A Message From Your President!

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1 B a t h C o u n t y C o o p e r a t i v e E x t e n s i o n S p e c i a l p o i n t s o f i n t e r e s t : I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e : KEHA News 2-3 KSU Korner 4 Celebrating Kwanzaa Youth Health Bulletin Gentle Yoga 8 Winter Wonderland December 1: Dues are due! Please send them ASAP! Office is closed from December 21 January 1. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Kwanzaa! January 8: County Extension Council (6pm) January 15: Homemaker Council Meeting (5:30pm) Nicole Gwishiri Bath CEA For Family and Consumer Sciences Education 9 Pictures 1 0 Jr. Homemakers Family and Consumer Sciences Extension News! Happy December! I cannot believe almost another year has passed and we are officially in holiday mode. I hope that you all are making it through the wintery weather we ve had so far and are able to stay warm, happy, and healthy. I know the holidays are hard on so many people, so please check on your friends and family members to see how they are doing at this time. This may be the time of year where prayers, thoughts, and calls are appreciated more than ever. Last month we had an exciting few events at the Extension Office. We held our first Dad s Night Out, in partnership with the Gateway Fatherhood program. We had over 70 participants attend! Kids spent time with their caregivers to cook a healthy meal, learn about saving money, and the importance of reading. I would like to thank Brenda Kendrick and her staff, Michele Johnson, Kaye Wells, and Gloria Metz for their help, as well as the fathers who helped to guide their children that night. We also continued with the monthly sewing day program. Many projects are going on with that. If you are interested in helping in any way there is always a job to do. We also hosted the annual Stretching Your Holiday Dollars program. Participants learned the tricks to the trade of saving for holiday expenses. We also created cost efficient door wreaths for fall. This month we are slowing down to get prepared for the holiday season. Also, I am going to a few trainings this month on new programming that I am excited to bring back to Bath County. Many clubs are having their holiday celebrations. Also, at the Extension Office we are hosting a Holiday Fun Night. Please call the Extension Office if you re interested in joining us. We will be creating cost efficient holiday gifts for this season. The Extension Office is also conducting a community needs assessment focus group at the Bath County Memorial Library on December 3, Laykin is still hosting the Teen Cuisine at the Bath County Memorial Library. Please check page four for her other programs. Note on the calendar that if school is cancelled due to bad weather, Family and Consumer Sciences programs hosted at the Extension Office are also cancelled. If you are not sure about a specific event, please call the office to see. If you have any pictures that you would like to see in our newsletter, please send them to me! JR HOMEMAKERS MEETING IS DECEMBER 3 at 5 pm!!! A Message From Your President! Merry Christmas to EVERYONE! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here we are the last month of another year. Time seems to be flying by. I want to say Thank you to everyone who has helped me and attended all my Let's Do Lunch programs. I appreciate everything! At this time of year I hope we all stop and look around because there is a great need to help out some who may need a helping hand. I know we have a lot of Angels on the trees so maybe you could help out there or just give a donation towards one. I know it will be greatly appreciated! I want to say good job to Country At Heart and all the other vendors for having a good bazaar! Please be careful traveling during the holidays. I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! God Bless! Lois Ginn

2 P a g e 2 Happy birthday to all of you who have birthdays in the month of December! Jenny Adkins Diana Chambers Cathy Cope Betty Harmon Mary Sue Helphinestine Mary Ann Lewis Michelle Ray Eileen Stewart Etta Mae Stewart Glenna Whitaker Please send in your birthday so that you may be recognized! Join us at the Extension Office this holiday season to try holiday food samples, learn how to make holiday decorations, and enjoy fellowship with other people. This night is sure to be the break you need in the middle of your holiday preparations. When: December 13 Where: Bath County Ag Center Time: 5:30 pm Please call the Extension Office if you plan on attending! Does your teen need to learn ways to become more selfsufficient in the kitchen? Look no further! Join us for Teen Cuisine where teens will learn healthy habits which will last a lifetime and influence the people around them. Each meeting day we will prepare a delicious healthy dish! When: December 7 & 13 Where: Bath County memorial Library Time:4 pm B u i l d i n g S t r o n g F a m i l i e s i n B a t h C o u n t y

3 P a g e 3 December 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Jr. Homemakers (5p) 4 Bethel Nite (11a) Blue Licks State Park 5 Scrapbook Club (10a) 6 7 Farmers Market (8a) Ex. Off. Teen Cuisine (4p) Bath Co. Memorial Library 8 Farmers Market (8a) 9 10 Sewing Day (9a) Slate Valley (5:30p) Indian Creek Restaurant Heart (6:30p) Harpers & White Oak (10:30a) 13 Salt Lick (10:30a) Holiday Fun Night (5:30p) Ex. Off. Teen Cuisine (4p) Bath Co. Memorial Library 14 Farmers Market (8a) Sharpsburg Country (11a) Indian Creek Restaurant, Mount Sterling 15 Farmers Market (8a) Hill-N-Dale (5:15p) Southern Lights and Cheddars, Lexington Farmers Market (8a) 22 Farmers Market (8a) For the winter months, if school is cancelled ALL FCS/Homemaker programs held at the Extension Office will be cancelled! Call the office if you aren t sure.

4 Host a Kwanzaa Celebration That Children Will Enjoy P a g e 4 Rituals are an important part of kids lives. They connect children to their family and community and give everyone a sense of who they are. In the African American culture, Kwanzaa is a holiday that honors tradition and deepens children s understanding of their heritage. It s also a lot of fun seven days of food, music, dancing, creativity and other family activities. What is Kwanzaa? Kwanzaa (also spelled Kwanza) was founded in 1966 as a way to celebrate African-American heritage, community, family, justice, and nature. It s not a religious holiday; it s a celebration of unity and ancestry. Kwanzaa lasts for seven days, starting December 26. Each day is dedicated to a different principle, together known as Nguzo Saba: Umoja unity Kujichagulia self-determination Ujima collective work and responsibility Ujamma cooperative economics Nia purpose Kuumba creativity Imani faith A central symbol for Kwanzaa is the kinara, a candelabra that holds one black, three red and three green candles. The Kinara is placed under a straw mat (called a mkeka) during Kwanzaa, and the candles are lighted in a particular order until the final day when all seven candles are burned. Day 1: Light the black, middle candle to honor Umoja Day 2: Light the innermost red candle to honor Kujichagulia Day 3: Light the innermost green candle to honor Ujima Day 4: Light the middle red candle to honor Ujamaa Day 5: Light the middle green candle to honor Nia Day 6: Light the outermost red candle to honor Kuumba Day 7: Light the outermost green candle to honor Imani Another Kwanzaa symbol is corn. One ear of corn is placed under the kinara to symbolize each child in the family. Karamu: The Kwanzaa Feast Traditionally, a feast is held on day six of Kwanzaa and gifts are exchanged on day seven. The feast, which falls on December 31, is called karamu. Since it corresponds with the day that honors creativity (Kuumba), many families organize a craft-making party. Then, the crafts are exchanged as gifts on January 1. The crafts should somehow tie to the African-American heritage or to Kwanzaa itself. Kids could make corn necklaces, woven placements, family history books, or homemade kinaras. Before the feast, decorate your house in colors of Kwanzaa (red, green, and black) either using conventional party supplies, such as streamers or with symbols from black cultures, such as the African-American flag. You could always use items from nature, or, if your family also celebrates Christmas, consider decorating your tree with red, green, and black ornaments and lights. For other activities during the party, teach the children traditional African games, such as kalah, or play Kwanzaa music and encourage everyone to dance. Kwanzaa is a meaningful way to wrap up the year and reflect on important values. It s also a chance to start the New Year with a sense of purpose, responsibility, self-respect, and care for the community.

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9 Dad s Night Out P a g e Dad s Night Out is a program that featured Dads and their children spending quality time together. Parents and children were able to spend quality time together preparing dinner, reading, and doing activities that promoted financial literacy. We had over 70 participants and everyone had a great time! Holiday Bazaar This year s bazaar was led by Heart. They did a great job of pulling together an event that attracted over 20 vendors and several visitors for the day. Included are some of the vendors of the day. Community Service in Bath County Joy Warren, Mary Ann Lewis, and Carol Rushing-Carr (Montgomery County Homemaker) visited Crossroads Elementary to read a story and help students create quilt blocks for their annual fall festival. The kids loved it and learned a lot. The Scrapbook Club made Thanksgiving favors for Ridgeway Nursing Home, Owingsville Manor, and Haven Hill. 9

10 Bath County Cooperative Extension 2914 E. HWY 60 Owingsville, KY Phone: Fax: I hope you all have a great Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas, and a happy Kwanzaa. Be safe and create memories that will last for a while. If you need anything from us at the Extension Office, please feel free to reach out to us. We are here to serve our community and we look forward to doing so. I hope to see many of you in the near future. If you have any ideas for programs in the new year, please let me know. Sincerely, We re On the Web! Bath.ca.uky.edu (Facebook) Bath County Extension, Bath County 4-H, & Bath County Agriculture Nicole Gwishiri Bath County Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences Education Teaching. Research. Extension. Celebrating Hanukkah, The Jewish Festival of Lights At sundown on December 2, 2018 Jewish families worldwide will mark the first day of Hanukkah by lighting a candle on a special menorah. The eight-day celebration, which will end on December 10, is observed annually on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls anywhere from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival s origin dates back more than 2,000 years, when Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled Judea, or the Land of Israel. The Greek king, who reigned from 175 to 164 BC, outlawed the Jewish religion, ordering Jews to worship Greek gods instead. To make matters worse, in 168 BC, his soldiers massacred thousands of people in Jerusalem and violated the city s holy Second Temple by installing an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs (considered non-kosher by Jews) inside the structure s sacred walls. In 165 BC, after three years of fighting their Greek oppressors, the citizens managed to reclaim the holy site. When Jewish worshippers stepped first stepped inside the Temple after their victory, they found a small quantity of olive oil, just enough to light the menorah for a single day. However, to their astonishment, the candles burned for a full eight days, giving the residents enough time to prepare a fresh batch of kosher oil. Soon after, an eight-day festival was declared to commemorate the religious freedom, and the great oil miracle and Hanukkah, or Chanukah as it is also called, was born. Though many fun traditions have been added since the inaugural celebration, lighting a sacred candelabrum that can hold nine candles remains the most important ritual. Eight candles are lit, one at a time, to mark each day of the Hanukkah miracle. A special ninth candle, known as Shamash (attendant), is used to kindle the others. Following the candle lighting and prayers, families sit down for a delicious feast. To commemorate the miracle olive oil that led to the start of the holiday, many traditional Hanukkah delicacies are deep fried. Among the favorites are potato pancakes called latkes and jelly-filled donuts known as sufganiyot. Once the dinner table is cleared, it s time for fun games, the most popular of which involves a four-sided spinning top called a dreidel. Participants begin with an equal number of game pieces which range from candy to nuts to chocolate coins. After donating a game piece to a mutual pot, the players take turns spinning the dreidel. Each side features a different letter, which together form the acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, which means a great miracle happened there, referring to the miracle of the oil lasting eight days in ancient Israel. Depending on the side the dreidel lands on, participants can lose a game piece to the mutual bowl or hit the jackpot and win the entire loot. Given the holiday s proximity to Christmas, it is not surprising that exchanging presents has become a big part of the celebration.