Tea

Kentucky School for the Deaf will host a Christmas Tea and Tour from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 12 at Jacobs Hall Museum, 303 S. Second St., on the KSD campus. Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for children ages 6-12; and free for children 5 and under. Tickets may be puchased at Jacobs Hall the day of the event or in advance at the Heart of Danville and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The KSD Alumni Association, the Jacobs Hall Museum Committee and the KSD staff will recreate many moments in the history of the school, which was founded in 1823.

While tens of thousands of protesters converged on the nation's capital last Saturday, a crowd of about 75 gathered on the Jessamine County Courthouse lawn to stage a freedom rally. "This is a freedom rally/tea party," event organizer Adam Malik said. "It's going on across the country today. " While protesters in Washington, D.C., blasted President Barack Obama's policies, the Nicholasville rally's purpose was to educate the public. "It's just to get people out here to be engaged, to see what's going on," Malik said.

Dear Editor, I realize Somerset is 35 miles from here. I cannot accept that as a news-gathering business you do not know what goes on there. Whether you agree is beside the point. On Saturday, there was a tea party in Somerset. Since this is going on all around the country, it is no secret. It is a venue for people to hear good speakers and to state their pleasure or displeasure with the government's out-of-control spending. The people who attended were respectful, polite and concerned.

It's a tradition embedded in the hearts of little girls everywhere: frilly clothes, petit fours and pinky fingers properly positioned while sipping from the cherished cup of tea. Yes, even for children, afternoon tea conjures up feelings of elegance and gentility. It is, after all, our culture's most civilized ceremony. Yet, according to Shelley Richardson, co-owner of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas and Benjamin Press in Perryville, the customs and courtesies associated with this tradition often are disquieting to the uninitiated - even adults.

The words of Albert Einstein help put this week's offering in context: "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. " The CBS-TV affiliate in Gary, Ind., recently reported, "witnesses stood by and did nothing as a 26-year-old convenience store clerk is shot and killed in broad daylight. " Police told reporters that customers kept shopping. Many walked past the dying man near the entrance of the store without even calling "911.

Two weeks ago I met with Gov. Steve Beshear and delivered 16,000 tea bags to his office. They had been collected as a form of protest against out of control government spending and increased taxation. I didn't just want to protest government irresponsibility; I wanted to actually provide some citizen guidance. I gathered suggestions from economic experts and angry taxpayers for more than two months and presented the best of these to the governor along with all the tea he could possibly drink.

Thousands came out on April 15 to say Kentuckians are Taxed Enough Already. Now protesters are joining forces and meeting at the State Capitol on Independence Day for a Kentucky statewide TEA party. Demonstrators will meet from noon until 2 p.m. on the steps of the Capitol, 700 Capitol Ave, Frankfort. The event will begin with music by Frankfort band, GodCry and lead singer, Jeanette Franklin. Speakers include: Evangelist John Brown, Flatwoods Church of Christ, Flatwoods Bro. David Carr, King of Kings Radio, Somerset Brian Corneilson, Iraqi veteran and attorney, Fort Knox U.S. Army retired Sgt.1st Class MeShorn Daniels, Louisville Michael Malone, retired attorney, Hardin County Mike Peak, Catholics in Action, Louisville John Riley, Take Back Kentucky/Gun Rights, Taylorsville Dr. Bob Rodgers, Evangel World Prayer Center, Louisville Jim Waters, Bluegrass Institute, Bowling Green There will also be an open mic, giving participants an opportunity for a one-minute speech.

Gov. Steve Beshear says we're going to have a billion-dollar shortfall. Despite receiving $3 billion in federal stimulus money, we're still hemorrhaging dollars. That means our government will spend an additional $4 billion next year. With nearly 4 million residents, that equals more than $1,000 per person. I'll take mine in cash, please. The governor has issued a call to the legislature for a special session - that will cost Kentuckians tens of thousands of dollars a day - to address the supposed shortfall.

FORKLAND - Having taken tea at numerous establishments, Kathy Coyle knows what she likes. She also knows one area she will be sure to cover when offering Forkland's first tea June 6. "A few times I came away thinking, 'I could have eaten just a little bit more,' but down here we will not have that problem," says Coyle as she sits in the Forkland Community Center at a table set with pink floral-patterned china and a vase filled with pink carnations....

Dear Editor, I have heard it said that "politics are local. " I believe the recent tea parties that have taken place around the state on April 15 are a shinning example of just that. Unfortunately, the national media could never have the perspective that could come from the people and local newspapers. While much of the national evening news and press wires reported a culmination of a nationally organized effort to put on a show, they missed the local aspect of the story. They missed that these tea parties were not funded or organized outside of the communities that held them.