Celebrators

Greetings everyone!

The Celebrations Garden has been busy creating pages for the Birthdays and Anniversaries of our special ladies. We created 39 pages for February Special Days.

Welcome to our newest Celebrator - Gifter/Signer Amanda!

We have a couple of new features starting this month, and I'd like to send out a special thanks to Jeri for offering to be the Celebrator's columnist.

Meet Your Celebrators

A new feature for you from the WOSIB Celebrators!! Each month we are going to interview one of our Celebrators so that you can get to know them a bit better. The person we selected for March is no stranger to most of us; she is a dedicated staff member, and assistant in Quilters as well as Celebrators. This month lets get to know more about KuntrySue!

What is your name/WOSIB name and location?

Kuntry Sue/Texas

What other WOSIB Gardens do you belong to?

Quilters Garden Assistant and Big Sis Consultant

Tell us about your other hobbies (not WOSIB related).

I am active in the Episcopal Church (sing in the choir), play the piano, dabble in oil painting, collect bells and capidomonte. I am also a very loyal dedicated family person.

What are your favorites?? Food? Movies? Flowers?

Give me a good steak and baked potato. I love a good movie with Tom Hanks or Meg Ryan or a good comedy. My favorite flower is Calla Lilly. I can't wait until Easter and see the beautiful Calla Lillies on our altar at the church. They are just gorgeous.

Tell us why you wanted to be in the Celebrators garden and how long you've been in the group.

The Celebrators Garden was the first Garden I joined in WOSIB. I thought it would be interesting to sign all those guestbooks and get to know all the ladies and at the time I made graphics for Diane to use as gifts from WOSIB. Then Pamster asked me to check the guestbooks and I have been doing that since about 6 months after I joined the group and it just seemed to be what I enjoyed a nd I have done that for over 4 years now. All total I will be in the Celebrators group for 5 years this coming August. That is my anniversary date with WOSIB and my anniversary date with Celebrators as well.

Tell us about something that is going on in your life right now that has you so excited.

I am just so excited that my 50th High School Class Reunion will be coming up in September. We plan a weekend to celebrate and I have been doing a webpage for the group and helping plan this and I can't wait to get together with my classmates. These are people I have known the better part of my life. Went all through school with them and it just excites me every time we have a class reunion to get to go and visit and recall all the "good ole' days from the '50s". Wish you all could have experienced the '50s. Gee, those were wonderful times with the poodle skirts, the bop dance, the penny loafers, the bobby sox, the duck tails and of course, the '50 music not to mention Elvis Presley. Didn't take much to make us happy back then. The only sad part is the classmates we have lost. I grew up in a town of about 5,000 at that time and my class had only 99 graduates and we have lost quite a few but it makes it even more meaningful to those of us who are left to be able to get together and say "We Made It To 50". So, needless to say, I am counting the days until September and looking forwarding to seeing my classmates who are and will continue to be my friends for the rest of my life.

Thank you for interviewing me and I just want to say how very much I enjoy being in the Celebration Garden and what a pleasure it is to have such wonderful leaders as Pamster and Diane. Thank you for almost 5 wonderful years.

Birthstones

Just about everyone knows what his or her birthstone is. Why is that? Because people still enjoy the folklore associated with the tradition of the birthstone. They like believing that wearing a birthstone brings them "good luck" and protects them. Birthstones, have been used for centuries to honor those who were born in the corresponding month of the traditional stone. Below is a bit of info on each birthstone. Next month we'll explore why each stone is selected for that particular month.

January - Garnet

There are many different myths about the origins of garnet. One such myth suggests that the garnet originated with Persephone, the Greek goddess of sunshine. Persephone was captured by Hades, the god of the underworld. Before Hades released Persephone, he wanted to guarantee her return, so he gave her some pomegranate seeds. The word garnet comes from the Latin "granatus," which means seed. The next time you eat a pomegranate, you will notice the seeds' resemblance to garnet.

February - Amethyst

According to Greek myth, Dionysius, god of intoxication, was angered by an insult from a mere mortal and swore revenge on the next mortal that crossed his path, creating fierce tigers to carry out his wish. Along came the unsuspecting Amethyst, a beautiful maiden on her way to pay tribute to the goddess Diana. Diana turned Amethyst into a statue of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from the tigers. Dionysus wept tears of wine in remorse at the sight of the beautiful statue. The god's tears stained the quartz purple, creating the gem we know today.

March - Aquamarine

Aquamarine's name comes from the words "aqua" and "mare," meaning water and sea, from of its intense blue-green color. Because of its resemblance to the ocean, sailors used to wear talismans made of aquamarine depicting the god Neptune, who ruled the seas. With the help of their god, they believed the aquamarine would offer them protection from the elements.

April - Diamond

Diamond is the most familiar gemstone and it has a rich and interesting history. Diamonds are known for their prismatic beauty and hardness, and they are highly valued for these and other qualities. At one time, it was even thought that if you took a diamond into bed with you, it would cure your illness!

May - Emerald

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Egyptians mined the Earth, suffering through extreme conditions to find the prized green emerald. Cleopatra was so taken with these stones that she claimed the mines for herself. In fact, she was known for wearing lots of huge emerald jewelry, and gave emeralds carved with her portrait to her important visitors.

June - Pearl

From one of the humblest of life forms, the mollusk, comes the pearl -- a gem of unsurpassed beauty and elegance. Ancient civilizations had many stories to explain the origin of June's birthstone, such as the Greek belief that pearls were the hardened tears of joy that the goddess of love shook from her eyes as she was born from the sea. According to Arab legend, pearls were formed when oysters were lured from the depths of the ocean by the beautiful moon and then swallowed moonlit dewdrops. And the Ancient Chinese thought that these gems originated from the brains of dragons*

July - Ruby

The ruby is one of the most highly valued of all gems. Ancient Hindus referred to it as "the king of gems," and royalty used ruby to ward off evil because it was believed to have magical powers. One such magical power was that the ruby would get darker in the presence of evil and lighter when the evil was gone but only if possessed by its rightful owner.

August - Peridot

The Arabic word "faridat," meaning gem, is where the name for the gem peridot comes from. Peridot's stunning beauty and bright color caused the ancient Egyptians to call it "the gem of the sun." It was believed that peridot glowed with its own inner light even after sunset, and that miners used to locate the stones at night to retrieve them during the day.

September - Sapphire

Sapphires were believed to have special protective powers, such as preventing envy and protecting the wearer from poisoning. Some ancient cultures even thought that if a sapphire container held a venomous snake, it would die. In addition, people believed that sapphire had medical healing properties, such as the ability to cure colic, rheumatism, blindness, and mental illnesses.

October - Opal

Opals were greatly valued by ancient monarchs for their protective powers. They were worn as jewelry and in crowns to ward off evil and to protect the wearer's eyesight. The opal was also ingested in a ground-up powder to protect against nightmares.

November - Topaz

Yellow Topaz 's golden color was believed by the Egyptians to be the glow cast by the sun god Ra. Yellow Topaz ranges in color from a peachy blush to a deep cognac. A gift of this gemstone is said to symbolize friendship and to strengthen one's capacity to give and receive love.

December - Turquoise

Since about 6,000 B.C. when it was first mined by the Egyptians, turquoise has been one of the most valuable opaque minerals in the jewelry business. Native Americans and Persians also valued it for its decorative and ornamental beauty. The Navajo believe that turquoise is a part of the sky that fell to Earth.

The basic human need to own and wear materials we deem "sacred" or special is what drives us to collect rocks and minerals. Perhaps this explains the lure of birthstones; how powerful it is to have our month of birth represented by a beautiful natural gemstone. We can own and display our special stone and feel embraced by its beauty.

source: http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/geology/birthstones/index.php

* June and November months info from: http://www.about-birthstones.com

Reporting for Celebrators: Jeri

We hope that you enjoyed our new features. In future months we'll be introducing more Celebrators, and bringing you interesting information about birthday and anniversary celebrations.

Remember - if you would like to have us help you celebrate your special day please fill out the form here. If your email address has changed since you've submitted your date - please fill out the form to send us your change of address, so that we are able to contact you when your special day rolls around.

Reminder: If you have a spam blocker, please add pamster@wosib.org - or the wosib.org domain - so that our emails to you about your special day will get through.

Hugs,
Head Celebrator Pamster
Assistant Head Celebrator Diane
and
Garden Assistants KuntrySue and Angelkitten