If you think transforming life’s lemons into lemonade is an inspiring feat,
imagine converting an abandoned wedding reception into a joyous—and charitable—celebration.
Photo by CrayonMonkey via Flickr
That’s exactly what Carol and Bill Fowler of Atlanta managed to accomplish last month, after their daughter’s wedding was cancelled six weeks shy of the meticulously planned ceremony.
“My husband actually prayed about it,” Carol Fowler recalls. “The next morning he woke, I was in the process of canceling the venue, letting them know that we had no use for it, and he said, ‘No, we’re going to call Hosea Feed the Hungry and have them round up people from the shelters.'”
The Fowlers’ children had volunteered with Hosea Feed the Hungry, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that works to bolster families in need, so they knew it was just the place to turn for assistance.
Carol was crazy about the idea. After all, she says, “We were going to spend this money anyway!”
When the couple called Hosea Feed the Hungry, proposing an elaborate party for local homeless families, the organization was skeptical.
“At first I thought it was a prank call. I thought somebody was joking with us,” admits Elizabeth Omilami, Hosea’s chief executive officer.
But the Fowlers and Omilami wasted no time gathering a guest list of 200 people, most of them women with children, for an afternoon meal at Villa Christina, an upscale local restaurant.
Omilami arranged bus transport from three area shelters to the restaurant, where attendees were treated to fabulous food and lots of kid-friendly entertainment courtesy of a clown, juggler, and face painter.
Photo courtesy of Alvin Evans via Today.com
The whole Fowler family attended the celebration as well. “The feeling was one you cannot explain, to see the faces and hear their thank yous,” Carol commented. “[Our daughter] was also very delighted to see and know that others had an opportunity to enjoy something, rather than just allow it to go to waste.”
Photo courtesy of Hosea Feed the Hungry via Here and Now
Julie Bilecky, sales and marketing director of Villa Christina, said, “Carol and Bill did a phenomenal job of giving back to the community. It could have been difficult situation, but everyone worked together to make it a different kind of party. It was fabulous.”
The event, which has become known as “The First Annual Fowler Family Celebration of Love,” was such a sweet success that the Fowlers hope to hold a similar affair year after year.
Carol credits divine intervention for the advent of a new Atlanta tradition. “We feel that this is something that God would like us to do because obviously, we did not set out to do this.”
Picture a library without card catalogs, shelves, reading chairs, or …
books?
Photo by Matl, CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What’s left to be called a “library”?
Denizens of the digital age will assure you that it’s all still there, only now it’s electronic.
(Of course, you’ll just have to imagine the academic ambience.)
Photo by Dr. Marcus Gossler, GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The United States’ first futuristic facility of this kind recently opened to the public in Bexar County, Texas.
Photo by Xataka, CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It’s called the BiblioTech library, and it boasts about 10,000 free e-books, as well as audio books and e-readers. You can use your own reader, too, if you have the 3M Cloud Library app, which can be linked to your library card.
Yup, even a digital library still uses cards.
Lest you wonder if this is all just a figment of a cyber-savvy librarian’s fancy, the BiblioTech
(a play on “bibliothèque,” the French word for library)
actually does have a physical location, complete with 48 computer stations and meeting spaces (there are tables and chairs!).
Plus, patrons can still bring their kids for a real, live story time and take computer classes to catch up with the rapidly changing times.
Are you ready for a “virtual library” in your neck of the woods?
How fun is this?
Photo courtesy of Back to the Roots (http://www.backtotheroots.com/) via Co.Exist (http://www.fastcoexist.com)
It’s a fish tank,
it’s a garden,
it’s …
This newfangled countertop-gardening gizmo has the “neat-o” market cornered.
Photo courtesy of Back to the Roots (http://www.backtotheroots.com/)
In a nutshell, it’s a self-cleaning fish tank that grows food.
Maintenance?
None. All you do is feed the fish.
Dirt?
Nope. It’s soil-free (the plants grow in clean pebbles).
Um … smell?
Not a whiff except for the sweet scents of flourishing herbs and greens. (Almost sounds too good to be true.)
So, how does it work?
“This closed-loop eco-system uses the fish waste to naturally fertilize the plants above,” explain Aquafarm’s inventors. “In turn, the plants clean the water for your pet fish.”
The ready-to-grow kit, which is made in California and sells for about $60, includes everything you need to get started, from organic seeds to fish food, and you also get a discount coupon for your first fish from Petco.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
Photo courtesy of Back to the Roots http://www.backtotheroots.com/
Photo courtesy of Back to the Roots http://www.backtotheroots.com/
Kids and Christmas!
g-o-i-n’ to the c-h-a-p-e-l of love … 
Ah, wedded bliss … or should I say wedding bliss?
Photo by Veronidae via Wikimedia Commons
The moment so many young women dream of—gorgeous groom, perfect setting … oh, and the DRESS, the dress, the dress …
Photo by David Ball via Wikimedia Commons
Hold that thought.
What if …
the dress could be even more dreamy?
Possible?
Indeed.
Marcelia Muehlke has made it so.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
