NHL Playoffs
Thursday night in Nashville the first time in too many years the Colorado Avalanche test the Predators the best team in the NHL. We will see if Nathan MacKinnon deserves to be the MVP in the league this year..
Go Avs!
National Women's Month
Frances Wisebart was born in Kentucky and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. When her brother Benjamin returned from a trip to the West he brought along his business pardner Abraham Jacobs. Frances and Abraham married, in 1863, and returned to Central City, Colorado. After a fire burnt their clothing store in Central City, Abraham and Frances Jacobs (her married name) moved down from the mountains to the thriving town of Denver thirty miles to the east.
In 1872, Frances organized and became president of the Hebrew Ladies’ Relief Society. However, she soon realized that the problems of poverty, and unsanitary living conditions were not limited to the Jewish community. She broadened the scope of her work. Frances established the Denver Ladies’ Relief Society in 1874. She acted as the group’s public speaker. In 1880, Jacobs was also instrumental in setting up Denver’s first free kindergarten for children of poor parents of all races and religions.
In 1887, Reverend Myron Reed of Denver’s First Congregational Church, Monsignor William O’Ryan of the Catholic archdiocese, and Frances Jacobs formed the Charity Organization Society, the forerunner of the Community Chest which grew into the United Way. Jacobs became known as Denver’s “Mother of Charities.” She was a compelling speaker and addressed many national conferences.
Jacobs was quoted as saying, "I know that whenever women lead in good work, men will follow." Because Colorado’s dry air and sunshine were considered to be a cure for tuberculosis, hundreds of sufferers, came to Denver. As part of her work, Jacobs regularly visited impoverished homes to bring food, coal, clothing, and soap.
The Jewish Hospital Association of Colorado bought land east of the city, and on October 9, 1892, the cornerstone of the hospital was laid. Less than one month later, on November 3, Frances Wisebart Jacobs died in her Denver home. The sanatorium for which she had worked so diligently was named after her: The Frances Jacobs Hospital. In 1900, it became the National Jewish Hospital.
In the dome of the Colorado Capitol Building there are sixteen stained glass windows. Each has the picture of a pioneer who contributed to making Colorado a great state. There is only one window with a woman's picture, the Frances Wisebart Jacobs window.
Taken from an article by Majorie Hornbein
Monarchs of the Skies
It is the season for the beautiful Monarch butterflies to migrate north. Many have already left Mexico where they winter-over and are found in the southern states of the United States.
After waiting out the winter, these individuals head part of the way back north to warmer climes such as Texas, where they mate and lay eggs on milkweed plants. In just a few days, the eggs hatch into brilliantly striped caterpillars of black, gold, and white. These monarch larvae consume vast amounts of milkweed before forming a chrysalis and transforming into adult butterflies.
At this point in the cycle, the new butterflies take to the skies again and fly another few hundred miles north before finding another patch of milkweed and repeating the process. Milkweed is obviously the most important part of nature's plan as the only plant Monarchs eat.
It might take the monarchs as many as four to five generations to complete the journey all the way back up to Canada, says Sarina Jepsen, who directs an endangered species program. The public is urged not to spray or otherwise destroy milkweed plants. Monarch butterflies need them to survive.
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