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Month 
Week 
Day April 2014
FREE!
Free MOVIE! Free POPCORN!
Join us on the first Friday of April here at the Village for Picnic and a Movie! Brought to you in partnership with our good friends at Pulaski Heights Presbyterian Church.
First Friday Apr. 4
Village Montessori
Fellowship Hall
5:30pm
Movie: Cars
Bring your babies, bring your friends and their babies, bring a blanket and a picnic basket of your family’s favorite snacks and come inside where it’s nice and warm and watch a classic favorite — Cars — on the big screen together with your family and ours. Our Village. Check it out.
The Museum of Discovery’s Lively Science expert, Miss Susan, will bring a critter to share with our students in Miss Courtney’s class. And by share I mean look, listen, smell, and TOUCH!
The Village Community Gardeners Committee would like to cordially invite you to our Children’s Garden Preparation Day (or what we’ve been affectionately terming it: THE BIG DIG!)
Saturday, April 12
10:00am ~ 2:00pm (though we may finish much earlier)
• Bring snacks.
• Bring your kids.
• Bring your work clothes.
• Bring your gardening paraphernalia.
• Bring your plant or cash donation (no amount is too small) for the butterfly garden, vegetable and herb gardens and/or children’s digging area (e.g. trowels, shovels, buckets, etc.)
• Bring your shining happy selves and let’s prepare the beds for Phase 1 of our awesome Children’s Garden Plan!
A drawing of all phases and our overall plan may be viewed by clicking on the links below. Accompanying images are also available to provide a closer look at individual aspects of the plan.
OUR GOAL: $700.00 and we’ve raised $367 so far…and still counting!
No amount is too small or large — $2 or $200 — we are appreciate of them all! We are accepting donations of cash and/or plants for the butterfly garden. Many are planning to bring their plant donations to the school on Saturday, but if you’d like to drop yours off early, we will happily accept them! Just let your teacher know. Teachers will pass along your cash/check donations to the office as they’re received.
Examples of butterfly garden plants for donating: Alyssum, Anise, Aster, Basil, Bee Balm, Black-Eyed Susan, Butterfly Bush, Butterfly Weed, Candy Tuft, Clover, Columbine, Coreopsis/Moonbeam, Coriander, Cornflower, Cosmos, Dahlia, Daylilies, Dianthus, Dill, Foxglove, Garlic, Globe Amaranth, Goldenrod, Heliotrope, Hibiscus, Hollyhock, Lanatana, Lavendar, Lemon Balm, Marigold, Mexican Sunflower, Milkweed, Mint, Mustard, Oregano, Pennyroyal, Periwinkle, Petunia, Phlox, Purple Coneflower, Queen Anne’s Lace, Shasta Daisy, Snapdragon, Yarrow, Zinnia (a complete list may be found at www.folksbutterflyfarm.com/plants/plantlist.htm).
We’re so very excited to grow our Children’s Garden! Miss Courtney and Miss Leigh Ann have some exciting things worked into their classroom curriculum. Our kids are going to LOVE it!!
Passover, or Pesach, begins in the evening of Monday, April 14 and ends in the evening of Tuesday, April 22.
The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover, we have the ability to relive and experience the true freedom that our ancestors gained.
The Story in a Nutshell
After many decades of slavery to the Egyptian pharaohs, during which time the Israelites were subjected to backbreaking labor and unbearable horrors, G‑d saw the people’s distress and sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message: “Send forth My people, so that they may serve Me.” But despite numerous warnings, Pharaoh refused to heed G‑d’s command. G‑d then sent upon Egypt ten devastating plagues, afflicting them and destroying everything from their livestock to their crops.
At the stroke of midnight of 15 Nissan in the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), G‑d visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn. While doing so, G‑d spared the Children of Israel, “passing over” their homes—hence the name of the holiday. Pharaoh’s resistance was broken, and he virtually chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry, in fact, that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise. Six hundred thousand adult males, plus many more women and children, left Egypt on that day, and began the trek to Mount Sinai and their birth as G‑d’s chosen people.
Passover Observances
Passover is divided into two parts:
The first two days and last two days (the latter commemorating the splitting of the Red Sea) are full-fledged holidays. Holiday candles are lit at night, and kiddush and sumptuous holiday meals are enjoyed on both nights and days. We don’t go to work, drive, write or switch on or off electric devices. We are permitted to cook and to carry outdoors (click here for the details).
The middle four days are called chol hamoed, semi-festive “intermediate days,” when most forms of work are permitted.
NO CHAMETZ
To commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, we don’t eat—or even retain in our possession—any chametz from midday of the day before Passover until the conclusion of the holiday. Chametzmeans leavened grain—any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives, and which wasn’t guarded from leavening or fermentation. This includes bread, cake, cookies, cereal, pasta and most alcoholic beverages. Moreover, almost any processed food or drink can be assumed to be chametz unless certified otherwise.
Ridding our homes of chametz is an intensive process. It involves a full-out spring-cleaning search-and-destroy mission during the weeks before Passover, and culminates with a ceremonial search for chametz on the night before Passover, and then a burning of the chametz ceremony on the morning before the holiday. Chametz that cannot be disposed of can be sold to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday.
MATZAH
Instead of chametz, we eat matzah—flat unleavened bread. It is a mitzvah to partake of matzah on the two Seder nights (see below for more on this), and during the rest of the holiday it is optional.
THE SEDERS
The highlight of Passover is the Seder, observed on each of the first two nights of the holiday. The Seder is a fifteen-step family-oriented tradition and ritual-packed feast.
The focal points of the Seder are:
- Eating matzah.
- Eating bitter herbs—to commemorate the bitter slavery endured by the Israelites.
- Drinking four cups of wine or grape juice—a royal drink to celebrate our newfound freedom.
- The recitation of the Haggadah, a liturgy that describes in detail the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah is the fulfillment of the biblical obligation to recount to our children the story of the Exodus on the night of Passover.
Visit our Seder Section for guides, insights, tip, and a Global Seder Directory.
Source: chabad.org
| Good Friday | |
|---|---|
| Good Friday is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. It is also known asHoly Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday, or Easter Friday, though the latter properly refers to theFriday in Easter week.Based on the details of the Canonical gospels, the Crucifixion of Jesus was most likely to have been on a Friday (the day before the Sabbath) (John 19:42). The estimated year of the Crucifixion is AD 33, by two different groups, and originally as AD 34 by Isaac Newton via the differences between the Biblical and Julian calendarsand the crescent of the moon.[6] A third method, using a completely different astronomical approach based on a lunar Crucifixion darkness and eclipse model (consistent with Apostle Peter‘s reference to a “moon of blood” inActs 2:20), points to Friday, 3 April AD 33. Source: wikipedia.com |
Bring your picnic baskets and something to collect things in and bring your families and your frisbees and balls and smiling selves and join us for a picnic alongside the Arkansas River at Murray Park’s Pavilion 3 at 10:00am!
Go Village!!!
Easter Sunday in the United States
Many Christians celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. The Easter date depends on the ecclesiastical approximation of the March equinox.
Easter Sunday celebrates the Christian belief of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
©iStockphoto.com/ Marcus Lindström
What do people do?
Many churches hold special services on Easter Sunday, which celebrate the Jesus Christ’s resurrection after his crucifixion. Many people also decorate eggs. These can be hard boiled eggs that can be eaten later, but may also be model eggs made of plastic, chocolate, candy or other materials. It is also common to organize Easter egg hunts. Eggs of some form are hidden, supposedly by a rabbit or hare. People, especially children, then search for them. In some areas, Easter egg hunts are a popular way for local businesses to promote themselves or may even be organized by churches.
Public life
Easter Sunday is not a federal holiday but a number of stores are closed in many parts of the US and if they are open, they may have limited trading hours. In some cities, public transit systems usually run their regular Sunday schedule, but it is best to check with the local transport authorities if any changes will be implemented during Easter Sunday.
Background
In Pagan times, many groups of people organized spring festivals. Many of these celebrated the re-birth of nature, the return the land to fertility and the birth of many young animals. These are the origins of the Easter eggs that we still hunt for and eat.
In Christian times, the spring began to be associated with Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. The crucifixion is remembered on Good Friday and the resurrection is remembered on Easter Sunday. The idea of the resurrection joined with the ideas of re-birth in Pagan beliefs.
Symbols
For people with strong Christian beliefs, the cross that Jesus was crucified on and his resurrection are important symbols of the period around Easter. Other symbols of Easter include real eggs or eggs manufactured from a range of materials, nests, lambs and rabbits or hares. Sometimes these symbols are combined, for example, in candy models of rabbits with nests full of eggs. Eggs, rabbits, hares and young animals are thought to represent the re-birth and return to fertility of nature in the spring.
Source: timeanddate.com
Earth Day: The History of A Movement
Each year, Earth Day — April 22 — marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.
At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and, up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health.
Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.
The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.
As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, andEndangered Species Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled, “but it worked.”
As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995) — the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.
As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. With 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries reaching out to hundreds of millions of people, Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. It used the Internet to organize activists, but also featured a talking drum chain that traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Earth Day 2000 sent world leaders the loud and clear message that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.
Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-funded oil lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided environmental community all contributed to a strong narrative that overshadowed the cause of progress and change. In spite of the challenge, for its 40th anniversary, Earth Day Network reestablished Earth Day as a powerful focal point around which people could demonstrate their commitment. Earth Day Network brought 225,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, amassed 40 million environmental service actions toward its 2012 goal of A Billion Acts of Green®, launched an international, 1-million tree planting initiative with Avatar director James Cameron and tripled its online base to over 900,000 community members.
The fight for a clean environment continues in a climate of increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more manifest every day. We invite you to be a part of Earth Day and help write many more victories and successes into our history. Discover energy you didn’t even know you had. Feel it rumble through the grassroots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.
Source: earthday.org
COME DO YOGA AT THE VILLAGE!
Our children’s fabulous yoga instructor, Joy DeClerk, will be offering yoga classes for adults — teaching staff, parents, friends from the community, all are welcome! Look for the sign up sheet in our hallway at the Village.
Classes will last for 85 minutes.
AND THEY ARE FREE OF CHARGE!
501.944.4483