Saturday, November 25, 2017

7 GREAT Ways to Spread Christmas Cheer

Toys for Tots

1) Toys for Tots:

Toys for needy children are collected at drop-off locations all over the country. This organization is run by the United States Marine Core Reserve. This year we are partnering with Toys for Tots as a drop off location. If we can collect  toys by December 18th, Dr. Neal gets a pie in the face. The event will be on video for the world to see. Tune back in to see.
AngelTREE

2) AngelTREE:

AngelTREE is a program donating toys to children who have a parent in prison during the holidays. You can pick a child to sponsor, or go to the website to make a donation. This is a Christian Organization.
Christmas Spirit Foundation

3) Christmas Spirit Foundation:


This organization provides hundreds of Christmas trees each year to troops stationed overseas who won't be home for Christmas and also delivers trees to military bases for members of the military and their families to receive a free Christmas tree. You can go to the Website to make a donation.
Make-A-Wish

4) Make A Wish:

 There are many ways to help make the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions come true. They partners with many companies during the holidays with promotions. For example, drop off a letter to Santa at any Macy's and the store will donate $1 per letter to Make-A-Wish. Shop at the Disney Store, rent a car, buy a car, book your air travel or have your kids make a Christmas gift wish list at Toys R Us for money to automatically be donated to Make-A-Wish.
My Two Front Teeth

5) My Two Front Teeth:

They and the Family Giving Tree charities joined forces to help more children. To help a child, visit either website to see the children's names, ages, their gift wishes and how much it will cost to give the child that particular present. 
Operation Christmas Child

6) Operation Christmas Child:

What can you pack in a shoe box? Christmas for children around the world. Pack a standard-sized shoe box, pick the child's age group your gifts are appropriate for and fill the box with toys, school supplies, hygiene items, apparel, and a personal note This is a Christian Organization operated by Samaritan's Purse,

Salvation Army


7) Salvation Army:

This Organization has  helpers in front of your favorite stores tinging their bells and next to their famous donation kettle. you can also donate clothes toys and other items to their drop off sites or arrange for pickup. The salvation army assists in many local charitable ways from food programs, to donations of items, clothes, toys and bill paying. you can also donate online. This is a Christian organization.

A more complete article about these organizations can be found here. goo.gl/9nMdsb



This year we are partnering with Toys for Tots as a drop off location. If we can collect  toys by December 18th, Dr. Neal gets a pie in the face. The event will be on video for the world to see. Tune back in to see.

Call for an appointment 815 459 2202

We can take care of all of your families dental needs at Crystal Lake Dental Associates

Please feel free to leave a comment

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Veterans Day 9 amazing facts

Image result for veterans day




One of my hobbies is studying history as well as famous people who shape it.
There is a popular saying about studying history in order to learn from it and not  repeat it’s mistakes. As we celebrate Veterans Day, I thought I would share some interesting facts about the United States and its military history. Before I begin, I want to state that I am not advocating military conflict or war, but just reviewing the situations that our country has faced in the past roughly 240 years.

1)    Veterans Day (Armistice Day) was first celebrated on was November  11 1919 as the annual celebration of the end of World War One.

2)    The Unites States has been involved in about 103  wars since declaring Independence from England.

3)    Approximately 1.35 million American soldiers have been killed in action in these wars.

4)    Listed in descending order are the approximate number of American soldiers killed in various major wars:

War                             Americans killed      dates

a.    Civil War                                 625,000                       1861-1865
b.    World War Two                      405,000                       1941-1945
c.    World War One                      116,000                        1917-1918
d.    Vietnam War                            58,000                        1955-1975
e.    Korean War                              36,000                        1950-1953
f.     Revolutionary War                   25,000                        1775-1783
g.    War of 1812                              20,000                        1812-1815
h.    Mexican-American War          13,000                        1846-1848
i.      Iraq/Afghanistan Wars             6,800                         2001-ongoing
j.      Spanish American War            2,450                          1898

5)    Statistics about World War One:

a.    32 Countries involved
b.    About 10,000,000 soldiers killed
c.    About 25,000,000 total killed
d.    Americans killed were about 4% of the total lost in the war
e.    War lasted 1,568 days
f.     14,700 people died a day

 6)    Statistics about World War Two:

a.    Over 100 countries involved
b.    About 25,000,000 soldiers killed
c.    About 80,000,000 people killed
d.    Russia and China combined lost about 40,000,000 people
e.    Americans killed totaled about .5% of the total lost in the war
f.     War lasted 2,190 days
g.    About 36,000 died a day

 7)    Both world wars combined contributed to the loss of about 100 million people of which 35 million were soldiers.

 8)    26 of our 45 US presidents have served in the military.

 9)    9 of our US presidents were war heroes:

      a. George Washington
b.  Andrew Jackson
c. Zachary Taylor
d. Ulysses S. Grant
e. Theodore Roosevelt
f. Dwight D. Eisenhower
g. John F. Kennedy
h. Gerald Ford
i. George H. W. Bush


All of us at Crystal Lake Dental Associates wish you a happy and safe Veterans Day.


Call for an appointment 815 459 2292

Dr Neal and his team answers all of your questions regarding your dental health at Crystal Lake Dental Associates.

https://www.crystallakedentalassociates.com

Please feel free to add comments









Saturday, November 4, 2017

Thanksgiving 9 Little Known facts



When I think of thanksgiving, my memories begin at my grandparents whitewashed brick home in he suburbs of Detroit. The traditional turkey, dressing, cranberry gel, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie were always there in abundance..  Somehow I always got a drumstick on my plate back then.
Thanksgiving celebrations actually have long and varied history. Below are 10 facts about thanksgiving feasts that may surprise you.

1) Thanksgiving feasts were not begun by the pilgrims of the Mayflower. Thanksgiving feasts are a tradition that goes back thousands of years. These celebrations were usually the result of celebrating the harvest or a military victory and would be declared by a governing body or group of people at various times of the year and often several times in the same year. these celebrations were celebrated in Europe, Africa, Middle East as well as in America by local native tribes before the pilgrims first celebration  in 1621 Spanish explorers in the New World had celebrations 1500's.

2) The first Thanksgiving recorded at the Plymouth Plantation group from the Mayflower lasted 3 days and most of the participants were native Indians (56 colonists and 91 Indians). According to written records the Indian tribes of the area were instrumental in helping the pilgrims survive and have a good harvest.

3)  Many items currently served at Thanksgiving dinner were not part of the first Thanksgiving meals at Plymouth Plantation. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes , bread based stuffing, bread, cookies, crackers, cake. milk, cream, cheese, butter, cranberries, anything made with sugar, and pumpkin pie were not on the first Thanksgiving menu. None of these items were available at the time. Wild turkey, ducks, geese and swans. Herbs, onions or nuts might have been added to the birds for extra flavor. Five deer were contributed by the local Indians. Deer was roasted on a spit over a smoldering fire and that the colonists might have used some of the venison to whip up a hearty stew. Onions, beans, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots and perhaps peas corn, blueberries, plums, grapes, gooseberries, raspberries may also have been at the table. Mussels, lobster, bass, clams and oysters might also have been part of the feast. Pumpkins and other squashes were available for roasting eating with honey.

4) George Washington, our first president,  proclaimed Thanksgiving as a National Holiday for November 25th in 1789. Many local communities, colonies and states declared and celebrated a"A Day of Thanksgiving on different days. Thanksgiving was declared annually as a National Holiday as the 4th Thursday of November, and for some years, it was the 5th Thursday as some years had 5 Thursdays in November. A few states celebrated on the 3rd Thursday in November.


5) Abraham Lincoln unified the lastThursday in November for all states.  This proclamation was done in 1863 in the middle of the Civil War. Several states in the north were continuing to celebrate Thanksgiving on different dates.

6) Franklin Roosevelt declared the 4th Thursday must be the national holiday of Thanksgiving. In the height of the depression making Thanksgiving the 4th Thursday had helped businesses begin the Christmas shopping season as early as possible.  At this time in history, it was not proper to begin advertising Christmas goods and sales before Thanksgiving.

7) Thanksgiving Day Parades did not start with Macy's in New York. The first official Thanksgiving Day Parade was started in 1920 in Philadelphia sponsored by Gimbel's Department Store. It is the oldest running Thanksgiving Day Parade in the country featuring floats, bands, and giant balloons. Both Macy's  of New York and Hudson's of Detroit started in 1924. Prior to any official parades, many people would dress up and wander the streets in their communities on Thanksgiving greeting people.


8)  Football on Thanksgiving did not start with the National Football League. Hundreds of Thanksgiving day games had already been played on Thanksgiving prior to the National
Football League's first Thanksgiving Day game in 1920.game The very first Thanksgiving Day football game took place between Rutgers and Princeton in Philadelphia in 1869. Detroit Lions became a host traditional team for Thanksgiving games in 1934. Dallas became one in 1966, and in 2006 a rotating evening game has been added.

9)  Black Friday has not always meant the first day of profitability for retail stores.  One other version of Black Friday refer to  a post Thanksgiving sale of  African slaves in Southern States in the 1800's. Another version refers to the pandemonium of shoppers pickpockets, and thieves descending on Philadelphia for the start of the discounted shopping season in the 1950's. A third version of Black Friday relates the crash of the gold market of September 24 1869 caused be 2 speculators buying up all of the gold reserves leading to a collapse of Wall Street investments and a depression. Black friday now actually now starts on Thursday and lasts till Cyber Monday 4 days later. Actually the Saturday before Christmas is the most profitable day for merchants.

All of us at Crystal Lake Dental Associates wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving and Holiday Season.


Call for an appointment 815 459 2292

Dr Neal and his team answers all of your questions regarding your dental health at Crystal Lake Dental Associates.

https://www.crystallakedentalassociates.com

Please feel free to add comments