Val Heier

Thanksgiving Break Security

The Thanksgiving Break starts in about ten days and I’m sure you are looking forward to some well deserved time off away from the classroom; along with the chance to visit family and friends.

If you are a Penn State fraternity, FRATFIX can make your vacation time more relaxing and less worrisome by providing some basic security checks to your house during the break.  To request this service call Greg at (814) 880-3131.

For our regular customers we want to remind you that we will, as in past years, perform the following tasks during the break as part of our maintenance program:
• Conduct a regular walk-through of your house to check for potential problems.
• Check all systems and appliances for proper settings during non-use, this includes: boilers, freezers, coolers, stoves, dish washers, etc.
• Keep the building and properties code compliant by timely removal of snow, ice and litter.
• Make sure your house is secure by checking all windows, exits and entrances.

 We at FRATFIX hope that you have an enjoyable and safe Thanksgiving Break.

Best Regards

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Chuckles

• Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often – Johnny Carson.
• Thanksgiving is America’s national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty – Michael Dresser.
• He who thanks but with the lips, thanks but in part; the full, the true Thanksgiving Comes from the heart – J.A. Shedd.
• An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day – Iry Kupcinet.
• There is no sincerer love than the love of food – George Bernard Shaw.
• The thing I’m most thankful for right now is elastic waistbands – Unknown Author.

Thanksgiving Over the Years

• Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941.
• Sarah Josepha Hale petitioned for a national Thanksgiving holiday for close to 40 years in the 19^th century, believing that “Thanksgiving, like the Fourth of July, should be considered a national festival and observed by all our people.” She was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Thanksgiving On the Table

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota is the top turkey-producing state in America, with a planned production total of 46.5 million in 2011. Six states—Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and Indiana—account for nearly two-thirds of the 248 million turkeys that will be raised in the U.S. this year.
• The National Turkey Federation estimated that 46 million turkeys—one fifth of the annual total of 235 million consumed in the United States—were eaten on Thanksgiving.
• In a survey conducted by the National Turkey Federation, nearly 88 percent of Americans said they eat turkey at Thanksgiving. The average weight of turkeys purchased for Thanksgiving is 15 pounds, which means some 690 million pounds of turkey were consumed in the U.S. during Thanksgiving in 2007.
• Cranberry production in the U.S. is expected to reach 750 million pounds in 2011. Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are the top cranberry growing states.
• Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and New York are the major pumpkin growing states, together they produced 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkin in 2010. Total U.S. production was over 1.5 billion pounds.
• The sweet potato is most plentifully produced in North Carolina, which grew 972 million pounds of the popular Thanksgiving side dish vegetable in 2010. Other sweet potato powerhouses included California and Mississippi, and the top producing states together generated over 2.4 billion pounds of the tuber
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust.

Thanksgiving Around the Country

• Three towns in the U.S. take their name from the traditional Thanksgiving bird, including Turkey, Texas (pop. 465); Turkey Creek, Louisiana (pop. 363); and Turkey, North Carolina (pop. 270).
• Originally known as Macy’s Christmas Parade—to signify the launch of the Christmas shopping season—the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City in 1924. It was launched by Macy’s employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. Today, some 3 million people attend the annual parade and another 44 million watch it on television.
• Tony Sarg, a children’s book illustrator and puppeteer, designed the first giant hot air balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927. He later created the elaborate mechanically animated window displays that grace the façade of the New York store from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
• Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history. As the Flying Ace, Snoopy made his sixth appearance in the 2006 parade.

Halloween

Some History Of Halloween
Did you know that the celebration of Halloween evolved from the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain (pronounced sow-en or saw-in) which marked the end of the harvest and beginning of winter? Over the centuries the holiday transitioned from a somber pagan ritual to a day of merriment, costumes, parades and sweet treats for children and adults.

The current celebration of Halloween in the United States is a fairly recent phenomenon. Early national attention to trick-or-treating appeared in October 1947 issues of the children’s magazines and on Halloween episodes of network radio programs. The custom had become firmly established by 1952, when Walt Disney portrayed it in the cartoon Trick or Treat and UNICEF first conducted a national campaign for children to raise funds for the charity while trick-or-treating.

Something To Think About:

Sunset on Samhain is the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Traditionally, Samhain was a time to take stock of the animal herds and food supplies.The old year has passed, the harvest has been gathered, cattle and sheep have been brought in from the mountain grazing fields, and the leaves have fallen from the trees. The earth slowly begins to die around us.

This is a good time for us to look at wrapping up the old and preparing for the new in our lives. Think about the things you did in the last twelve months. Have you left anything unresolved? If so, now is the time to wrap things up. Once you’ve gotten all that unfinished stuff cleared away, and out of your life, then you can begin looking towards the next year.

How To Celebrate:

If you want to celebrate Halloween or Samhain in the Celtic tradition, spread the festivities out over three consecutive days. You can hold a ritual and feast each night.

Some unique ideas for Halloween is to host a ‘Dumb Supper’, have an ‘End of Harvest’ celebration, ‘Honor the Ancestors’, conduct a ‘Ritual for Animals’, or ‘Hold a Séance’. For details on the proper way to do these ctrl+click the following links:

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/p/Dumb_Supper.htm

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/ht/Harvest_End.htm

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/ht/Ancestor_Rite.htm

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/ht/Animals_Samhain.htm

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/wiccanandpaganrituals/ht/Hold_Seance.htm

If you need Halloween decorations (pumpkins, straw, lights, etc.) or help in planning a Halloween party, submit a work-order using the ‘work order request’ form on this website or call (814) 880-3131. You can also email us at gxb021@yahoo.com.

To order party items (tables, chairs, dinnerware, etc.) use the ‘rental request’ form on this website.

Happy Trick or Treating!

Best Regards

Val Heier

Homecoming 2014 – Float Disposal

WOW 4-0! Way to go Penn State. Here’s hoping for Win No. 5 against Northwestern on Saturday.

If you need any last minute help to get ready for Homecoming, we invite you to take advantage of the FRATFIX Event Planning Service which includes rentals, promotional items, security fencing, help with floats, etc. For details call Greg at (814) 880-3131 or visit our website, www.fratfix.com. Also please visit us on Facebook.

If you should need help at the parade’s staging area, FRATFIX will be there to assist the organizers as needed.

IMPORTANT: Please read the notice below posted by the State College Borough on its website as to the proper disposal of your float after Homecoming.

Best Regards,

Val Heier

FRATFIX, Inc.

vheierff@gmail.com

(814) 321-3074

p.s. Posted on the State College Borough Website: September 23, 2014 

Homecoming Floats

With Penn State’s Homecoming Weekend fast approaching, please see the following notice about disposal of homecoming floats:

As you plan your homecoming activities, it is important to incorporate into your planning the proper disposal of your float for after this year’s festivities are over.

It is very important not to throw your entire float into your dumpster. This could cause injury to the Borough’s refuse collection truck drivers or damage to one of the trucks. When disposing of float materials, please remember that it is important to dismantle the float and put any lumber, chicken wire and/or large, bulky items out at the curb or near your dumpster for riff-raff collection.

You can arrange for this type of pickup by calling the Borough’s Service Building at (814) 234-7135. All float material must be secured properly until pickup occurs. Crepe paper and similar small items can be bagged, tied securely and placed in the dumpster for collection. Remember to clean up all poms promptly before they blow into the street and onto neighboring properties. Please bear in mind that your float or sections of your float must not be left on any public sidewalk, street or any public right-of-way after the parade is over.

In addition, the Penn State Homecoming Committee has made arrangements for floats to be dismantled on Penn State University property. Any questions or requests for more information regarding this option can be made by contacting the Committee at paradehomecoming@psu.edu.

In order to take care of post-homecoming clean up, floats need to be disassembled completely and the materials placed out for collection by 7 a.m. on Friday, October 3, 2014.

If you have any questions about the disposal of your float prior to refuse pickup, please contact the State College Division of Health and Neighborhood Services at (814) 234-7191 or the Public Works Department at (814) 234-7135.

The Borough wishes you a safe and successful Homecoming.