many more activities and contests
Saturday s big festival kicks off around 8 a.m. as five blocks of downtown Jacksonville will be filled with vendors, food, a Farmer s Market, fried green tomatoes, the site of many tomato competitions and live entertainment and other shows.
It was back in 2010 that Jacksonville s Tomato Fest earned a Guinness World Record for the World s Largest Bowl of Salsa. Hundreds of volunteer took to the steps of the Tomato Bowl to create a 2,672 pound bowl of salsa that was documented by the Food Network show Glutton For Punishment . Part of that world record bowl is still on display on the steps of the football stadium.
It s never a good time for a pandemic . but with yet another record round of reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases, health experts say the timing of the COVID-19 crisis is extremely tough because it is impacting care for these STDs in a big way. The ongoing pandemic has really limited the availability of testing and treatment services for sexually transmitted infections, which means more STIs are going undetected and untreated, said Cory Neering, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern, Central, and Southern New Jersey.
Planned Parenthood is encouraging people to take charge of their sexual health by getting tested and talking to their partners about getting tested and practicing safer sex.
With the beautiful weather we have been experiencing lately along with the easing of mask regulations (albeit somewhat confusing depending on the situation), the sign of a somewhat normal summer is upon us. We re certainly heading in a more normal direction than last year. We ll actually have live entertainment..woo hoo!
It s been announced that a number of concert events will be returning this summer in the beautiful Berkshires which is great news for live music fans along with the local musicians that have been dying to get out and play, and we re not talking about Facebook Live. That instant reaction that you receive from a live audience must be much more rewarding as a musician than wondering what people think on the other side of a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Of course, the audience can make comments and post emojis when the performance is virtual, but it s just not the same.
A victim of domestic abuse is raising awareness by running across New York State in a wedding dress.
Vanessa Reiser kicks off her 12 day run today, Monday, May 17 in Oswego, New York. She will be running each day in a white wedding dress and will finish her journey in New York City, covering 285 miles when all is said and done.
Credit- Vanessa Reiser
The run is all to raise awareness of abuse and not just physical. Vanessa Reiser was a victim of narcissistic abuse. The damage narcissists cause is so tremendous; the daily circular conversations, the gaslighting, the lack of empathy, the controlling behaviors, the isolation, manipulation, insatiable attention-seeking, addictive behaviors, anxiousness, entitled thinking, love-bombing, future-faking, lying, cheating, devaluing, and silent treatment are continuous and demented, Vanessa shared.
We ve seen a lot of ugly exposed in this country over the past couple of years. But hear me when I tell you.. There are still some really good people in this world. So, Mother s Day weekend, I went home to be with my family. I had such a great time, by the way with my mom & grandmother. After a few home cooked meals, laughs, and a whole lotta love, it was time for us to say our goodbyes and go home. I, of course, headed back to Texarkana. My grandmother, on the other hand, hit 259 in route back home to Mt. Enterprise. Instead of taking a right to to travel south on Hwy. 259, she took a left and this is where the story gets good.