St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
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Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
iBerkshires will be meeting with local medical experts Monday. Have a question you'd like answered on this issue? Send it info@iberkshires.com with "mammogram" in the subject line.
By Phyllis McGuire iBerkshires Columnist 05:03PM / Wednesday, September 30, 2009
A few months after my husband died eight years ago, a friend asked if I intended to keep wearing my wedding ring.
It never occurred to me to remove my wedding ring because I was a widow. It is a constant reminder that love like the circle of a ring has no end.
In our wedding ceremony, my husband and I vowed to be true to each other till death do us part, but death has no dominion over love. True love is forever.
The tradition of the wedding ring took root in Ancient Egypt. Hemp and vine were used to make the rings, which had to be replaced many times as they wore out.
The Egyptians believed that a vein in the third finger of the left hand ran directly to the heart so the wedding ring was placed on that finger. In modern times, medical autopsies disproved the Egyptians' theory, nonetheless the custom continues.
Romans fashioned wedding rings from iron to represent the strength of a couple's bond.
Medieval bridegrooms slipped the wedding ring up and then down three of his bride's fingers, reciting "In the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. Finally, they fixed the ring in place on the third finger of his bride's left hand.
In the British Isles, the wedding ring ritual was not part of wedding ceremonies until the 19th century. Before that time, the groom gave his bride a wedding ring at a party following the ceremony.
Nowadays when brides- and bridegrooms-to-be shop for wedding rings, they may be surprised to find a wide variety of styles from which to choose. There are Celtic, Irish, Byzantine, antique, designer, Florentine, and religious wedding rings and wedding bands. Some couples select custom-made wedding rings so they may have them decorated with a golf club, a sign of the Zodiac, or a military motif.
Some of the metals used in manufacturing wedding rings are platinum, titanium, white, pink and yellow gold. According to several sources, gold wedding rings are presently most popular, and couples usually buy identical wedding bands, save for the width - men preferring broader ones.
Some couples have the date of their nuptials inscribed on their wedding rings. With that date more or less at their fingertips, a husband may Al be spared the embarrassment of forgetting the couple's wedding anniversary.
It is trendy to have a wedding ring tattooed on your finger. Since a tattooed wedding ring cannot be removed, philanderers will not be able to claim they are unmarried. Neither can such rings be lost or fall off and wind up in the drain of the kitchen or bathroom sink.
Celebrities Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson had wedding rings tattooed on their fingers, but their marriage did not last. Under those circumstances, the individuals involved find their tattooed wedding rings unwelcome reminders of their failed marriage and wish to have them removed. This can be done, but it is an expensive and painful procedure, as is divorce.
Practical people living on modest incomes buy inexpensive wedding rings rather than go into debt to pay for a ring embellished with diamonds.
Wedding receptions can be very expensive, eating up all of a couple's savings. Suzi Orman, financial guru, recommends that couples buy a house before they marry and then hold their wedding celebration there. With the money guests give the couple as wedding gifts, the couple will be able to make a mortgage payment, Orman said.
Good advice, if you have enough money to buy a house before you marry.
My husband and I were married four years before we were able to put a down payment on a house. I would not have wanted to wait that long to become Mrs. William McGuire and the mother of the two children we both welcomed with love.
Nowadays when brides- and bridegrooms-to-be shop for wedding rings, they may be surprised to find a wide variety of styles from which to choose. There are Celtic, Irish, Byzantine, antique, designer, Florentine, and religious wedding rings and wedding bands. Some couples select custom-made wedding rings so they may have them decorated with a golf club, a sign of the Zodiac, or a military motif.