Traditions

Joe Molinaro was on a family vacation in Ecuador 20 years ago when he stepped inside a hardware store in a little village at the edge of the Amazon jungle. At the time, Molinaro was a pottery professor at a community college in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and was immediately drawn to the four handmade pots sitting on a shelf. He purchased the pots for .25 cents each, and learned that they were made by the Kichwa people of Jatun Molino, a group of indigenous people living in the jungle. The skill of pottery making was honed over the years by Kichwa women out of necessity.

FRANKFORT - The Kentucky Arts Council is accepting applications until Feb. 15 for the Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant. This grant provides up to $3,000 for master folk artists to teach the skills, practices and culture of Kentucky's living traditional arts to less experienced artists who are part of the same community. Master artists and apprentices must apply together and both be residents of Kentucky. A master artist can practice any traditional art form (music, dance, craft, ceremonial art, etc.)

FORKLAND - A state folklife specialist learned Thursday that the Forkland community is unique because so many people help with planning for the annual Forkland Festival and Heritage Revue. Sarah Milligan, of Frankfort, spent the day on the Fork touring the community center buildings, log cabin and grounds where preparations are being made for the 35th annual festival on Oct. 13 and 14. More than 20 people were working like beavers getting displays set up, doing maintenance work, sweeping and mopping, and cleaning out the office as Milligan made her way through the old school building.

In the afternoons during late September and early October 2007, Amy Shoemaker's first grade class and Veronica Robinson's intermediate class at Strode Station Elementary began a learning adventure. The class brainstormed different holidays and their traditions. Robinson's class researched and prepared lessons about a holiday, then they came to Shoemaker's class and taught the first graders about that holiday. They included lessons about both American traditions and the traditions of at least one other country.

Scenes from the Orchid Ensemble’s recent performance of Bengalila (2009) exemplify the artistry, creativity and enchantment that the musical group offers to its audiences. Centre College invites the public to participate in an intimate performance and lecture at 11:20 a.m. Thursday in 114 Grant Hall by the ensemble’s talented members, Lan Tung, Haiqiong Deng and Jonathan Bernard. A moving mix of Asian and Western instruments throw distinct voices into constant dialogue, harmonizing virtuosic performance with the various artistic traditions they bear.

GOOD THINGS TO EAT Perryville Christian Church - noon-2:30 p.m. Sunday for a community valentine dinner. Adults eat for $10 and children 10 and under for $5. All donations to benefit the renovation project at the church. Hope Full Gospel Church - beginning at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the church will have a chitterling, chicken and fish dinner sale at 193 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. For carryout orders, call (859) 238-0192. MUSIC Pleasant Run Baptist Church - 6 p.m. Sunday, Dale Ann Bradley will sing.

The holidays seem to be a time for food, food and more food. Eating is a healthy necessary part of life, but the holiday treats should not become so common place that they are eaten in large amounts all year around. Moderation is the rule of thumb. At holiday time, food is often part of many traditions. Traditions are what make holidays different and special. Holiday treats should be considered special and reserved for these special times. During the holiday season limit the amount of high fat and very sweet desserts your serve.

People interested in how 18th century settlers celebrated Christmas can get a glimpse of what life was like during the holidays on the frontier this weekend at Fort Boonesborough State Park. The park is hosting its second Christmas on the Frontier - living history interpretations of the traditions of the season - inside the fort today and Saturday from 6-8 p.m. Visitors can learn how some present-day customs originated and how others were lost over the years. Re-enactors will demonstrate how cultures blended on the frontier and how pioneers with different ethnic backgrounds brought their traditions to the colonies and then on to the frontier.

A Midwinter Quiet Day will be at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 4 at The Daughters of the King of Trinity Episcopal Church, 320 W. Main St. A quiet day is a mini-retreat, an opportunity to draw apart from the busyness of life and to devote some time to silence, solitude and reflection, listening for the wisdom of God. The theme of the Midwinter Quiet Day is Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer is the modern form of an ancient prayer method dating back to the early church and desert traditions. It is one of the earliest forms of Christian meditative prayer and continues to be practiced by many Christians.

WASHINGTON - Hope is an overused word and an underrated virtue. We "hope" for all kinds of things, from the trivial to the profound. But hope is both a habit and a discipline. It is an orientation toward the future based on the conviction that we live in an ultimately trustworthy universe. Hope is the virtue on which faith and love depend. Even more than faith and love, I think, hope is closest to the heart of the Christmas story. In an anthropological sense, Christmas celebrates new life and birth, a theme that crosses cultures and traditions.

Kentucky will renew a traditional rivalry and honor the late Bill Keightley next season. The Wildcats unveiled the non-conference portion of their men's basketball schedule Wednesday, a slate that includes contests against Michigan State, Baylor, North Carolina, Providence and defending national champion Louisville on Dec. 28 at Rupp Arena. “It's once again an elite schedule, but that's the standard here,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said on his Facebook page Wednesday. Kentucky coach John Calipari's squad will officially open the campaign on Nov. 8 against UNC-Ashville and then will play Northern Kentucky University on Nov. 10 in two straight home games to begin the season.

President Barack Obama might have some fancy digs at which to host the annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn, but Tasha Key puts on a pretty egg-cellent Easter shindig herself. About 75 kids descended on the backyard of Key's Greenview Drive home Saturday afternoon, where some 4,500 eggs lay in wait. Eggs that Keys and her family had been filling since February - 4,100 with candy and 400 with cash - all of them scooped up within minutes. “The whole yard was covered.

Tradition is normally part of many family gatherings and it is also true of nations. Habits and stories are passed down from one generation to the next and the expected responses are generated by what is fact and sometimes lore, but meaningful evaluations of past history are kept as valid evidence of what transpired in the past. There is a tradition of early Christian history that can be applied to the tomb of Jesus. After His crucifixion, He was laid in a tomb that belonged to another and with Roman instructions clearly outlined a large and heavy stone was rolled in front of the opening.

Don and Ruthann Sharrock don't have much free time in their social lives. As parents of three sons, two of which who have played prep and collegiate sports, and another who is a sophomore at George Rogers Clark High School, the parents have had little time to devote to family and leisure events during the past two decades. “Free time is non-existent in a multiple-kid sports family,” Ruthann said. “That includes vacations, traveling to see family for holidays and special occasions.

It is the kind of job that might have turned Clay Clevenger's head toward any school in Kentucky. And it is home. In other words, it is the ideal job for Clevenger, a 1996 Danville graduate who was introduced today as the new football coach at his alma mater. “Not a lot of people have the opportunity to go home, but when home is a program that's in the top five in all-time wins in the state, won 10 state championships, one of the top five programs in the state of Kentucky, that just adds icing to it,” Clevenger said.

The holidays seem to be a time for food, food and more food. Eating is a healthy necessary part of life, but the holiday treats should not become so common place that they are eaten in large amounts all year around. Moderation is the rule of thumb. At holiday time, food is often part of many traditions. Traditions are what make holidays different and special. Holiday treats should be considered special and reserved for these special times. During the holiday season limit the amount of high fat and very sweet desserts your serve.

When Danville resident Albert Strunk was growing up in Germany, it was a holiday tradition to have a handmade nativity scene near the Christmas tree. Strunk, 69, left Old World Germany for the New World of the United States in 1961. But the tradition instilled in him by his home country as well as his late parents Auguste and Josef lives on in Danville decades later. The first time Strunk handcrafted the nativity scene was at age 14, when his father asked him to take over that custom.

For several years Tim Bess had been encouraging his wife, Danville artist Anne Crawford, to do a painting based on the tradition of Kentucky basketball. Last summer she found herself considering the best way to portray the deep tradition of UK basketball in an original oil portrait. “Her artistic, creative mind went to work. She then invited our family to share ideas, to discuss the painting, to conduct research, and to take a close look at all that is encompassed by UK basketball's tradition throughout the decades,” said Jean Crawford Griffin, Anne's sister.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach John Calipari says it's not hard to understand why bringing former players back to UK is important for them and fans. Kentucky will have two exhibition games Saturday at Rupp Arena involving former players, who are also here to help with the John Calipari Fantasy Camp that includes a visit from ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale today. “When you are sitting in the seat I am in, you are the keeper of tradition. Being part of that means you reach out like I do with coach (Joe B.)

Earlier this week, Western Kentucky University football coach Willie Taggart criticized students in Bowling Green who like to wear blue and white University of Kentucky attire. Regardless of the reasoning, Taggart wasn't happy. Maybe he was trying to get students in Bowling Green to show pride in their school. Maybe he was fired up about his team's contest against Kentucky Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. For whatever reason, Taggart voiced his concern over his next opponent's uniform color and students who chose to wear Kentucky attire on campus during game week in Bowling Green.