sleeper sofa that can comfortably sleep four for $99, booked through the Blue Bell Lodge and Resort. Info for either property: 800/658-3530, or www.custerresorts.com.

The heads of state

We finally arrive at the grand finale of the trip: overwhelming, majestic Mount Rushmore National Memorial (605/574-2523, www.nps.gov/moru; $8 parking fee). One of those phenomena that needs to be seen to be believed, the four stunning, 60-foot presidential heads were built between 1927 and 1941 by the eccentric genius Gutzon Borglum (with the help of 400 workers, of course). An excellent visitors center shows films and houses displays of little-known facts and artifacts, like the large, cave-like shrine that is half built behind Lincoln's head, the original plans to also carve out the upper torsos of the presidents, and the controversial decision to include Borglum's friend Teddy Roosevelt in the sculpture. Schedule at least half a day to take in this human achievement that Borglum proclaimed would stand over 10,000 years from now (and no one doubts it).

Nearly every visitor to Mount Rushmore makes a pilgrimage to the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial (605/673-4681, www.crazyhorse.org; $9) off Highway 385, which is also home to the comprehensive Indian Museum of North America and the Native American Cultural Center. Be sure to see Mount Rushmore first, because it will pale in comparison with Crazy Horse, which will be the largest sculpture in the world when it is finally completed (heaven knows when). The carved-out mountain of Crazy Horse sitting on his horse pointing outward is a three-dimensional monument so enormous that the four heads of Mount Rushmore could fit inside of Crazy Horse's head alone. At the request of Native Americans, sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began the project in 1948, and his family has since kept the blasting and carving going, relying entirely on private funds.

Avoid the touristy area of Keystone, where everyone stays in cookie-cutter motels while visiting Mount Rushmore (but check out the fun President's Slide, where visitors plunge down a long mountain on a toboggan run for $8-605/666-4478, www.presidentsslide.com). Head instead to more secluded areas of the Black Hills for accommodations. For instance, the Harney Camp Cabins (605/574-2594), located on a creek four miles south of Hill City, are only $45 per double, and that includes the use of a sundeck and hot tub.

Or mosey north to Deadwood (800/999-1876, www.deadwood.org), a historic town and National Historic Landmark popular for its Old West casinos and 1800s buildings. After a gold rush in 1876, prospectors, Chinese laborers, Calamity Jane, and Wild Bill Hickok all converged on the town to make it one of the most colorful spots in the West. By all means, try to get a room at the historic Bullock Hotel (633 Main St., 800/336-1876, www.heartofdeadwood.com/bullock), the first real hotel in Deadwood, opened in 1885 (before then, the town had only been full of flophouses and bordellos). Refurbished and full of character, it's the place to stay in Deadwood ($74 a room; slightly higher in summer). Or try the Deadwood Inn (27 Deadwood St., 877/815-7974; rooms start at $69), once a feed store and now a 19-room Victorian hotel with casino.

http://www.budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400726.html

Warming Up to Quebec's Tremblant

Warming Up to Quebec's Tremblant
With Its Uncrowded Slopes and French-Style Village, You'll Hardly Notice the Arctic Chill

By Carol Sottili
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 4, 2005; P09

As I pushed off the ski run at the summit of Quebec's Tremblant, I suddenly could not see. I chalked it up to a common skiers' predicament -- goggle fog. But easy-to-swipe mist was not the problem: The air was so cold that my breath had frozen on contact, transforming into ice crystals that adhered to my goggles as stubbornly as any ice I've hacked off a car windshield. As I struggled down the mountain, I started to regret my brave stab at skiing in conditions that had kept nearly everyone else sleeping in or sipping a cafe latte back at the village bakery.

The ski report that morning had not lied. "Good day," the chipper voice had said, before going on to give a 20 kilometer-per-hour wind speed and minus-29-degree temperature. But that's Celsius, I thought, hopeful that the conversion to Fahrenheit would make it much warmer.

Nope. Minus-29 is the equivalent of our minus-20; 20 kph is about 12 mph. Combined, that's a minus-43 Fahrenheit wind chill.

I'd heard a few horror stories about frigid temps here in January, when the average high is 23 and the low 6, and I'd deliberately put off my ski vacation until mid-March. So much for that strategy.

But I was not going to wimp out. Layers were the answer: long underwear, heat warmers in gloves and boots, ski mask, ear muffs, three-layer coat. When I finally pushed open the hotel door, I inhaled air so cold that it felt as if someone had punched me in the chest, hard.

After a two-minute ride on the open-air gondola called Le Cabriolet that transports skiers from parking lots and hotels to the base of the mountain, I tranferred to the eight-person Express Gondola (which I had to myself). Nine minutes later, I was at the 2,871-foot summit.

The upside of skiing when the temperature is minus-20? No lift lines.
The Skiing

Situated in the Laurentian Mountains about 90 minutes north of Montreal, Tremblant boasts the highest summit in Quebec. It's also the largest ski resort in Quebec, with 94 trails and 13 lifts. While there are some who come just for the skiing, the resort and surrounding villages draw those who want to experience a more European style of winter recreation. The French influence is felt not just in the accents of the locals, but also in the fine French restaurants and tempting bakeries. The skiing is good, but the ambiance is a big part of the appeal.

After my first ill-fated run, I took the high-speed quad chair back to the summit -- but this time I snapped off my skis and entered the Grand Manitou shopping and restaurant complex. I lingered over a cup of java, hoping that the rising sun would warm the slopes. Then, screwing up my courage, I headed for an easy green trail called Le Crete before veering onto the Beauvallon Haut intermediate cruiser. But I was still icing up.

On the chairlift back to the summit, two grizzled French Canadians advised me to move to the mountain's North Side, which actually faces more east and gets the morning sun. I was willing to try anything.

I started with the green P'Tit Bonheur run, then got a little more aggressive on the blue Beauchemin Haut blue. So far, so good. The runs were empty, the lift lines nonexistent, the snow conditions fine, and my goggles had not iced up. Grooming was not as extensive as I'd expected, but perhaps this was to insure that the few-inches-deep layer of snow was not scraped off to expose the underlying ice.

For a couple of hours, I stuck to the North Side, content to explore the easy greens that meander through the trees and the forgiving wide blue cruisers that made me feel as if I can ski fairly well. Looking down from the lifts, I was entertained by the handful of hot-dogging snowboarders in the terrain park and the few experts carving up the mogul-filled double-black-diamond Dynamite trail. Both the north and south sides of the mountain are laid out intuitively, with green easy trails on one side, blue intermediates in the middle and black advanced on the other side, which made it easy to decide which way to head.

Curious about the long blue runs that edge the glade skiing in the Soleil area, I eyed the trail map. During a quick chairlift discussion, two teenage snowboarders assured me I'd have no trouble with Soleil's Franc Sud, Toboggan and Tapecul cruisers. "Follow us," they yelled. A cautious skier in the best of conditions, I quickly lost them, but the kids were right. The blue runs of Soleil were just my speed: no moguls, with the right amount of curves and turns.

The next morning I awakened early, eager to try out a strategy mapped out for me by the servers at one of the village restaurants the night before. Hearing that I am not an accomplished skier, they had instructed me to take the TGV lift, look to the left at the black-diamond Grand Prix run and, if it was groomed, to go for it. I discussed that approach with one of the mountain guides. He confirmed that the run had been groomed, so I made the leap, discovering that even an intermediate skier can handle at least one black-diamond run at Tremblant.

With no lift lines, I covered lots of ground in a few hours. Little things, such as chairlift shelves where you can place your goggles or gloves, and the helpful guides, who shift so effortlessly from French to English, helped civilize the extreme cold.

As the temperature rose to 23 degrees and people began getting off work, short lift lines began to form. Time to do a little shopping.
The Village

One of the raps against Tremblant, which is owned by ski resort giant Intrawest, is that its several-block-long pedestrian village, while designed to look like a town in France, is a Disneyesque tourist trap.

It would be easy to side with the purists. The pleasing architecture is reminiscent of a European village, but turn even a slightly critical eye, and it's only a pretty copy, not an original. Prices are high, which was surprising considering the U.S. dollar's strength against the Canadian dollar. Food is good, but dinner entrees at many of the resort's 17 restaurants start at $20 U.S. At one upscale restaurant, the cheapest glass of wine was $10. A few souvenir shops offer the usual T-shirts and tchotchkes, but most of the shopping is high end, featuring pricey Inuit art, Canadian furs and top-shelf ski equipment.

And yet, the spotless village is inviting. At night, white Christmasy lights strung across the cobblestoned main street glimmer as the snow swirls. Music from the clubs and restaurants, and snatches of French and English conversations, create welcoming background noise. Sociable groups warm themselves around the village square's outdoor fire pit. Red-cheeked children screech happily as they take turns on a slide carved from solid ice.

Food and drink offerings, while pricey, are several quality levels above the typical ski resort fare. Regional snacks -- maple taffy on snow, whole-wheat pastries called beaver tails -- are welcome rewards after a hard day on the snow. The village boasts several comfy bars, such as the Microbrasserie La Diable with its dozens of tasty microbrews. The few reasonably priced restaurants are a good value: Creperie Catherine, for example, has a long list of authentic Brittany-style crepes bretonnes stuffed with everything from seafood to chocolate. Nightlife is lively: Le P'tit Caribou, reeking of smoke and beer and heaving with girls and guys gone wild, is known as one of North America's best ski resort party venues.

The corporatization of family-owned ski areas is a hot-button topic in the skiing community, but in Tremblant's case, its very survival was not secure when Intrawest purchased it in 1991. The fraying resort was strapped for cash -- the electricity had been turned off for nonpayment -- and was attracting only about 750,000 visitors a year. Intrawest, helped with the equivalent of about $111 million from the Canadian government, infused about $860 million of its own money into the pedestrian village and the ski infrastructure. Now the resort gets more than 2.3 million visits each year, and Tremblant has been named the No. 1 ski resort in the East by Ski Magazine for the ninth year straight. And Intrawest is not finished. It's building new bases on the east and north sides of the mountains that will cost nearly $1 billion, and hopes to triple the number of visitors to 7 million by 2012.

While ski resorts across North America struggle to make a profit as the number of skier visits has basically stayed flat over the past 15 years, Intrawest has kept Tremblant, and its other resorts, profitable by focusing much of its energy on real estate development. There are currently 11 "hotels," which are actually 1,400 individually owned condo units, in the pedestrian village, and 20 single-family and condo developments with about 825 units in the surrounding area; eventually, the resort plans to add another 2,500 condos and 1,000 townhomes and single-family homes. While there are name-brand hotels, such as Westin, Fairmont and Marriott, none is the traditional corporately owned affair; all hotel room units are sold individually and then rented to overnight guests. My unit, at La Tour des Voyageurs II, was a basic studio, with a small kitchen area equipped with a fridge, sink, microwave and a bit of kitchenware; it sells for about $125,000, one of the most inexpensive offerings. Upscale ski in/out condos and single-family homes can go for $1 million and up.

To bolster real estate sales, Tremblant has pushed the resort as a four-season destination and now offers a lot more than just skiing and snowboarding. Winter activities such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, tubing, dog sledding, snowmobiling and even ice climbing are heavily publicized. The resort also offers a deep lineup of summer activities, including alpine luge, golf, mountain biking and "acrobranche," a sport that involves suspended zip wires.

For those who don't have deep pockets or who prefer spending time with the townies, there are several small villages just outside Tremblant that offer less touristy restaurants, shopping, lodging and bars.

On my third day at Tremblant, I stopped for an early lunch and struck up a conversation with Sanne de Groot, a 20-year-old ski instructor from The Hague in Holland. "I'll show you around," she said. "You will like St.-Jovite."

We had just missed the hourly shuttle bus, which for about 85 cents takes you to the nearby villages of Mont Tremblant (not to be confused with Tremblant resort) and St.-Jovite. Instead, we drove three miles through the small village of Mont Tremblant and then backtracked and headed about seven miles in the other direction to St.-Jovite.

During a half-hour stroll through the town, we passed several restaurants where three-course dinners were priced a good $10 less than similar offerings in Tremblant. I heard only French as we meandered past a library, hardware store, church and various small shops. "I like Tremblant," said de Groot, who was also working part time in a ski shop to make ends meet. "But I can afford more in St.-Jovite."

That evening at the bar at Le Shack, a popular apres-ski spot in Tremblant's pedestrian village, conversation turned to the weather. Maurice Wolpert, 64, of Hamilton, Ontario, listened to my story about ice forming in my goggles and started to laugh. "You do know you need a ski mask that has a nose guard," he explained. "That directs your breath down and away from your mask so it doesn't freeze up." Now they tell me.

The next day, the ski conditions were perfect: a high of 28 degrees with light snow. Unfortunately, I had a plane to catch.

On the way out, I grabbed a summer brochure. The average July/August temperature in Tremblant is a very comfortable 72 degrees. I read more about acrobranche, which sounded intriguing. Perhaps I'll give it a try when I visit next -- sometime in July.
The Washington Post Company

Check My Resort Network's current, comprehensive listings for timeshare resales and rentals. Enjoy stunning resorts in the US and exotic destinations abroad. Have vacation fun.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120200483.html


DETAILS
Tremblant

Sunday, December 4, 2005; P09

GETTING THERE: Air Canada flies nonstop from Reagan National and Dulles to Montreal, about 90 minutes from Tremblant; round-trip fare sometimes drops to $235 during a sale, but is usually around $400. Round-trip shuttle bus transfers from the airport to the resort are about $83 but they run only several times a day. My three-day car rental cost about $150, including gas.

PACKAGE DEALS: Another option is to fly to Newark (fare usually starts at about $140 round trip), then buy a package into Mont-Tremblant International Airport, about 30 minutes from the resort. A three-night package that includes round-trip nonstop air on Voyageur Airlines from Newark to Mont Tremblant, lodging at the resort, breakfasts, lift tickets and transfers starts at $599 per person. Info: 877-425-7919, http://www.mtia.ca/ .

SKIING: A daily adult lift ticket costs about $38 through Dec. 22, $50 Dec. 23-Jan. 2 and $48 Jan. 3-April 17. A rental package, including skis or snowboard, boots and poles for skis, starts at about $27 per day. A 90-minute group lesson starts at about $43. The resort also offers a learn to ski and ride package, with 90-minute lesson, equipment and lift ticket, starting at about $59.

WHEN TO GO: Weather is usually most temperate in March, when the average high is 35 and the low is 21, but arctic cold fronts can blow in at any time during the season, which usually runs from late November to early April. Average high temperature in January is 23. Rain can be a problem in early and late seasons. The resort gets about 150 inches of natural snow a year, but it also has 850 snowblowers. It's less expensive to go before the holidays or from Jan. 3 to Feb. 15.

STAYING THERE: It's most convenient to stay at the base of the mountain. The Fairmont and the Westin are two more expensive choices, while La Tour des Voyageurs , where I stayed, is one of the cheapest offerings. Tremblant (888-738-1777, http://www.tremblant.ca/ ) offers ski and stay packages and frequent special deals, such as kids stay and ski free; price out the components separately to make sure you're getting the best deal. For example, a four-night hotel/ski package for two at the Westin was recently priced at $1,585 on the resort's Web site, but by separately pricing the hotel through http://www.westin.com/ , I saved nearly $200. There are also many reasonably priced inns and bed-and-breakfasts in the surrounding villages; an extensive listing is available at http://www.mt-tremblant.com/ .

WHERE TO EAT: Within the compact pedestrian village, Creperie Catherine (819-681-4888) offers crepes filled with meats, cheeses, veggies and desserts; typical price is about $20 for dinner. For more upscale offerings in the village, try Restaurant U (819-681-4141), a Japanese restaurant at the Westin, or La Grappe a Vin (819-681-4727), which offers French food. The nearby village of St.-Jovite also has many well-regarded restaurants, including L'Escalope (597 Rue Ouimet, 819-425-3354) and La Verre Bouteille (888 Rue Ouimet, 819-425-8776).

WHAT TO DO: Other winter activities include cross- country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing, sleigh-riding, ice climbing, horseback riding and snowmobiling. Details: 819-681-4848, http://www.tremblantactivities.com/ . The Aquaclub La Source (819-681-5668), at the base of the mountain, has indoor pools, spas, etc. Just outside Tremblant, Le Scandinave (819-425-5524, http://www.scandinave.com/ ) has outdoor hot springs and spa services. For the first time this season, a nightclub made entirely of ice, N'Ice Club, will be built at Tremblant and is scheduled to operate Dec. 23 to March 19.

INFO: Tremblant Resort, 888-738-1777, http://www.tremblant.ca/ . For area information, try Tourism Mont Tremblant ( http://www.tourismemonttremblant.com/ ) or Laurentians Tourism (800-561-6673, http://www.laurentides.com/ ). For inside info, http://www.tremblant-insider.com/ has the local scoop on myriad topics, from restaurants to the best places to park; its chat forum contains valuable info on everything from "honest ski reports" to a threatened labor strike that may occur later this month.

-- Carol Sottili
The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120200496.html?sub=AR

Huguenot pudding

DESSERT
Huguenot pudding

Henrie Geyser
Fri, 02 Dec 2005
http://lifestyle.iafrica.com/

This is a traditional old Cape recipe that I have almost forgotten about. I found it recently while paging thru some old recipe books, tried it – and fell in love all over again.

I am very much a fan of traditional cooking and generally tend to shy away from the modern trends of combining strange - and often not made for each other – ingredients.

I also dislike so-called stacked food and in general I avoid over-the-top, pretentious cuisine. Modern chefs seem to go out of their way to be "different" and in the process they often fail to produce a satisfying, full-flavoured dish.

Give me "kombuis-kos" rather than "kinky-poo" any day!

But I digress. Let’s get to this delicious dessert which, I suspect, came to our shores from either France or The Netherlands or was developed locally after the immigrants started playing around with our local apples and sultanas.

For this dessert you need:
200g crumbly cottage cheese
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons semolina
4 slices of white bread, crusts removed and soaked in milk
2 tablespoons sultanas
60g sugar
2 egg whites
20g butter
2 apples, peeled, cored and finely diced
½ cup sugar mixed with two teaspoons cinnamon powder

Butter an ovenproof dish and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Blend cheese in a mixer. In a mixing bowl mix with the cheese, the cream, sultanas, plain sugar and semolina.
Whip the egg whites and fold it into this mixture.
Add the chopped apples and mix in gently.
Spoon mixture into buttered dish and cover with slices of soaked bread.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the bread.
Dot with butter then place in oven and bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot with ice cream, custard or plain cream.

http://lifestyle.iafrica.com/dining_in/di_henrieshotchpotch/desserts/403660.htm

Meet the Nasty Boy: Sean Avery is like a pro wrestler on skates

Meet the Nasty Boy: Sean Avery is like a pro wrestler on skates
 
Dave Stubbs
CanWest News Service
Monday, December 05, 2005

MONTREAL - In mid-February 1991, during a less sensible life as a part-time referee for World Wrestling Entertainment, I sat in a Montreal Forum dressing room between the 553 pounds of Brian Yandrisovitz and Jerome Saganovich, listening as they scripted their tag-team match I was about to officiate -- while they pondered how best to insult French-Canadians.

They were billed as Knobbs and Sags; collectively, the Nasty Boys. These human tanks were evil to the core, and they planned to generate some pre-match crowd heat by grabbing the microphone and insulting the Canadiens and the language of Moliere, if not in that order.

But they wanted to hurl this abuse in French and, inconveniently, neither native of Allentown, Pa., spoke a word.

So with a felt pen, I wrote a few short phrases on Sags' forearm, a pithy critique of Montreal's 7-4 loss to the Boston Bruins two nights earlier. He and Knobbs got the desired result from the Forum fans, judging by the cups of beer that sailed into the ring.

Which is to introduce Sean Avery of the Los Angeles Kings, a Nasty Boy in a smaller package -- a pro wrestler on skates, the mouthy villain whose foreign object is his tongue, the heel at whom you might throw your beer if he wore tights.

Avery has leaked nonsense since training camp, when he used a broad brush to paint French-Canadians as gutless players who hide behind visors.

But shame on anyone who takes him any more seriously than they would Knobbs or Sags. Avery is less a racist than he's a loose cannon, curiously refreshing as an outrageous quote bobbing in a sea of cliches.

Remarkable, wasn't it, that he overshadowed the final game here of gifted Montreal native Luc Robitaille, and the homecoming of former Canadiens goalie Mathieu Garon.

Avery was booed lustily at every occasion during Montreal's 3-2 victory, and it reached a joyful crescendo when he and Canadiens' Sheldon Souray mixed it up and took roughing minors in the second period.

Not that fans could jeer his name -- on both his penalty and second-period assist, Bell Centre announcer Michel Lacroix identified him only as "No. 19."

(A fan's sign behind the Kings bench read: "Avery, The King of Pea Soup." But elsewhere was a vote of support during the federal election campaign: "Avery For Prime Minister.")

"He's one of the most hated guys on the ice," said Canadiens defenceman Mathieu Dandenault, who drilled his former Detroit teammate with a bodycheck late in the second period.

"He says stupid things sometimes, but he's still a decent guy. He came to my wedding. But being a French-Canadian here, I took the opportunity when I had it. That was a good, clean hit."

On his way into the arena, escorted by the Kings' NHL security man, Avery dropped $10 into the pail of a youngster panhandling for his minor-hockey team.

But the table had long been set for this game, many treating Avery's anti-French comments as political humiliation, including some who should know better.

Those absurd remarks are just a small part of his verbal incontinence, though words that will stoke a fire in Montreal if they're fanned briskly enough. This city still heckles Toronto's Eric Lindros, three teams and nearly 15 years since the Big E spurned the Quebec Nordiques at the 1991 draft.

Maybe it wasn't by accident that Avery played a few lockout games in the Finnish League for the Lahti Pelicans, a bird renowned for the enormity of its beak.

The furor that preceded Avery to Montreal is precisely what he wanted. If his lip served to distract one Canadien for one move on one shift, then his mission was accomplished, a time-honoured tactic of a player of marginal skill who knows his role.

Anti-French? No, more an equal-opportunity disturber. On Friday in Ottawa, Avery separated Senators' Czech goalie Dominik Hasek from his mask, then dropped his gloves with Mike Fisher in defence of francophone teammate Eric Belanger.

Friday and Saturday, Avery was on the team bus by the time the Kings dressing room was opened to the media. Maybe they can pry a word out of him in Toronto, where Los Angeles hopes to end a four-game losing streak tomorrow.

In the dying seconds of the game, a small teddy bear, holding a fleur-de-lis flag, sailed over the Kings bench and onto the ice, just missing Avery. Its message seemed clear: Get stuffed.

But through 19 shifts and 15:13 on the ice, Avery was harmless fun for fans watching a game that won't be recalled as a classic.

And for the record, Garon made 28 saves and future Hall of Famer Robitaille played for 12:07, taking two shots and blocking one. Canadiens fans would be better to remember having seen Lucky Luke's last game in Montreal, rather than a pro wrestler in a Kings sweater.
National Post 2005

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=81308e6b-bf4c-4c03-b32c-734139cfd048&k=51026

All-Quebec folly stupid in both official languages

All-Quebec folly stupid in both official languages
Duceppe's attempt to split Team Canada reeks of unsportsmanlike conduct
 
Dan Barnes
The Edmonton Journal

Friday, December 02, 2005


Fortunately, the English word "stupid" closely resembles its French counterpart, "stupide."

This is useful, because a healthy number of Canadians who are fluent in either official language would love to tell Gilles Duceppe precisely what they think of his plan to assemble a Quebec-only hockey team, in addition to Team Canada, for international competitions like the world championships.

Duceppe, whose name loosely resembles the English term dunce cap, (a coincidence, n'est-ce pas?) is the Bloc Quebecois's grand fromage. On Wednesday he unveiled his all-Quebecois hockey strategy, which from our vantage point out West may well be the worst initiative to originate in La Belle Province since, well, since French-only signage.

Clearly, something has once again been lost in translation. Because it seems that in one part or at least party of Quebec, Duceppe's plan apparently passes for shrewd electioneering. In English Canada and elsewhere, it's known more commonly as a "bad idea."

As points of reference for anyone like Duceppe who is clearly struggling with the concept of "bad idea," think of the Edsel, Betamax, spray-on hair, aerosol cheese food product, the instigator rule, liverwurst, Celine Dion boxed sets, Vanilla Ice, trading Wayne Gretzky, solo synchronized swimming, VLTs, and those jeans with the see-through plastic patches on each cheek.

Hope that helps.

Making it your life's work to separate Quebec from Canada in the political arena is shameful enough, and Duceppe will just have to live with that. But get the hell out of our hockey rinks, you imbecile.

Hockey, strangely enough, acts as the catalyst that brings all Canadians together, regardless of linguistic preference and proficiency, in their love of the game and disdain for Todd Bertuzzi. And Sean Avery. And the Bruins' third jersey.

Why, just look at the roster of the Edmonton Oilers, par example: two guys from B.C., five Albertans, six from Ontario, one from Saskatchewan and two French Canadians. They all get along just fine and manage to communicate perfectly in the official language of hockey, a mix of cliches and expletives. And the two French guys don't sit by themselves in the northeast part of the room, separated economically or otherwise from the rest of the fellas on all sides.

You see, hockey is not a divisive force in this great white north and for Monsieur Duceppe to hop up on a stump and affix a political

value to the game for his party's devious gain is as distasteful an act as awarding the Stanley Cup to an American-based team every year. Hey, we can live with separate schools. Separate washrooms have always been a

pretty good idea, given the key differences in plumbing.

But the national hockey team in this country won't be split in half or redefined even slightly at the whim of a separatist.

NHL players born on both sides of the Quebec border have already condemned his

idiocy, and let's hope that's enough to stop him from venturing into an area so near and dear to our hearts.

The major problem with his hockey plan could well stem from its cockeyed motivation. Duceppe apparently said he drew inspiration from the soccer team of Scotland, which acts as a separate entity from the English side during international competition. It sounds more like he drew his inspiration from the national drink of Scotland, which separates English, Scottish and French

people alike from their good sense when

enjoyed irresponsibly.

If Duceppe truly needs to tinker with institutions in this country, he should go ahead and form that Quebec army and intelligence service he talked about recently, because those are great ideas whose time has come, obviously.

Of course, we jest.

This latest torrent of verbal diarrhea should make us all question the firmness of Duceppe's grip on political and social reality. He obviously didn't put much thought into the idea before he decided to make a Quebec-only hockey team one of the planks in the party's platform. Beyond its potential for a catchy name; like Blocs of Ice or Lafleur des Lis or Duceppe's Dynamos, what else would it have going for it?

Oh, sure, with Mario Lemieux, Vincent Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay they'd be great up front. With Martin Brodeur, Roberto

Luongo and Jose Theodore they'd be fine in net. But with the likes of Patrice Brisebois and Denis Gauthier on the blue-line, they'd be practically defenceless.

Which, come to think of it, would closely resemble his province after he installed that army.

dbarnes@thejournal.canwest.com
The Edmonton Journal 2005

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=48e30336-4f45-4fca-9cef-267a555fa4f3&k=16871

The Rocket

The Rocket

In the first biopic of Maurice Richard, he is cast as a man driven, even on the ice, by resentment of 'les maudits anglais'


CHARLES FORAN
http://www.macleans.ca/
December 02, 2005

Maurice Richard, the first cinematic biopic of the hockey player, opens in darkness. Sounds of disorder accompany the slow lighting of the screen, along with the appearance of a title: "Montreal, 1955." Canadians over a certain age probably won't require further sign-posting to guess that the film is about to frame Richard's life with a re-enactment of the violence that followed his suspension near the end of the 1954-55 season. The Richard Riot, after all, is now credited with sounding an early warning for the Quiet Revolution to come in Quebec.

Some knowledge of the incident is almost obligatory to make sense of the vague montage that unfolds, much of it in slow motion. Men in overcoats and fedoras gesticulate in corridors; a letter is sealed and delivered with the solemnity of an offer of surrender from an army. Cheers greet the reading of the letter behind a closed door. Faces outside the chamber wear expressions of bitter defeat.


Without further illumination, the scene suddenly shifts to "Montreal 1937 -- The Great Darkness." A 16-year-old Maurice Richard toils as a factory machinist. His head is bowed and his cheeks are covered in grime. When a fellow worker mutters insurrection into his ear, he listens in grave silence. Moments later an English patron bellows at Richard in that language, demanding he rat on his fellow French Canadian. The boss is chubby and malevolent and blows smoke rings with his cigar.

Shortly afterward we are in an outdoor hockey rink in a city park. Richard, arriving directly from the factory, barely has a chance to lace his skates before he and his squad are being roughed up by their opponents. With time running out, his coach delivers the variety of sports-movie speech that inspires the teen to score two quick goals, both of which display his soon-to-be-trademark assaults on the net. His girlfriend, eventually to become his wife, radiates her affection from the boards.

At a cost of $8 million, Maurice Richard is the most expensive film ever produced in Quebec. It is also an often engrossing and visually splendid two hours of hagiography, boasting many of the same populist impulses and clichés of its American counterparts, including the Ray Charles biography, Ray, and the recent take on Johnny Cash, Walk the Line. Pleasing local audiences is something the vibrant Quebec movie industry does well. Maurice Richard, which opened last week across the province, is a likely Christmas hit. The film, starring the talented Quebec icon Roy Dupuis, arrives in English Canada, in a subtitled version called The Rocket, on March 10.

But as the first 10 minutes of screen time suggest, director Charles Binamé's ambitions actually go beyond the hagiographic. He and scriptwriter Ken Scott are building a case for Richard as a hero of a particular sort. Not content with Maurice (The Rocket) Richard's present status as an exemplar of both private courage and French-Canadian pride during the 1940s and '50s, the film aspires to recast him, in effect, as a romantic hero, a figure of necessary solitude and enigmatic character.

He is, moreover, a romantic hero assigned the task of building a nation -- or boosting the spirit of a nation-in-embryo, perhaps -- through his brilliant goal-scoring and righteous anger alike. As presented in Maurice Richard, the fiery on-ice skill and off-ice outrage at the injustices suffered by the French in both the NHL and within their own society are equally intrinsic to Richard's self-definition as a Quebecer, and a man. He is rarely shown struggling with personal limitations or demons or even simply trying to do right for his family; always, the battle is between the hero, acting on behalf of his people, and the world.

Thus, when Richard glances out a train window en route to a 1945 game in Boston to confront a notorious Bruins thug, he observes battleships churning in the seas -- a metaphor for his ongoing war. Likewise, a game-day move to a larger apartment in Montreal, where he hauls furniture up an outdoor staircase during a snowstorm, is transformed by Binamé into a struggle akin to a solo ascent of Mount Everest. This, despite the anecdote's conclusion: though he confesses to his coach, Dick Irvin, that he is exhausted from the work, Richard scores five goals that night.

"It's important that French Canadians win once in a while," his barber and confidant tells him on the eve of another confrontation. As always, the hero sits alone in the shop, listening quietly to the views and complaints of one of his loyal subjects. Children glance through the window in respectful awe.

His modest physical stature notwithstanding -- he stood just five-foot-ten and weighed 170 lb. -- Maurice Richard, who died at age 78 in 2000, is of sufficient historical stature to play the part the film assigns him. A few distortions aside, and a few too many Anglos shouting epithets about "Pea Soupers" and "damn French Canadians," Maurice Richard offers a credible, if slanted, rendering of his career.

More the issue is whether the romantic hero is as interesting as the other available takes on this great and singular athlete. Missing from the film is the role of character in illuminating how Maurice Richard conducted himself, for both good and ill. There is the real lost opportunity, for within the discipline and wildness, courtesy and rectitude, gentleness and violence of his personality can be found important homegrown truths about not only one Québécois man but about men in general -- and about the Quebec in particular -- of his era.

RICHARD was born on Aug. 4, 1921, in the Montreal neighbourhood of Bordeaux. The oldest of eight children (his brother Henri, the "Pocket Rocket," who played 20 seasons in the NHL, was 6 when Maurice left the house), he quit school to take a job in a CPR machine shop to help his family through the Depression. Though a star with the Verdun Juniors, a string of injuries, including two broken ankles and a fractured wrist, earned him the rap of being too brittle for the pros. Rejected for the same reason by the Canadian Army, he continued as a machinist while honing his hockey skills. No Sidney Crosby or Wayne Gretzky, Richard was 22 before finally catching on with the Canadiens. Just one year later, during the 1944-45 season, he scored 50 goals in 50 games.

By then, Richard was married to his teenage sweetheart, Lucille Norchet, and was the father of two babies. A touching scene in Maurice Richard shows Lucille in a hospital bed after the birth of their first child. She is offering her husband stern hockey advice; he is holding his daughter and weeping with joy. The Richards, both devout Catholics, raised seven children and were parted only by Lucille's death in 1994, after almost 52 years of marriage. Richard adored his family and remained close to them, and to the church, all his life.

Like many of his generation, Richard was raised to value duty and honour, as well as to defer to various authorities without complaint or even much self-reflection. His own path went from being the unilingual, almost pathologically shy young man who, beginning with his remarkable 1944-45 outburst of scoring, defined the Canadiens, to the outspoken and increasingly galvanized representative of all French Canada in the NHL a decade later. This arc, which Binamé charts forcefully in the film, is indeed a striking one.

But it remains the route taken by a man operating from a belief system born of his own experiences and nature. Just as, less gloriously, Richard's feckless post-hockey career, which included spells selling fishing tackle and shilling for a hair treatment product, was consistent with his character. Men of his time were unaware that they could or even should reinvent themselves in mid-life. They were who they were, and thought little on the matter.

The film, though, pushes these character complications aside in order to uphold Richard as the timeless solitary hero. After a sweet on-screen courtship, his wife, played by Julie Le Breton, is reduced to minimal dialogue and maximum doe-eyed concern over the trials her warrior husband must undergo. His children are scarcely glimpsed, and his parents and siblings are all but unseen. As for Richard's Catholicism, it is swept into a corner as well -- belonging, apparently, to the dark ages of those nasty patrons and the eternal reign of Premier Maurice Duplessis.

A superior recent Québécois film, C.R.A.Z.Y., does greater justice to the dynamics of mid-century Quebec. But it concerns the evolution of an ordinary family starting in the '60s, by which time the Catholic Church was already losing its authority in most lives.

Missing, too, from Maurice Richard are the Rocket's teammates and opponents. The hockey sequences are vivid, and in a few instances are recreations of goals never captured before -- occurring, as they did, before television. But Richard bests mostly anonymous enemies wearing odd uniforms. (The movie had to alter team insignias for legal reasons.) Even his epic rivalry with his nemesis and foil, Gordie Howe, is ignored.

But then, his own Habs fare only a little better. Richard didn't win eight Stanley Cups on his own. Still, his legendary teammates, including Hector (Toe) Blake, Elmer Lach and Jean Béliveau, though portrayed in the film by real-life NHL stars, including Vincent Lecavalier as the young Béliveau, remain mostly mute and incidental.

Roy Dupuis's performance does what it can to deny this narrowing of man into myth. The actor, who also incarnated Richard in a 1999 TV miniseries, understands his character's taciturn nature. He is similarly perceptive about the Rocket's intensity, especially the fire that lit his eyes during games, and how that passion could spill over occasionally into derangement.

The Richard Riot was one such instance. Well known is the fact that the riots in and around the Montreal Forum on March 17, 1955, were triggered by league commissioner Clarence Campbell's decision to suspend Richard for the remainder of the season and the playoffs. Less remembered is the reason for the severity of the punishment. Four nights earlier, in Boston, Richard reacted to a vicious slash across the left side of his skull by pounding the offender, a defenceman named Hal Laycoe, over the head and shoulders with his stick. When a linesman insisted on restraining the star, Richard attacked him, too, bruising his face and giving him a black eye. He had previously assaulted other referees and linesmen both on the ice and off.

While Richard was emotionally exhausted at the time of the incident in Boston, his outburst of violence was still shocking. (Today, he would probably be tried for assault.) He admitted as much on radio after the riots, and his confession, and plea for calm, is the only actual scene from those tumultuous few days shown in Maurice Richard. A spectator the night of March 17 at the Forum, he could only watch as Campbell was assaulted by irate fans. With the game suspended, Campbell's letter forfeiting the match to the Detroit Red Wings -- shown in the film's early montage -- set off the night's mayhem.

According to the Sept. 17, 1955, issue of Maclean's, Richard's actions, and the reactions of the league, set off the "the most destructive and frenzied riot in the history of Canadian sport." Binamé's decision not to dramatize the riot -- the film's natural climax, suggested by its own opening -- is surprising. It may be that the director wasn't interested in showing the street mayhem. It may also be that the moral complexity of the event doesn't suit the movie's inspirational trajectory.

Do young Quebecers really require such a broad-strokes lesson to help them distinguish the Rocket from Boom Boom, or even the Great Darkness from the Quiet Revolution? If so, Maurice Richard may well provide a stylish slice of history-lite to help those civics classes. But while myths may be inspired by heroes, history is forever being shaped by individuals through the force of their characters. The story of how the character of Maurice Richard changed Quebec and Canada remains to be properly told.

To comment, email letters@macleans.ca

This story can be found at:
http://www.macleans.ca/culture/films/article.jsp?content=20051205_116744_116744

La Face cachée de la lune

FAR SIDE OF THE MOON
Oh, brothers.
In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 105 minutes. Not rated (mature themes). At the Angelika, Houston and Mercer streets.

'THE Far Side of the Moon" is a master class on turning a talky, one-man play into a visual delight.

French-Canadian director Robert Lepage not only directs the screen version of his own theater work, but he also stars as two Quebec brothers (as he did on stage).

The main focus is Philippe, a 40-ish dork who has repeatedly failed to defend his doctoral thesis — about...

http://www.nypost.com/movies/58718.htm

Cream of the Crop
FRESH 89%

Avg. Rating: 7.6/10
"Lepage brings a prodigious talent for startling, interwoven imagery to bear on a story already laden with metaphorical possibilities."
-- Eddie Cockrell, VARIETY

"It takes about 28 days for the moon to orbit the earth and approximately 60 minutes for Far Side of the Moon to reveal its full splendor."
-- Manohla Dargis, NEW YORK TIMES

"The moon in Far Side of the Moon shows its smiling, symbolic face in the very first frame."
-- Rick Groen, GLOBE AND MAIL

"Lepage's films are always reflections of a curious mind, which constantly puzzles at the absurdity of a life where science, politics and the arts compete for attention with the mundane existence of daily life."
-- Peter Howell, TORONTO STAR

"The Far Side of the Moon is a master class on turning a talky, one-man play into a visual delight."
-- V.A. Musetto, NEW YORK POST

"Reworking his own raw material, Lepage spins a rich, moving film that acknowledges humanity's power to break out of Earth's daily gravity; in the process, he leaves audiences floating."
-- Mark Peranson, VILLAGE VOICE

"Far Side of the Moon imbues the weightiest issues of human existence with a zero-gravity grace and charm."
-- Steven Rea, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

"An achingly eloquent rumination on our place in the universe."
-- Michael Rechtshaffen, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"As an actor, Lepage is a captivating presence, easily transforming from one sibling to the other. And as a director, he braids the personal and the universal with dexterity, turning theatrical intimacy into cinematic ecstasy."
-- Elizabeth Weitzman, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Strikingly visual and thoughtfully moving, and also ponderous and pretentious."
-- Rich Cline, SHADOWS ON THE WALL

"In this gorgeous, high-definition DV drama, its stage roots are obscured by arresting images in this tale of outer space, sibling rivalry, and one man's struggle to find his destiny."
-- Pam Grady, REEL.COM

"Lepage's adaptation of his own stage play distills his typically grandiose ideas and visual quirks into a masterfully cohesive and entertaining film."
-- Kim Linekin, EYE WEEKLY

-- Click to read the article.
-- Kevin N. Laforest, MONTREAL FILM JOURNAL


"In essence, Lepage has remade 2001: A Space Odyssey without the Kubrick film's sense of spiritual curiosity."
-- Ed Gonzalez, SLANT MAGAZINE

"As a film, this is Lepage's smoothest, richest, most complete effort."
-- Bruce Kirkland, JAM! MOVIES

"Lepage maintains a leisurely pace and lets the narrative wander, but ultimately lands on the right side of the line between contemplative noodling and aimless navel-gazing, ending with an image that's simultaneously melancholy and playful."
-- Maitland McDonagh, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE

There's too much to do... and not enough of you

There's too much to do... and not enough of you
Sunday, December 4, 2005

By JURA KONCIUS
THE WASHINGTON POST

Holiday stress kicks in at my house sometime in October when Mom sends her annual e-mail: "I've just finished my Christmas shopping. How is yours going, dear?"

The pressure is on. Carols are playing 24 hours a day at the malls, neighbors have plugged in their lighted reindeer, and mail carriers have delivered armloads of catalogs.

For a lot of people, the dominant emotions between Thanksgiving and Christmas are anxiety, worry and dread in a brew commonly called stress.

As if we all needed proof, the American Psychological Association did a holiday stress survey last year, identifying the top six stressors: money, gift-giving, lack of time, families, diet and children's issues. More than one in five Americans say they are worried the holidays will harm their health.

"Holiday stress has been an increasingly relevant issue for people," says Russ Newman of the American Psychological Association. His polling has found that although workplace issues stress us out most of the year, seasonal issues move to the foreground in December.

And how do we cope? Prayer and exercise are the two top answers, according to the survey, followed by eating, drinking alcohol, massage/yoga, therapy, music, time with friends/family/pets, venting to friends/family (what, no dog?), hobbies and antidepressants. One percent said they use sex to relieve stress; another 1 percent turn to computer games.

The most successful families, Newman says, ease holiday stress by setting realistic expectations and keeping things in perspective. Let's call these the survivors, and we found three fine examples: families with two working parents, hectic schedules and lots of commitments who manage to get everything done and have fun doing it.

Their message? Sometimes the holiday cookies have to be Slice 'n Bake. Sometimes you need to ask others for help. There is no such thing as the perfect tree. Everyone has to pitch in. And try to enjoy the getting there, not just the goal.

How does a family with four kids under age 9 manage Christmas while running its own business?

"I'm fortunate to be married to a special-events planner," says Tim Covell of Kensington, Md. But just because he and his wife, Maria, are experts at staging parties and corporate meetings doesn't mean that they already have Christmas wrapped up, with shopping finished, cards stamped or home-baked gingerbread cookies filling the freezer.

"The holiday buzz in the air is our favorite part of Christmas," says Maria Covell. "As a family we enjoy Christmas so much, and it's such a magical time, that all that outweighs the stressful feelings. We have to stay organized for it to be enjoyable. But I don't think you should be too organized, because it takes away from the magic."

The Covells have a two-part strategy for the holiday season. They usually throw a party for friends the second weekend of December because the deadline forces them to get cracking. Last week they were hauling decorations down from the attic, putting up a live tree, stringing twinkle lights outdoors and trimming the staircase with garlands.

"It's a relief when we have that finished, then we can move forward with the shopping and wrapping," says Tim.

Maria and Tim have parents nearby who help with babysitting over the holidays so the younger couple can get out to Toys R Us. They all go to church on Christmas Eve, and after bedtime, sprinkle reindeer dust (oatmeal and glitter) outside the house to guide in Santa's sleigh.

On Christmas, the kids - Jack, 8; Michael, 6; Catherine, 4; and Caroline, 7 months - will open their gifts with their parents and then breakfast on a traditional French-Canadian pork pie called tourtiere, made for them by Tim's mom. Then they move on to the home of one set of grandparents for a light lunch and gift opening, and to the other for Christmas dinner.

"Right now, we're not hosting the big Christmas dinner at our house," says Tim. "One day it will be our turn. But we're fortunate that we don't have to do that on top of everything else."

Husband and wife share most of the shopping and wrapping chores. "It's a joint effort," says Maria. "We get excited and thrive on that fast pace in life anyway. It's all fun stuff."

Last Christmas Eve, the lights in Nathan and Etriya Francis' rowhouse in Washington were blazing until 3 a.m. as the couple stuffed a rib roast, wrapped gifts and baked blueberry crumb pie for their daughter Hannah's first Christmas. And all this activity was in a house jammed with sleeping relatives.

But staying in their own home is one way the Francises keep their holiday under control. "We really enjoy being in our home for the holidays," says Etriya, a social worker. "It's chaotic to travel with a little one and then have to carry all the presents. It's easier to wake up in your home on Christmas Day."

This year, says Nathan, 32, their home will again be packed with grandparents and loved ones from Florida and Georgia, there to see Hannah, 19 months, wake up on Christmas morning.

The family spends December getting ready. There'll be a live tree, a decorated mantel and lots of poinsettias that remind Etriya, 31, of growing up in a warmer climate. They usually send out about 40 holiday cards; Nathan is hoping to make his own computer cards but isn't sure he'll get to it.

Every bite of the holiday dinner will be homemade, from turkey to cheesecake to caramel pound cake. Their menu is a blend of both families' traditions, which keeps them up late grocery shopping and cooking. Etriya makes what she calls "traditional Southern comfort food," which includes cranberry relish, macaroni and cheese, and collard greens.

So how do they do it with all the extra responsibilities at home, the parties at work and a round of events at church?

"You have to take a breath and put it all in context," says Nathan. "We both got to a point where we don't want to focus so much on the gifts. We want to focus on being together with Hannah."

They shop for about 25 people. Nathan and Etriya divide up the list and visit stores on lunch hours and evenings. "We don't go overboard and we don't buy multiple gifts," says Etriya. Nathan says he listens to holiday music a lot when things get hectic.

One of Etriya's biggest stress-outs: crowds at the post office. "We're always against a deadline to get everything bought, wrapped, packed. And then you have to wait in line."

Family harmony helps. "We are both blessed to have our parents living and both sets of parents really get along," says Nathan. "It's like our parents were separated at birth. When I tell people both sides of the family will be here for Christmas, they get this shocked look on their face. But our families really like each other."

Etriya will make lists, and lists of lists. Nathan will wing it. But it will all happen, even if Christmas Eve is almost an all-nighter.

"Last year, we literally got the last standing rib roast at Costco before Christmas," says Etriya. "But everything got done and it was beautiful."

"When I was growing up in Illinois, my mother wanted everything for Christmas to be perfect," says George Dickson. "We had to find the perfect tree. Everyone had to have the perfect gift, which had to be perfectly wrapped. The table and the centerpiece had to be perfect. This is supposed to be a joyful and peaceful time. So we made a commitment: Simpler is better, less is more."

Dickson and his wife, Harper, of Upper Marlboro, Md., are civilian program analysts for the Army and commute an hour or more each way. George, a veteran of the Gulf War, was deployed with the Maryland National Guard for Katrina relief for three weeks this fall.

But when the couple walks in the door of their house at the end of a day, life revolves around the kids: Trevor, 4; Aidan, 2½; and Connor, 19 months.

"We try and keep Christmas in perspective and not make it too over the top," says Harper, 37. "We enjoy it because we feel it isn't just another task, it's part of life. And every month has something, whether Halloween, birthdays or whatever."

They've adjusted their traditions to accommodate their growing family. George, 40, recalls the childhood trips to a monastery to find and cut down that perfect tree. But because of time constraints, these days a store-bought tree will do just fine. They send out about 50 cards that get written whenever there is a spare minute.

"Before we had kids, we used to do a lot of baking for the holidays, and we would deliver homemade breads and cookies to our friends," says Harper. That tradition has been scaled back. "On Sunday evenings, we put some Slice 'n Bake cookies in the oven, read part of the Christmas story and light a candle on our Advent wreath. That way, the kids get to know more about what Christmas is really all about."

Last year, Harper's dad ordered Christmas dinner from HoneyBaked Ham - turkey, pork roast, ham, sweet and mashed potatoes, everything for a festive holiday feast. Harper was thrilled and decided it should be a tradition. "It's a lot of work to try and spend time with the kids on Christmas Day and enjoy their gifts and the family and then spend the rest of the day in the kitchen cooking, setting the table and then cleaning it all up."

They keep a grip on spending, too. "We don't let the media dictate gotta-haves for the holiday season," says George. "We don't let ourselves get into debt by spending too much. Harper has a Christmas fund that she puts money into every month all year long." This year, they have 24 family and friends to buy for. She often uses gift cards to avoid shipping charges. And no waiting in line at the post office.

On Christmas Eve, after attending church, the three boys will snuggle down in their beds and Santa (George) will shake bells outside their windows and climb up a ladder to the roof to stomp around.

"We don't let stress get the better of us," says George. "For me, our life is so stressful when we leave the front door, when we come back in the house, it's all about having fun with our kids."

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNjcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY4MjkzMzgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3

Twist on the traditional--Tourtiere

Twist on the traditional

Thursday, November 24, 2005
Northern Life, Greater Sudbury

Traditions abound at holiday time and for many, the rich, spicy aromas emanating from the kitchen are an important and cherished part of the season.

In Québec tourtières are a rich part of the province’s history, with recipes brought over from France in the early 17th century. These recipes were then adapted to reflect the meats, spices and vegetables available in New France. Tourtière is a tradition in French-Canadian households and is becoming a holiday staple across the country with all Canadians.

The secret to a good tourtière say experts, in addition to spices, is lard. Lard gives pastry and baked goods a lighter and flakier crust because of its type of fat crystals and their ability to resist rapid melting during baking.

This creates layers of flour and fat, resulting in a wonderful flakiness. In Canada, Tenderflake is the most popular brand of lard and is now non-hydrogenated, the first product in the lard and shortening category to carry this claim.

Following are recipes for tourtière with some modern twists from the Tenderflake Kitchens.

Savoury Chicken and Goat Cheese Tourtière
Prepare pastry for one double crust pie, following instructions below.
2 cups cake and pastry flour (500 mL) or
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
(425 mL)
3/4 tsp salt (3 mL)
3/4 cup non-hydrogenated lard (175 mL)
4 to 5 tbsp cold water (60 to 75 mL)

1. Mix together flour and salt.
2. Cut in lard with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal.
3. Gradually stir water into mixture, stirring constantly with a fork. Add only enough water to make dough cling together.
Filling:
½ lb boneless chicken breast, cut in strips (250 g)
1 tbsp olive oil (15 mL)
6 tbsp goat’s cheese (or one 3 oz. small roll), crumbled (90 mL)
1/3 cup chopped or thinly sliced carrots (75 mL)
1/3 cup chopped or thinly sliced leeks (75 mL)
¼ cup sliced celery stalks (50 mL)
¼ cup fresh green peas (50 mL)
½ cup thinly sliced zucchini (125 mL)
2/3 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (150 mL)
1 egg, lightly beaten

Roll out half of pastry and fit into a 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate, leaving an overhang.

Brown chicken in a frying pan in olive oil.

Add vegetables and stir-fry for an additional three to five minutes. Spoon into prepared pie shell and sprinkle with goat’s cheese. Trim edge of pastry even with pie plate. Roll out remaining pastry and place over filling; trim edge to ½-inch (1.5 cm). Fold underneath bottom crust, brush with a beaten egg and seal and crimp edge. Cut steam vents on top. Bake in preheated 400ºF (200ºC) oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until pastry is golden and filling is bubbly.

Makes six to eight servings.

For additional pastry tips, visit www.mapleleaf.com.

http://www.northernlife.ca/lifestyleArticle.asp?32id11-pn=&view=99862

Nouvelles Internationales--Niger

Bonjour
je vous suggere de visiter le site www.niger1.com
pour les dernieres informations concernant les jeux www.niger1.com/niamey
je vous invite egalement a ouvrir un blog specialement pour les jeux
sur www.niger1.com/blog.htm afin de nous commenter les jeux

Nouvelles Internationales

News on Francophone Events in New York City

If you can't read this email correctly, please go here:
http://www.francophonieny.org/newsletterdecember05.htm
December 2005
News on Francophone Events in New York City
Visit the website www.francophonieny.org


FRANCOPHONIE FESTIVAL MARCH 2006
Springtime is Francophone time in New York.

Join the second Francophonie New York Festival next Spring.
Last year's edition listed more than 50 francophone events in New York city only. From concerts to lectures, movies, children programs, exhibits, social gatherings... New York's francophones were vibrantly celebrating their diversity. Register your event for free and take part in this multicultural festival open to all francophones next Spring. More...
ALGERIA
Lecture by Assia Djebar - Friday December 2nd- 6pm
Room C204/205, CUNY Graduate Center

Celebrating The Feminist Press’s Publication of "Children of the New World" by Assia Djebar, Marjolijn de Jager, translator, Judith Miller, editor and chair, French Dept, NYU
Assia Djebar is an Algerian novelist, translator, and filmmaker. She has explored the struggle for social emancipation and Muslim woman's world in its complexities. More...
CANADA
Compagnie Marie Chouinard: Étude no. 1 & Chorale
The Joyce Theater - 175 Eighth Avenue (at W. 19th Street)

Montreal choreographer Marie Chouinard draws on her years as a world-traveling soloist to create innovative works that evoke the fragility of the human species, even as they celebrate the unalloyed joy of being alive. Étude no. 1 is a hypnotic and virtuosic solo for a dancer with steel-tipped shoes, etc. More...
CAMEROON
Kaissa - Friday, November 18th - 9pm
MoBay

Kaïssa's international career includes live and recording performances with Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Papa Wemba, Cesaria Evora, Jean-Michel Jarre, Martha Wash and many others. Her own World music, which has been thrilling New York audiences, is a unique blend of R&B, jazz, makossa, African and Brazilian fusion.More...
CONGO
Dominic Kanza & The African Rythm Machine - Tuesday November 8th - 8pm

Dominic Kanza and his band, the African Rhythm Machine, have provided some of the best Congolese rumba music in the New York region.
The spicy, joyous music of Dominic Kanza and the African Rhythm Machine is guaranteed to leave audiences in a good mood. Kanza, who is the band leader, singer and guitarist, provides dazzling melodic lines that circle above the group's rumba-spiced beat. More...
EGYPT
Youssef Nabil "Not Afraid to Love" (Hand-colored gelatin silver prints) Nov 4 - Dec 24
Opening reception: Thursday, November 3rd 6-8pm (Gallery hours: Tue–Sat 11-6 pm)

First NY solo exhibition of the Egyptian photographer: Youssef Nabil. Nabil liked the old technique of hand-coloring black and white photographs which was still very common in Egypt. Taken in B&W, all his photographs are then scrupulously hand-colored. More...
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Turbo Tabla & the Bellydance Overdrive - Thursday December 1st - 10pm
Satalla 37 West 26th Street

Turbo Tabla is a performance that combines the spontaneity of a live drummer, the visual joy of dance, with the stylistic intensity of a DJ. The best description would be "Arabic Techno". Karim, a classically trained Egyptian percussionist and innovative DJ, performs on his feet with an amplified Tabla (goblet drum). More...
FRANCE

City cinemateque: Contemporary French Cinema - CUNY TV
Saturday & Sunday: 9pm ,& the following Friday at 12am - In French with English subtitles

"Time Regained" (1999) Dir.: R. Ruiz. "The Clockmaker" (1973) by Tavernier. "A Sunday in the Country" (1984) by Tavernier. "L.627" (1992) by: Tavernier. "Capitaine Conan" (1996) by Tavernier. More...
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French Institute Alliamce Francaise - December Program

Film Preview: Monday, Dec 5 at 8pm: "Ne quittez pas..." (Local Call…) by A. Joffé
An original comedy about a man who receives phone calls from his deceased father, etc. Jewish Community Center in Manhattan
CinémaTuesdays: Dec 6 through 20: La Jeunesse, vite! Young French Cinema 1959-68 (Florence Gould Hall) More...
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Harpsichord Concert - Friday, December 2nd - 8pm
La Maison Française of New York University 16 Washington Mews

Philippe Fritsch plays Couperin in the intimate salon of La Maison Française of New York University. With commentary: Eros, Thanatos et Narcisse chez François Couperin.
Principe structurel: le « Vingt-quatrième Ordre » des pièces de clavecin. More...
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Croisements Parallèles - Through December 17th
Living With Art 153 Lafayette St. (Grand St.) 7th Floor

Living with Art introduces its last show of the year: Croisements Parallèles. It's a collaboration between 3 of their favorite French artists (painter Charlelie Couture; fine art photographer, Albert Delamour; sculptor, Pascal ) and American painter Bruce Thurman, for the first time at Living with Art. More...
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Human Rights Watch - Volunteers needed: French-English translators - Communications NY Office - Apply immediately!

The NY office of HRW is looking for experienced translators to translate press releases, text, and articles from English into French. The translations are being published on the HRW website. Quick turnaround of translations is essential. Applicants should be well-organized, self-motivated and reliable, with a strong interest in international human rights. More...
FRANCE - SENEGAL
Hilda by Marie Ndiaye - Act French Event - Nov 11- Dec 11
59E59 Theaters

Hilda is Marie Ndiaye’s first play which was awarded the Grand Prix de la Critique 2001-2002. Hilda tells the haunting story of an upper-class woman’s consuming obsession with the woman she hires to care for her children. More...
HAITI
Zenglen - Friday December 2 - 11pm
SOB's - 204 Varick Street

Their new album is killing the charts everywhere, and it makes it almost impossible not to bring them back at SOB's. They are a full live band, with great musicians, great vocals and a supertight show. More...
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First Annual Reveillon of Neges Foundation - Friday December 23rd, 8pm - 1am
Grand Prospect Hall, 263 Prospect Ave, Brooklyn

Neges Foundation “projet d’appui” seeks to introduce formal environmental education into the primary formation in 5 primary schools in Haiti ( Léogâne). Its goal is to increase the knowledge and the direct participation of the young people and indirectly of the community, with the conservation and the protection of the natural resources, More...
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Lecture by Robert Fatton - Tuesday, December 14th - 6pm
Maison Francaise of Columbia University, Room 1512 Kellogg Center, International Affairs Building, Columbia University

The School of International and Public Affairs, The Association of Students of African Descent at SIPA and The Center for French and Francophone Studies present "The Fall of Arsitide and Post-Lavalas politics in Haiti." More...
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Colloquium "Visions and Voices: in Celebration of Haitian Culture" - Dec 10th - 10am
Maison Francaise, Philosophy Hall Lounge, Columbia University

"Bug-Jargal: la Révolution et ses Doubles", "La République dominicaine et les dominicains dans les lettres haïtiennes" , "The Spirit of the Thing: Radical Universalism and the Haitian Revolution", More...
Mikerline Dance Company - Saturday december 3rd - 10pm
Satalla 37 West 26th Street

The multicultural group of dancers and drummers are taking Haitian Folklore to a new level. The troupe's goal is to be the ambassador of the Haitian culture, expressed in dances, music, and exciting choreography. More...
MADAGASCAR
Razia Said - Friday December 2nd - 10pm
Satalla 37 West 26th Street

Razia has a soothing mellow voice, which she combines with haunting melodies and ethnic percussions that blend magically with R&B to create an irresistible groove. Her songs are filled with optimism and speak of the truth found in daily life. More...
QUEBEC
Concert: Jazz pianist François Bourassa - November 9th
Jazz Gallery 290 Hudson Street

Composer and pianist François Bourassa leads one of Québec's most active recording and touring jazz pianist. As a youth François Bourassa studied piano and composition (and also explored blues guitar). He holds a Bachelor's degree in performance with "Distinction and Honours in Composition" from McGill University... More...
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49ème Concours annuel pour l’attribution du Prix littéraire Champlain
Carrefour des francophones d’Amérique / Conseil de la vie française en Amérique

Le Prix Champlain a été créé afin d’encourager la production littéraire chez les francophones vivant à l’extérieur du Québec, en Amérique du nord. En savoir plus...
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Wanted: Young online correspondents to participate in theatre performance

Dance theatre company Pigeons International is looking for young people between the ages of 15 and 22 to participate in the new original work by the company, a piece entitled Tomorrow. The person will communicate live via the Internet and instant messaging with the performers during an onstage performance of Tomorrow. More...
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Multiracial Quebec Cinema - African Diaspora Film Festival
African Diaspora Film Festival is doing a program on Multiracial Quebec Cinema including movies ("How to conquer America in one Night", "Tales of sound and snow", "Tar Angel", "Tropic North" - All screenings at Anthology Film Archives 32 Second Ave @ 2nd St) & 2 special events. More...
SENEGAL
Une grande soiree senegalaise - Satruday December 17th - 10pm
Satalla 37 West 26th Street

featuring Cheikh Tairou M'Baye & Sing Sing Rhythm
w/ special guests Arona N’Diaye (marimba) & Mahanta Faye (drums)
followed by a Big African Dance Party. More...

Reading by Theresa Kwofi - December 11th - 1pm to 3pm
Dakar restaurant 285 Grand Avenue Brooklyn

"It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention but for Theresa Kwofi frustration was the mother of taking charge of one's image. Kwofi, a mother and grandmother who left Ghana to make a life in New York, was tired of having ignorant comments about her homeland directed her way." More...
SWITZERLAND
Ensemble Côte & Chœur - Wednesday, December 7th, 8-10pm
Merkin Hall - 129 W 67th Street

Côte & Chœur, an a capella men’s choir, is richely enhanced by the soaring beauty of tenor Gilles Bersier’s solo voice. More...
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Design: ECAL "Safe: Design takes on Risk" - Through January 2, 2006
Moma, 11 West 53th St

This exhibition features approximately 300 products and prototypes designed to protect the body and the mind from dangerous or stressful conditions, to respond to emergency situations, to ensure clarity and information, and... More...
OUT OF NEW YORK

Dali, Picasso and the Surrealist Vision - Through December 31th
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art - 600 Main St Hartford, CT

Featured in Dalí, Picasso, and the Surrealist Vision will not only be such long time favorites as Salvador Dalí's Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach... More...
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Martin Atangana African Blue Note - Friday December 9th - 10pm, 11pm & 1am
Makeda 338 George St, New Brunswick, NJ

The founding members are J. Kuo from Cameroon, M. Ba from Senegal, M. Atangana from Cameroon, A. Adu from Ivory Coast and T. Horton from New York. More...
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A children's opera Hansel & Gretel by Théâtre Sans Fil - December 29th & 30th
the Paper Mill Playhouse, Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ

Here's the story: lost in the forest, two hungry children : Hansel and Gretel discover a gingerbread house. Living inside, there is an evil witch named Rosina Dainty Mouth. More...
Nathalie Charles
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Historic church dates back to earliest days of St. Francisville

Historic church dates back to earliest days of St. Francisville

By CAROL ANNE BLITZER

Advocate staff writer

ST. FRANCISVILLE -- A visit to the quiet, old graveyard surrounding Grace Episcopal Church is a stroll through the history of West Feliciana Parish. What is most obvious from the gravestones is that the names are not the Boudreauxs, Broussards and Bergerons of French Louisiana but the Barrows, Butlers and Stirlings of the Felicianas.

"This was English Louisiana," said Anne Klein, who has served as secretary at Grace Church since 1979.

The English-speaking people of West Feliciana came to Louisiana after 1763, when, at the end of the French and Indian War, Spain ceded Florida to England. England claimed the area of the Felicianas as part of West Florida and in an effort to settle the land with British subjects made land grants in the Felicianas to British citizens in the American colonies and in England. The English set up huge, successful plantations in the Felicianas.

In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, following the American Revolution, the British ceded West Florida back to Spain, which had been invading the area from the Spanish territory of Louisiana for several years. The border between Louisiana and West Florida had always been vague.

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, both the United States and Spain claimed West Florida, and the Felicianas became a pawn in the fight among France, Spain and the U.S. for control of the area. In 1810, tired of the constant fighting over their homeland and for the use of the important Mississippi River, the British and American settlers of the Felicianas rebelled against the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge and declared themselves the Free and Independent Republic of West Florida. The flag of the republic, a single star on a blue field, was raised on Sept. 23, 1810.

The little republic petitioned the United States to be admitted, and on Dec. 6, 1810, by proclamation of President John Madison, the U.S. took possession of the Felicianas at St. Francisville.

It was these feisty Anglicans, many of whom had participated in the revolt against Spanish rule, who on March 15, 1827, formed an association to establish an Episcopal church in St. Francisville. At that time there was only one Episcopal church in Louisiana, Christ Church in New Orleans, which was founded in 1805.

Planter Thomas Butler, a native of Carlisle, Pa., and commission merchant William Flower, who was born in the Natchez District and had served as a vestryman at Christ

Church in New Orleans, were named wardens of Grace Church. Serving on the first vestry were Henry Flower, Dr. Ira Smith, John Mulholland, Levi Blount, John Little Lobdell, Benjamin H. House, Dr. Edward Hall Barton, Robert Young and Francis Dabney, a local attorney in whose office the first meeting of the vestry was held.

According to a history of the church written in the 1950s by the late Mabel Spinks Martin, William R. Bowman of Pennsylvania, who was visiting his sister, Mrs. Henry Stirling, was asked to serve as rector of the church at the first vestry meeting.

In 1828, the vestry purchased four lots for a church and entered a contract with Willis Thornton "to erect, build, and construct a Church of brick in good substantial manner, with a solid foundation for such building."

The vestry passed a resolution that the cornerstone of the church be laid with "Masonic formalities." The church was first used through the winter of 1828-29, even though it was "not painted, plastered or ceiled," Martin wrote.

In 1838, seven representatives of two New Orleans Episcopal churches and Grace Church met at Christ Church in New Orleans to form the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. The following year, the diocese was placed under the charge of the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk, missionary bishop of Arkansas. In January 1839, in the first "Parochial Report of Grace Church to the Annual Convention of the Episcopal Church in Louisiana," the church reported "fourteen white and thirty-one colored infant baptisms, seven white and twenty-one colored adult baptisms." There were also three marriages, 14 funerals and "fourteen Episcopal Communicants, twelve white and two colored, and there were fifteen communicants belonging to other denominations."

"The planter families brought their slaves to the church," Klein said. "They baptized them here. They had them married here."

Bishop Polk first visited Grace Church in 1839 and again in 1840, and in 1841, he was made first bishop of Louisiana. "He was to serve the Louisiana Diocese for twenty-three years, to lead the South in battle, and to die beloved by those whom he served," Martin wrote.

The present Grace church is the second church. Its cornerstone was laid by Bishop Polk on June 9, 1858. "The old building had served for thirty years and the time had come to build anew," Martin wrote. "The new church, simple, chaste and dignified, was laid out directly in front of the site of that first simple building."

"The church is Georgian in proportion with a big open space, but it's Gothic in its windows," said the Rev. Canon Stephen Holmgren, present rector of Grace Church. The windows, which once opened, were designed with open spaces in the walls so that the air could circulate through the church.

Over the years, the church increased the churchyard and cemetery by acquiring more and more lots around the property.

The live oaks surrounding the church and in the cemetery were planted in 1855 by slaves with acorns from the plantation of Harriett Flower Mathews, the great-great-great-grandmother of Anne Butler, who has written extensively on the history of the Felicianas.

"The acorns for the trees were from Butler Greenwood," Klein said. Harriett Flower Mathews was the second generation at Butler Greenwood, and Anne Butler's children are the eighth generation.

The first sections of the church's historic wrought-iron fence were also installed at the time the oaks were planted.

On April 28, 1860, the first services were held in the church with its new Pilcher organ brought down the Mississippi River from St. Louis. "Harriett Flower Mathews gave the big Pilcher organ in memory of her husband, Judge George Mathews of the Louisiana Supreme Court," Butler said.

The pews, which are divided in the center, were rented to parishioners. "They are faux bois," Klein said. "They are painted so that they look like cypress on the back."

The joy over the new church was short-lived. In a year, the North and South were at war, and Bishop Polk resigned to become a major general in the Confederate army. "Bishop Polk, the Man of Peace, became 'The Fighting Bishop,' " Martin wrote. "Husbands left for the army and their sons went with them. Women who had never known hardship took over the work of their men folk and war crept ever nearer to St. Francisville."

One of St. Francisville's most significant events of the Civil War was the funeral in June 1863 of a Union officer, Lt. Cmdr. John E. Hart of Schenectady, N.Y. Hart was commander of the U.S.S. Albatross, part of Adm. David Farragut's fleet on the Mississippi River. "(A)fter having shelled St. Francisville, Hart 'suicided,' died by his own hand in a fit of delirium, perhaps brought on by yellow fever, perhaps by remorse over some past military shortcoming," Butler wrote in her travel article, "The Day the War Stopped."

Hart had requested a Masonic burial, so a delegation was sent from the Albatross to one of Louisiana's oldest Masonic lodges, Feliciana Lodge No. 31, F&AM. The grand master of the lodge was serving in the Confederacy, but Grace Church's Senior Warden W.W. Leake was located and "persuaded to honor the request for Masonic burial . . . . As a soldier, Leake said, it was his duty to permit burial of deceased members of the armed forces of any government, and as a Mason it was his duty to accord Masonic burial to the remains of a brother Mason regardless of circumstances in the outside world," Butler wrote.

Hart was buried in the Masonic lot in the cemetery at Grace Church with services conducted by the rector, the Rev. Daniel Lewis, "under a flag of truce," Holmgren said.

"It was a touching moment of civility in the midst of a very bloody war," Butler said.

On Jan. 16, 1864, the U.S.S. Lafayette shelled St. Francisville for four hours, hitting the bell tower at Grace Church. "The Union was aiming at the courthouse, but they damaged the southwest corner of the church," Holmgren said. The damaged church fell into disrepair.

Polk was killed in the Battle of Pine Mountain, Ga., in June 1864. "The close of the war found Grace Church a shattered wreck, the congregation scattered, discouraged and without funds," Martin wrote. Of 72 white and 27 black members on the church roll in 1861, there were only 32 white and two black members remaining in 1866.

Money was scarce throughout the entire South during the war and in the early years of Reconstruction. "Harriett Flower Mathews was the church's only contributor of record for entire years during the Civil War period," Butler said.

The church's few members gathered for Easter services in 1866 and to make plans to restore the church, but it still took almost 20 years and a most generous legacy for the church to rebound from the Civil War. In 1883, Sarah P. Lawrason bequeathed $12,000 for the restoration of Grace Church.

Conditions did improve over time, and the church was able to purchase some new furnishings and complete the wrought-iron fence. According to local legend, a repentant Union Naval gunman who had participated in the shelling of Grace Church, sent a $100 contribution after the war, which was used to purchase four Bohemian glass panels in a red and white floral pattern for a door to the right of the altar.

In the 20th century, electricity and gas were added to make the church more comfortable, and in 1948, the old wooden altar was replaced with the present marble altar.

Even so, the church remains basically the same as it was when it was built. "Repairs and a few changes were made, but the church is not a new church," Martin wrote. "It is the church of 1858 repaired yet still showing faintly, even today, the marks of civil war."

The old Pilcher organ is still used every Sunday. "It's one of two Pilcher organs in the United States still working," Klein said.

"The burial of Cmdr. Hart is now re-enacted each June as the touching moment when the Civil War actually stopped," Butler said.

In the 1990s, Hart's descendants came from New England to St. Francisville with plans to remove his remains and rebury them in a family plot. But when they saw what an important place he had in the cemetery and how well his grave was tended, they decided to let his remains continue to rest at Grace Church.

Many descendants of the church founders still have strong ties to the church, which Butler sees as a monument to the "early plantation families, for the most part many of whom were related by blood as well as by religion."

Today Grace Church has about 400 members. "It's particularly interesting to see how many descendants of those early church members and vestry members are still around, and many are still attending Grace Church," Butler said. "It's the best symbol we have of our Anglo origins here."

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