Rebuilding In Baghdad
U.S. Military helps open horse stables and pool at the Baghdad Zoo
Steppin' Up
Cardinal manufactures its biggest custom step
A Hole In One
Annual golf tournament raises $25,000 for specialneeds children
"Arnold [Johnson, owner] wanted to do something for the community," says Deb Bailey, controller and tournament coordinator. "He wanted everyone to be aware that we should give back to the community."
Arnold's raised the money through green and tee sponsors, raffling off more than 400 community- donated prizes, and other events that included the appearance of local college cheerleaders and mascots.
The Miracle League is a national group that organizes baseball games for children with special needs or disabilities. The fields are customized to meet the unique needs of the Miracle League players. For more information about The Miracle League, visit miracleleague.com.
Noodle Novelty
Japanese spa offers tub of warm ramen
If you can't get enough ramen noodles at dinnertime, the Yunessan Spa in Hakone, Japan, has a treatment in store for you. Yunessan specializes in amusement baths, including dips in chocolate, wine, sake, and a dish that's as popular in Japan as it is in the United States - ramen noodles. According to Reuters, due to health regulations, the spa does not use edible noodles. Instead, noodle-shaped spa treatments are placed in bath water that contains elements of pork broth supplied by a nearby noodle shop.
The spa's claim is that soaking in the brown-colored hot broth, which contains pepper collagen, can improve a bather's metabolism and cleanse the skin. Hmmm. Make mine a sake.
Great Expectations
Former Bay State booksellers open hot tub spa
"We asked ourselves, 'What do people need and what do we love?'" says Diana. "And we love hot tubs! So we looked into the business aspects, as well as the therapeutic aspects and decided that Amherst was a good market."
Inspired by frequent trips to Santa Fe, N.M., Elements Hot Tub Spa features five Southwest-styled hot tub rooms, three indoor and two outdoor. All tubs are ThermoSpas with what Diana describes as "all luxury, lots of jets, bells, whistles, the whole deal."
The three indoor rooms also feature infrared saunas and a steam room. The outdoor spa rooms are set up more like back patio hot tubs, says Diana. Stucco, stone, pebbles and slate adorn the walls and walkways, giving the themed rooms a spiritual and healing aura.
Diana says the spa is her way to bridge relaxation and healing and acknowledges the irony of the evolution of Beyond Words to Essentials.
"I think that alternative and complementary healing has become something that hospitals are integrating now," says Diana. "And with our hot tubs and infrared saunas and steam and therapeutic massages and reiki (a Japanese-originated healing technique based on the principle of channeling energy into a patient by touch), we're actually providing it, not just telling people about it anymore."
Swimming Against The Tide
Seniors stay in synch with aquatic exercise
Started in 1979 with just a handful of participants, the group now numbers over 300 men and women aged 55 to 94. They practice five days a week at the Hansborough Recreation Center on 134th Street in New York City, preparing their synchronized routines for competition in the New York State Senior Games and for four performances each year. Barbara Solomon, the club's president, says that fitness and health benefits are the major attraction for teammembers, "We feel that swimming is the best lifelong sport you can do," she told The New York Times. "Once you're over the age of 50, it all starts to break down. But by swimming, you can delay the process."
The group also works to raise the profile of swimming in its Harlem neighborhood. Solomon, says, "Traditionally, there are two things that black people don't do: We don't swim and we don't play ice hockey."
Apparently, no one told Lettice Graham. Graham, 85, didn't learn to swim until she was 64, but at the most recent Senior Games she won gold medals in the 50 freestyle and the 50 backstroke.