Almanacs “Man collects barn star photos - Reporter” plus 4 more

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• Man collects barn star photos - Reporter
• RBI's data services triumph at DPA Awards  - pressreleasepoint.com
• Director: Ski Area got work - Idaho State Journal
• The Almanac - OfficialWire
• Daily almanac - Columbus Dispatch

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Man collects barn star photos - Reporter Posted: 31 Oct 2009 05:45 AM PDT By: Bruce R. Posten, Reading Eagle via AP KUTZTOWN — Stars. Not hex signs, but stars. Patrick Donmoyer, 23, has spent more than a year documenting and photographing 400 examples of such celestial iconography, a form of folk art painted on Pennsylvania barns over the last three centuries. To Donmoyer, these stars matter as emblems of Pennsylvania German cultural identity. He is a true fan, albeit an academic one, who also believes that what these artistic creations are actually called matters for reasons of historical accuracy and meaning. Donmoyer is originally from Lebanon County, about 20 miles east of Harrisburg. He now lives about 10 miles northeast of Reading, near Fleetwood in Rockland Township, Berks County, just over 50 miles east of Harrisburg and just under 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Donmoyer works at the nearby Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University, about five miles north of his new home. A 2009 graduate of Kutztown University, majoring in studio art and fine craft and minoring in Pennsylvania German studies, he has received a $5,000 research scholarship from the Peter Wentz Farmstead Society, based in Worcester, less than 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia. While his current focus is the Berks County area that surrounds Reading, he hopes to eventually expand his study of barn stars into neighboring counties and publish a book that could be easily enjoyed by the public. Standing on the academic shoulders of earlier Pennsylvania German scholars, Alfred Shoemaker and Don Yoder, in particular, Donmoyer credits them as figures who inspired him on a mission to catalog barn stars. "In Pennsylvania, we are experiencing enormous shifts in our local landscape, and many historical and culturally significant features are rapidly disappearing," Donmoyer said. "As our landscape shifts, so does our cultural heritage and beliefs. The most threatened aspects of the landscape are the historic farms because of development." Through his work, Donmoyer hopes to help preserve and share the artistic beauty of barn stars and educate others about a type of folk art that often has been clouded by controversy. "The problem is we don't have primary sources on the true meaning and content of these elaborate designs that were painted on barns," Donmoyer said, sitting outside at a picnic table and in front of the Sharidan family barn (circa 1855), boasting a stone foundation and timber-framed, red-painted walls adorned with stars. The barn is located near Kutztown University, in Maxatawny Township. Popularized as hex signs in the early 20th century, the barn stars were associated with the idea of protecting barns from witchcraft and became a commercial commodity in promoting the geographic area for tourists, according to Donmoyer. "Meanings were invented to attract customers, and this invented lore assigned a specific meaning to each design such as 'protection,' 'fertility,' 'love and romance' etc.," Donmoyer said. "This perception has tainted the genuine lore of the designs and their true implications." To counteract the invented history of the so-called hex signs, Pennsylvania German scholars promoted the idea that the folk art was done "just for nice" and served as purely decorative with no particular meaning, glossing over, in Donmoyer's view, the celestial and religious iconography on barn stars that would often date back to the late 18th century. "I attempt to answer the question of why an agricultural society, such as the Pennsylvania Germans, favored symbols and icons which feature celestial images such as suns, moons and stars that could also be embellished with flowers or crosses," Donmoyer said. For Donmoyer, the barn stars are actually an artistic reflection of early Pennsylvania German beliefs, a complex mixture of mystical Christianity accompanied by a practical folk-religious orientation that governed daily living. "The stars were seen as beacons of celestial order, which allow us an understanding of the passage of time and the progression of human activities which are governed by the stars," Donmoyer said. "It is well-documented that the Pennsylvania Germans orchestrated their planting, harvesting and tilling to the phase of the moon and the astrological signs. "Almanacs informed farmers which times were best for all manner of agricultural activities such as planting, cutting wood, driving fence posts, building houses and storing food." Donmoyer said use of the stars not only applied to outdoor agricultural activity, but also domestic and interpersonal affairs — everything from the best timing to bake bread and make vinegar to the opportune period to get married and have children. One can imagine Pennsylvania Germans transfixed by a nighttime heaven of twinkling light as opposed to modern day families mesmerized by those so-called human stars on television and movie screens. Countless times they may have looked upward seeing the geometry of stars reflected accurately in the shapes of flowers on Earth. "These ideas were so prevalent that the almanac was the second most common book in the Pennsylvania German household; second only to the Bible," Donmoyer said. By painting stars, Pennsylvania Germans displayed beliefs that were reflected and transformed by artistry. Such folk art was found on the outsides and even insides of barns in a variety of Berks County locations. What does all this say about hex signs and witchcraft? What does it say about Pennsylvania German self-consciousness about beliefs, and even later intentional suppression of those views, especially in changing times of anti-German sentiment in the 20th-century? It could say quite a lot. Donmoyer will continue to investigate. He will endeavor to interpret. But he does believe barn stars speak for themselves, powerfully and symmetrically, in what he termed a "visual vibration and rotation of their beauty." They have contributed mightily to Berks County's agrarian aesthetic, he said. ———— On the Net: Patrick Donmoyer's Web site: http://www.paedrigdesign.com/ Pa. German Cultural Heritage Center: http://www.kutztown.edu/community/pgchc/ Peter Wentz Farmstead Society: http://peterwentzfarmsteadsociety.org/scholarship.html Information from: http://www.readingeagle.com/ This content has passed through fivefilters.org.
RBI's data services triumph at DPA Awards  - pressreleasepoint.com Posted: 31 Oct 2009 05:23 AM PDT XpertHR and Bankers Almanac won a trio of awards and the recognition of the data publishing industry at last night's prestigious DPA Awards in Brighton. XpertHR's Job Pricing triumphed in two categories: Product Development of the Year and the ultimate and unexpected accolade of Outstanding Achievement of the Year. Their Job Pricing service, which launched in autumn 2008, just six months after salary survey specialists CELRE became part of the XpertHR Group, was a runaway winner with the judging panel: "The judges said that the Job Pricing interface was so good it gave them goose-bumps!" said group editor David Shepherd. "What a tribute to our web development team, above all, who took just five months to build a system that never fails to provide a wow factor for users." Also taking a home a trophy at last night's awards was BankersAlmanac.com who won Subscription Sales Team of the Year for the third consecutive year, beating strong competition from the likes of Yell and Thomson Local. The judges were won over by the phenomenal effort of the sales team who managed to grow subscription revenues by a substantial 18%: "Winning this award is a fantastic achievement from the whole sales team," said sales manager Simon Lemos. "The fact we have won the award three years running makes it even more pleasing as every year the competition increases." This content has passed through fivefilters.org.
Director: Ski Area got work - Idaho State Journal Posted: 31 Oct 2009 03:43 AM PDT Do not use usernames or passwords from your financial accounts! Note: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required! This content has passed through fivefilters.org.
The Almanac - OfficialWire Posted: 31 Oct 2009 02:39 AM PDT	This is Halloween. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus. Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Dutch painter Jan Vermeer in 1632; English poet John Keats in 1795; Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low in 1860; Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, the first leader of Nationalist China, in 1887; actress/singer Ethel Waters in 1896; actresses Dale Evans in 1912 and Barbara Bel Geddes in 1922; astronaut Michael Collins in 1930 (age 79); former TV news anchorman Dan Rather in 1931 (age 78); actor/producer Michael Landon in 1936; folk singer/songwriter Tom Paxton in 1937 (age 72); actors David Ogden Stiers in 1942 (age 67) and Stephen Rea in 1946 (age 63); actress Deidre Hall in 1947 (age 62); comic actor John Candy in 1950; broadcaster Jane Pauley also in 1950 (age 59); comic actor Rob Schneider in 1963 (age 46); and rapper Vanilla Ice in 1967 (age 42). On this date in history: In 1517, Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation by nailing a proclamation to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. In 1864, Nevada was admitted to the Union as the 36th state. In 1926, magician, illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini died of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital following a blow to the abdomen. In 1931, with the Great Depression in full swing, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that 827 banks had failed during the previous two months. In 1941, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota -- consisting of the sculpted heads of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt -- was completed. In 1968, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson announced a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam. In 1984, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh guards. Her son, Rajiv, succeeded her. In 1985, salvage divers located the remains of the booty-laden pirate ship Whydah, which sank Feb. 17, 1717, off Cape Cod, Mass. In 1988, former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos pleaded innocent to charges that she and her husband, deposed President Ferdinand Marcos, embezzled more than $100 million from the Philippine government. In 1992, more than 300 people were killed in renewed fighting as Angola slid back into civil war. In 2001, U.S.-led forces resumed air strikes in Afghanistan, hitting Taliban positions in the northern part of the country and outside the capital, Kabul. The Taliban claimed 1,500 people were killed. In 2002, Andrew Fastow, former Enron chief financial officer, was indicted on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in the collapse of the Houston energy trading company. In 2003, a rebel group known to kidnap children and sell them in Sudan as slaves struck a village in northern Uganda, killing 18 and abducting many more. In 2004, Iranian lawmakers chanted, "Death to America!" after a unanimous vote to allow their government to resume uranium enrichment activities. Also in 2004, Japan confirmed a Japanese man taken hostage in Baghdad had been beheaded. The kidnappers had demanded Japan pull its troops out of Iraq. In 2005, Samuel Alito, a 55-year-old conservative federal appeals judge, was nominated by U.S. President George Bush to the U.S. Supreme Court to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor. In 2006, a U.S. congressional report claimed China helped North Korea develop its nuclear program within the past year. Also in 2006, former South African President and Prime Minister P.W. Botha, one of his country's most powerful and feared leaders, died of a stroke. He was 90. In 2007, three men were found guilty in the 2004 bombing of four commuter trains in Madrid. They were convicted of killing 191 people and wounding 1,800 others. In 2008, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus took over as head of Central Command. He was put in comment of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iran and other countries. Also in 2008, the International Red Cross says fighting between government forces and rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo produced a humanitarian catastrophe. And, author-actor and activist Louis "Studs" Terkel, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for "The Good War" and pioneer "Chicago school" broadcaster, died at 96.   A thought for the day: English poet John Keats wrote, "If I should die, I have left no immortal work behind me -- nothing to make my friends proud of my memory -- but I have loved the principle of beauty in all things and if I had had time I would have made myself remembered."
Daily almanac - Columbus Dispatch Posted: 31 Oct 2009 12:51 AM PDT Today is Saturday, Oct. 31, the 304th day of 2009. There are 61 days left in the year. This is Halloween. Daylight-saving time ends Sunday at 2 a.m. Turn clocks back one hour. Highlights in History • On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, launching the Protestant Reformation in Germany. • In 1926, magician Harry Houdini died in Detroit of gangrene and peritonitis from a burst appendix. • In 1941, the Navy destroyer USS Reuben James was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Iceland with the loss of about 100 lives. • In 1959, a former Marine showed up at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to declare he was renouncing his U.S. citizenship to live in the Soviet Union. His name: Lee Harvey Oswald. • In 1968, President Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace talks. • In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards. • In 1998, a genetic study was released suggesting that President Jefferson fathered at least one child by his slave Sally Hemings. • Ten years ago: EgyptAir Flight 990, bound from New York to Cairo, crashed off the Massachusetts coast, killing all 217 aboard. • Five years ago: President George W. Bush and challenger Sen. John Kerry campaigned in Ohio and Florida. • One year ago: President George W. Bush signed an executive order restoring Libya's immunity from terrorism-related lawsuits and dismissing pending compensation cases. Thought for Today "There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them." -- Andre Gide, French author and critic (1869-1951) Source: Associated Press This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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