Onondaga Central
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Key Club Announcement:
Key Club is doing a Food Drive during November. Do not forget to bring in your non-perishable food items! Student Council: Unfortunately, Student Council can not host their Fall Blood Drive but are currently working on a virtual pep rally. Student Council hopes to hold a Blood Drive later in the year. Class of 2023 Wreath Sale: Do not forget to a Wreath from the Class of 2023 Critz Farms Wreath Sale! Wreaths are $25 each decorated with a bow and pine cones! The sale ends November 6th. Visit the School Website for order forms and more information! Onondaga Central Education Foundation: Visit this link: https://www.ocseducationfoundation.com/ to sign up OCS database and donate money to the foundation. Onondaga County Library Teen Volunteer Website: Visit https://oflvirtualbookdisplays.weebly.com/ to read book reviews written by the Onondaga Free Library Teen Volunteers. Senior year can be the most exciting year in one’s life, or for some, the most sorrowful. For many, the year can be both, making it bittersweet. A senior has arrived at the end of their high school journey and will undergo a dramatic lifestyle change, whether moving on or entering the workforce after graduating. Senior year is by far the most memorable year. Senior year is a year to highlight and emphasize one’s accomplishments throughout the years. This edition features two of Onondaga’s superb seniors: Bryce Piron and Alannah Lewandowski. Bryce has his college plans mapped out. He is applying to the Rochester Institute of Technology along with Clarkson University. Bryce plans on majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He is interested in that major because, he says, “I find a lot of enjoyment in designing and creating my own things. I also enjoy hands-on projects where I have to physically construct something.” Attending college is something completely different than a high schooler has never before experienced. The drastic change from living at home with your family, attending school, and coming home at the end of the day can be thrilling, but terrifying at the same time. Bryce is most excited about meeting new people and making new friends along with experiencing college to the fullest extent and encountering everything it has to offer. Leaving his friends and family to move away to college scares Bryce the most. He does not have any plans on playing an official college sport, however, he will most likely join a club lacrosse team. High school athletics is an enormous part of many seniors’ lives. Sports allow athletes to have fun, be competitive, and ultimately do something they will enjoy for many years to come, even after high school and college. In Bryce’s high school tenure, he has played varsity football and varsity lacrosse. In football, he plays wide receiver as well as a defensive end. In lacrosse, he plays defense. Unfortunately, football was postponed for the fall season, but hopefully, on March 1st, the Fall II season can begin. Sports can furnish irreplaceable memories and enlighten an athletes day or even week. In previous years, OCS has needed to combine with other neighboring schools for boys lacrosse. Before last season, the boys played on Bishop Ludden’s lacrosse team. Last year, however, Onondaga combined with Lafayette. The Onondaga Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse players combined strengths with Lafayette to achieve the NYS Boys Championship title. Winning the State Championship is Bryce’s favorite sports memory. Winning states is a truly unforgettable feat that Bryce was excited to be a part of. When the 2020 spring lacrosse season was canceled, along with all other spring sports, Bryce would occasionally meet up with his teammates and friends to practice. Multi-sport athletes always have a favorite sport and Bryce’s favorite is football. Byrce stated that football was his favorite sport because “I’ve been playing with the same kids since we were little so the chemistry we’ve built is like no other.” As for extracurricular activities, Bryce was a part of Key Club and National Honor Society. In his spare time, Bryce enjoyed skiing with his friends during the wintertime. In the spring and summer, Bryce does commercial and residential lawn mowing. In the fall, he picks and sells pumpkins at The Hollow, and in the winter he sells Christmas trees. Bryce’s favorite high school memory was not any particular time, but “any class I had with the boys was a good one.” A senior has experienced all the highs and lows of high school. Bryce’s advice for underclassmen is “ You only get one trip through high school, so make the best of the four years you get.” Congratulations Bryce, and good luck in all your future endeavors! Alannah Lewandowski, another fantastic senior at Onondaga, has chosen the college route after graduating. She is applying to the University of Rochester, St. John Fisher College, the University of Colorado, or Colorado Academy of Silversmithing. Alannah plans on majoring in business management with quite the entrepreneurship spirit in mind. She is majoring in business management because, as she says, “I’m really interested in becoming a jewelry bench worker/designer. So, majoring in business would help me to potentially start my own jewelry business.” Alannah definitely sees herself playing a club sport in college, such as volleyball. When a senior tosses their graduation cap in the air on a warm June day, one very long chapter of their life comes to a close, catapulting them into a new one. This can be both exciting and scary. Going to college allows for a new beginning in an unwonted place, where nothing or no one is familiar, yet the prospects for the future are always bright. For Alannah, she is looking forward to making new friends and having the opportunity to have a “fresh start.” She also said, “I’m excited to find myself and start my own life.” When asked what makes her nervous about college, Alannah states that “a little part of me is scared to be on my own,” not to mention leaving her hometown, friends, and family. Along with many seniors, sports were important to Alannah. She plays volleyball and softball. In volleyball, she is a middle hitter. In softball, she plays shortstop, second base, and left field, as well as a pitcher. Alannah’s favorite sport is volleyball because “it's very fast-paced and I love the energy. I love my coaches and all my teammates, so it’s just fun in general.” She also loves how competitive the sport is. Alannah’s favorite sport’s memory is the League Championship game for volleyball this past season. She also enjoyed all the volleyball games against the team’s rival, Tully, because “they were so much fun.” Many athletes play their sport all year round or even in a summer league, like Alannah, who plays softball and volleyball in a summer league. Alannah was not only a member of Onondaga’s sports teams, but a member of clubs such as Character Ed Club, National Honor Society, and Peer mentoring. Alannah’s favorite thing about high school is “making new friends, and playing sports because they bring me the most enjoyment and excitement. They are what I look forward to every day.” Many high schoolers work part-time to prepare for the future and Alannah is no exception. She works for Marcellus Lanes Ice Cream Stand in the summer and The Hollow in the fall. When Alannah is not participating in sports, clubs, or at school, she enjoys numerous hobbies. Alannah said: “my hobbies are playing volleyball and soccer with my friends. I love drawing and painting outside. In the summertime, I love paddleboarding, jet skiing, and kayaking. I like to quad with the boys. I play ping-pong with my friends. Lastly, I love making glass stained art, and jewelry out of silverware.” One thing many people do not know about Alannah is that the dream place she would like to travel to is Greece. As senior year kicks off, a senior has gone through three years of high school and has seen and done it all. Her advice for underclassmen is the following: “You should work very hard, but still have fun while doing it because you’re not going to get the high school experience again.” To that, she adds, “don’t sweat the small stuff.” Although new books are always flying off the shelves at libraries and bookstores and more and more new releases flood their doors every day, America’s classics must not be forgotten as they sometimes are. The first featured classic in this series of American Classic book reviews is on the adventurous and daring tale of The Count Of Monte Cristo. Mr. Theiss- One of the new educators that has joined us at OCS is Mr. Theiss. He teaches Computer 7, Philosophy, and Digital Ethics. Due to COVID conditions, he has made his classes all virtual. His “students participate in discussions, in addition to developing critical thinking and media literacy skills.” He graduated from the MST (Master of Science for Teachers) program at SUNY Oswego just last year! He has knowledge of technology and computer science. But, besides being technologically savvy, Mr. Theiss has always wanted to teach history. He even has a social studies certification. Outside of his teaching career, Theiss enjoys hiking, reading, and even collecting vintage arcade machines/technology. He has two dogs; a French bulldog-toy poodle mix, who is 11 years old, and a younger puggle dog who is three. Hopefully he can find enjoyment in this fall season being that his favorite holiday is Thanksgiving and hiking trails will be beautiful! We all welcome Mr. Theiss to the OCS family! Mr. Berger- Though we’ve seen his face around since last year, Mr. Berger has now permanently joined OCS! He is a Teacher’s Assistant for a multitude of staff. He mainly works in the Special Education department with Resource teachers and helps students with their schedules every day. Though he assists with every subject, he primarily works with Mrs. Kilpatrick, Mrs. MacLachlan, and Mrs. Casey. He also helps the math teachers such as Mrs. Bort, Mrs. King, and Mr. Stewart. His position is also prominent with Mr. Hyland for US History, Mrs. Ferris for English 9, and especially with Mr. Sharpsteen’s Science 8 Class. He’s been enjoying working with the entire 8th-grade. He supports the kids in-class slightly differently than the teacher does. He usually makes his way around the classroom to help everyone, “But this year has been so unusual!” While the teacher puts their attention more on the students in the room, Mr. Berger focuses on the virtual students, helping them feel like they are actually in the class. Like a lot of high school/college students, Mr. Berger didn’t know 100% what he wanted to do. He worked for ten years with teen/after-school programs and also with a non-profit organization. He was even a stay-at-home parent for his three daughters after his twins were born. He was a substitute teacher at the Junior/Senior High School last year in October and is super excited about getting used to the new position and school in general. He started off in high school in Long Island and he was even ten minutes away from the beach! After high school, he attended Cornell University with an original major in Engineering and eventually switched to Sociology. He’s, “also thinking about graduate school to become a certified teacher.” Some of his hobbies include swimming and playing tennis. You can sometimes catch him playing at the school with his daughters! His family has two cats, Harry and Sally. Similarly to Mr. Theiss, Mr. Berger really enjoys Thanksgiving. “At that point, I’m still enjoying the chilly weather (before I eventually get sick of it).” Finally, he has some advice that he would like to give; “ Have a plan for what you want to do next, but also embrace the idea that your life will be unpredictable. Mine definitely has been. I never would have thought I’d end up here, but I’m very happy that I did.” Super inspiring! Welcome to the family! Mrs. Gawryla-
Both her and what she’s bringing to the table is new. Literally. We all are welcoming Mrs. Gawryla to the Junior/Senior High School! She teaches OCS Farm to Table and Intro to Agriculture 7. Next year, she also plans on teaching various agricultural classes for high school students. These courses are super applicable to students’ lives, especially considering where we are located. She’s also working on starting OCS’s own FFA (Future Farmers of America) Chapter. The extracurricular course prepares students for leadership roles, self progression, and gaining a successful career through agricultural education. In her classes, “students learn about agriculture, food, and natural resources through hands-on experiences.” While using science and agriculture context, students also gain communication and leadership skills. Since Mrs. Gawryla has lots of passion for agriculture and loves sharing what she’s learned with others, she eventually found out mixing the two was perfect for her! Halfway through her freshman year at Penn State, she started studying Agriculture. With that, she also majored in Extension Education and minored in Animal Science and International Agriculture. After achieving her Bachelor of Science, she stayed to get her Master’s in Agricultural and Extension Education. She recently graduated in May of 2020! So impressive! Other than teaching, Mrs. Gawryla “enjoys hiking/exploring state parks, reading, and traveling!” Her family has a black Lab named Stella. Even though she loves the whole of the Holiday Season, she especially loves Christmas! Let’s all make her time here amazing! Many high school students might not have heard of the Onondaga Central Schools’ Education Foundation (OCSEF), but it is an incredibly important organization to our community. OCSEF is a non-profit organization with the mission of supporting OCS graduates through providing scholarships to help support them in their education after high school. Last year, the OCS Education Foundation provided the Class of 2020 with 21 different scholarships, worth $26,250. OCSEF provides vital support to OCS students looking for help to pay for college and great scholarship opportunities. The current members of the OCSEF Board of Trustees, who oversee the foundation and scholarships are: Bob Whitwell- President, Glenn Lewandowski- Vice President, Jonna Lewandowski- Recording Secretary, Lisa Lathrop Whitwell- Corresponding Secretary, and Tim Pierce- Treasurer. Trustees include: Jim Molloy, John Pierce, Rick Brunelle, Marilyn Dominick, Gary Gardner, and Margaret Deneve. The Onondaga Schools Education Foundation has grown from $3,483 in endowments in September 1990, with two scholarships, to now almost two dozen scholarships and $400,000 in endowments. The current scholarships offered are: Anne June Lohff Memorial, Carolyn Cameron Carter, Howe Memorial, Keehfus-Delaney, Len Fellows, Moore/Lowlesand, Onondaga Central Class of 1965 and the OCSEF Scholarship. Multiple people received several of these scholarships, totaling 21 individual scholarships. The OCSEF raises money through the Tile-By-Tile Program, where people can pay for a tile to honor someone in the OCS community, students, staff, organizations, clubs, or teams. In addition, the OCSEF fundraises by having an annual Fund Drive to collect monetary donations. Lastly, every summer, the OCSEF hosts a golf tournament. In addition to providing scholarships, the OCSEF collects names and contact information to maintain an OCS Alumni Database. The OCSEF can also help classes organize class reunions. Furthermore, they organize the 50-year luncheon for any OCS alumni that have graduated 50 or more years ago. In the mail every season, you may receive a copy of Joyful Echoes. This is the Onondaga alumni paper funded by OCSEF. There are articles about alumni, former staff, interesting achievements by alumni, Wall of Distinction inductees, and Homecoming. For more information, you can visit the Onondaga Central Schools Education Foundation website: https://www.ocseducationfoundation.com/ It is that time of the year for seniors where they are deciding where to apply to college, what deadline they will choose, how they will apply, and setting appointments with their counselor for help in all of this. But with Covid-19 this year, many of us are behind, not even sure where we want to go still and still clueless how applying to colleges works. These answers are from our own classmates that are compiled together. This will go by major and will list some schools that have good programs for this major, careers peers are interested in after school, or possibly further schooling after the 4-years. Then this will list the other questions concierge SAT/ACTs, how they will apply, how many schools they will apply to, ect.
Engineering: Schools:
Career options:
Psychology: Schools:
Careers:
Pre-medical sciences (including veterinary, pre-pharmacy) Schools:
Forensic Psychology Schools:
Finance: Schools:
Criminal Justice Schools:
Business Schools:
Careers:
What Deadlines are you choosing? Why? Regular Decision (4)
Not sure (5) As you know by now, our traditional Homecoming, unfortunately, will not be happening this fall. There is a chance that Homecoming will happen in the Spring now that the football season has been moved to March. What you may not know is, when was the first Homecoming.
According to the record of Onondaga High School yearbooks in the library, the first time Homecoming appears in the yearbook is in the Student Life Section of the 2000-2001 school year, meaning the first Homecoming in its current form, as most of us know it, occurred in the Fall of 2000. I want to thank Mrs. Babinger for helping me sort through the record for yearbooks in the library to find the first Homecoming on record. After talking to OCS alumni and staff, I discovered no recollection of Homecoming as late as 1993. Long-time and beloved English Teacher, Mrs. Ferris states "Homecoming likely existed before 2000, but on a much smaller scale, and the early 2000s is when the level of celebration increased." Homecoming not beginning in its current form until 2000 is a reasonable conclusion. As Onondaga's football team grew more successful and rose to prominence, Homecoming traditions accelerated. Onondaga won football State Championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003, coinciding with the rise of Homecoming. In the years preceding Homecoming, Onondaga's football team struggled and, as a result, Homecoming marked the revival of Onondaga's football team. Tents with vendors selling food and beverages began popping up after 2000 and are very popular and sought-after in our recent homecoming celebrations. Before 2000, the predominant source of food and beverages was the concession stand. At OCS, a new millennium brought a new tradition. Mrs. Ferris added that "SU football players came to the Onondaga Homecoming bonfire to help promote the local State Championship team." The 2001-2002 yearbook states "Homecoming 2001, The traditional bonfire is bigger than ever." The 2000-2001 yearbook which includes Homecoming 2000 shows no photos of a bonfire. However, for Homecoming 2000, there are photos of the car demolition, the Spaghetti dinner, tents selling food, and the traditional parade. The photo of the Spaghetti Dinner that occurs on Friday before homecoming appears to be jammed packed. Homecoming 2000 has a Homecoming King, Joe Whipple, and Homecoming Queen, Maria Spagnola, featured in the yearbook. Social Studies teacher and active leader in OCS extra-curricular activities, Mr. James, said "Homecoming was huge in its first five years. Everyone participated and it was to an even larger scale than today." He explains every sports team was required by coaches after practice to go to the Spaghetti dinner, including football, cross-country, and girls soccer. The girls soccer team would eat at the Spaghetti Dinner and then play in their game. At the time the Spaghetti dinner was at the South Onondaga Fire Station instead of the current location of the High School cafeteria. In the meantime, students would enjoy the bon-fire and wreck-a-car, as they do today. By the end of the night, all the teams and students reunited at the Homecoming Dance, which was highly attended, more back then than in recent years. Homecoming was about the community and OCS coming together. Homecoming 2001 shows the annual pre-game parade and is the first yearbook to feature the float contest between classes. One interesting fact about the Homecoming float contest in Fall 2001 between the classes was the Juniors won. This is in contrast to more recent years where the Senior class perennially wins. The Homecoming 2001 portion of the yearbook shows a picture with a description for each class. The Freshman float theme was "Shooting for the Stars," the Sophomore float was M&M themed "What is it About the Green Ones?" based on an M&M commercial "The Green Ones" where a Little League baseball player hits the baseball far when he eats green M&Ms. The Juniors, who were the winning float, had the theme "On Top of the World." The Senior's float was a patriotic theme, with someone dressed as the statue of liberty and an emphasis on graduation. Mrs. Cummings, English teacher and Onondaga alumni, who was a student during the early years of Homecoming said "Nobody does Homecoming like OCS." She remembers the Henniger Marching Band being in the parade. She added that the tradition of having the Homecoming King and Queen ride in a classic car is the same. Mrs. Cummings noted one addition to Homecoming in more recent years is having community floats in the parade. Based on yearbook photos, community floats were not in the Homecoming parade in the Fall of 2000 or Fall of 2001. Hopefully, we can have Homecoming in the Spring of 2021 and continue a beloved two-decades-old OCS tradition. Onondaga Central High School’s own Mrs. Passetti is taking on one big adventure! Here, in New York, there’s a well-known challenge called the 46 Peaks Challenge. This endeavor consists of hiking all 46 high peaks (over 4,000 ft in elevation) in the Adirondack mountain range. Though Mrs. Passetti and her hiking companions aren’t actively working on the challenge, they’ve hiked three out the 46 so far. Mrs. Passetti, her husband, and their dog, plan on completing more of the High Peak Challenge in the future. At the moment, they’re primarily focusing on completing some other ventures, such as the Fire Tower Challenge and Lake Placid Challenge.
The Fire Tower Challenge also takes place right in our own Adirondack Mountains. Out of the 23 total towers you must climb, Passetti has summited 16 out of the 18 in the Adirondacks. She also has completed 3 of the Fire Tower hikes located in the Catskills. The ones left are a bit longer and harder, so they have to make space in their schedules for long hiking days. The Lake Placid 9er, also located in NY, offers similarly beautiful sights, but without such extensive hiking trails. These smaller peaks take some of the tourist stress off of their northern counterparts, especially during these COVID-driven days. Another smaller hiking challenge they’ve done is the Fulton Chain Trifecta, along with Quaternary Peak in Colorado (part of the 14ner challenge there). But the Passettis don’t stop there! They’ve also been involved with the Saranac Lake 6’er and the 29er challenge in the Adirondacks, as well. The 29er challenge includes the more “casual” mountains darted around the ranges. They’ve completed 11 of the 29 peaks. Home to the Saranacs, Saint Regis Mountain, has been especially prominent to Mrs. Passetti. She has mixed her passion for hiking and art and ended up winning the design competition for a patch, which can be seen as the Friends of St. Regis’s logo! She even said herself, “It’s cool to be like, ‘Hey that’s my art in the wild!’” Ever since she got into hiking about seven years ago, Mrs. Passetti has loved finishing a hike and receiving the specific patch afterward. She puts them in a frame in her house or attaches them to her hiking backpack! She also intertwines her artistic flair into her love for venturing by painting her surroundings. Whenever there’s a free moment on a mountain, she’ll take out her traveling sketchbook and use watercolor to capture the beautiful atmosphere. Her favorite summit was on Hurricane Mountain. The environment was what won her over. She described the light rain against the golden trees as being beautiful. A trail she would recommend is one from her childhood, Baxter Mountain. It is not very hard and it’s short with a good view, or in her words, “big payoff for very little effort.” Though in high school she participated in cross-country, track, and basketball, it never fulfilled her like a good hike. She can go miles and miles and not get sick of the trail. The Passetti clan is always looking for a fun adventure and will continue their hiking journeys! With this new school year many of us are accustomed to the distance learning from last year, but many students still struggle to get work done and get help from teachers. I'm sure this year will be a lot different, considering the district and the teachers are more prepared for this school year, unlike the sudden change last March. Though teachers may have a plan, some students may still be struggling trying to determine how they can be successful this year with hybrid and virtual learning. Here are some tips for this school year:
Take advantage of study halls. Even for the students who are all virtual, utilize your study halls. It’s important to focus and work in study hall whether you are in school or at home. This will allow you to stay organized and on track with your classes. You may have grown out of trick-or-treating, but think of all the happy memories you made from going house to house with friends and family and going home later to count all your candy and get a sugar high. However, did you know that Halloween started in the 8th century? Back then, it was called All-Hallow’s Eve. This all started because people would dress up in costumes to attempt to scare off wandering spirits. Maybe you should consider putting on a costume to scare away spirits this Halloween! If you have a friend group of 4 or more, then these costumes might interest you. Characters from movies and shows can make great costumes. You can never go wrong with dressing up as your favorite characters. Some iconic movies and shows to choose from are: The Wizard of Oz, Scooby Doo, or even Grease! If you have a friend group of 4 you could all be the main characters in The Wizard of Oz and you could even make “Dorothy” carry a small stuffed dog. A group of 5 could be the Mystery Gang from Scooby Doo. And if you like older movies then the main characters in Grease are always a good option. It could always be fun to be a T-Bird or Pink Lady with some friends. So as long as you have a willing group of friends your group costumes ideas could be endless. If you don’t have enough friends to complete a cast, then couple’s costumes might be the way to go. Beetlejuice is a great movie and the costumes are even better. Beetlejuice and Lydia are an iconic duo and are sure to make great costumes for anyone. Cartoon characters like Wilma and Fred from The Flintstones or Popeye and Oliveoil can always be very original ideas. However; sometimes it’s cool to dress as people from a different time period too. Why not dress as a person from the 60’s, 70’s or even 80’s?!? Ideas for these times would be: hippies, sock-hop girls and boys or punk rockers. When you don’t want a big group, the perfect dynamic duo is good and different time periods are always super cool. If you’re looking to scare off people this Halloween this could be your lucky day. Why not be your favorite horror movie character? You could be an original character like Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, or even Pennywise the Clown! However; if you’d rather be a possessed doll you might consider Chucky or Annabelle. If you’re looking for a classic horror costume that is always a hit then there’s the tried and true costumes of witches, ghosts, and zombies. If you need ideas on these looks, basically, all you have to do is watch some movies or browse the internet and you’ll have flowing ideas on these horror/cult classics. If you’ve ever seen The Office before, then you know Jim Halpert put almost no effort into his costumes. It doesn’t always need to be an elaborate costume to make it a good one. Sometimes, the most basic, no effort costumes can be the best. For example, just write book on your face (FACE-book), tape 3 cutout black holes down your shirt (3 hole punch), or even just get a name tag and write a random name. So even if it’s not a very well thought-through costume, it could still be very comical. So, even if you don’t go trick-or-treating anymore, it could still be a great part of the remainder of your childhood to just dress up with friends and have a Halloween Party. I hope this gave you some ideas as far as what you can do and I hope no matter what you do, you'll be able to have a Spook-Tacular Halloween. As the brilliant green summer leaves change into orange, vermillion, auburn, and golden yellows. The hot humid air from July and August has turned dry, crisp, and brought in bleak winds. The leaves are falling and blanketing the ground in rich fall colors. To get into the fall season and get the most out of the beautiful views you can go hiking, pumpkin picking, apple picking, traverse through corn mazes, and enjoy spooky haunted hayrides and houses. Here are just a few of the best places to visit this fall:
Fall Hiking in the Adirondacks: These may not be very well known hikes but they definitely deserve more credit. In the fall, the leaves and high peaks make for quite the spectacle.
It's that time of the year again. The trees get prettier, the weather gets chillier, and all you want to do is bundle up in a warm blanket. It's the perfect time to turn that oven on, heat up the house, and get the sweet smell of baked goods through the house. The chocolate chip cookies and bread are recipes my aunt and I make every thanksgiving and would love to share with everyone else! The pumpkin bread is by far my favorite and highly recommended!!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Ingredients:
Combine butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Next add eggs one at a time and beat in. Add vanilla and pumpkin and stir until blended. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice until mixed together. Stir in desired amount of chocolate chips and other desired ingredients (ex walnuts, raisins). Place dough onto cookie sheets and put in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 375 °F. Pumpkin Bread Ingredients:
Pumpkin Sugar Cookie: Cookie Dough:
https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-pumpkin-sugar-cookies/#wprm-recipe-container-35793 Salem, Massachusetts is a historic town where the Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692. The Salem Witch Trials, also known as the Witch Hysteria of 1692, was a devastating event in which paranoia spread like wildfire and led to 200 people being accused of witchcraft, 20 of which were executed. Over 300 years after the trials, their story is told to remind people of the injustices that occurred that year and to hopefully prevent history from repeating itself.
Contrary to popular belief, none of the witches in Salem were burned at the stake. That was a practice that came from the European witch craze that occurred between the 1300s and 1600s. In Salem, nineteen people were hung and one was pressed to death. The man who was pressed to death was Giles Corey. He refused to state whether he was guilty or innocent and didn’t think that the court had the right to try him. He had previously accused his wife, Martha Corey, who was then convicted and hung. Due to his refusal to cooperate with the court, they resorted to using a medieval torture technique, in which they placed a board across a person’s body and piled heavy stones upon them until they either died or confessed. Whenever they tried to question Giles, he would tell them “More weight.” Before his death, Giles cursed the Sheriff and the town. To this day, people believe that his curse is real and the reason for the Great Salem Fire in 1914. It burned half the city, leaving 18,000 people without homes or jobs. There have been claims that people have seen his ghost before tragic events, such as the fire and when a sheriff suffered a rare blood disease, heart attack, and stroke in one year. The previous two sheriffs died of blood and heart-related diseases as well. George Corwin, the sheriff during the trials, was the one who tortured Giles Corey. He died of a heart attack in 1696. Today, Salem is home to many little shops, restaurants, and an estimated 1,600 witches. While there were most likely no real witches during the time of the trials, the city is now a place where modern witches can freely express themselves and people can go to dress up in costumes and explore the town. Fall is their busiest time of year, especially since many tourists go to see the areas where scenes were filmed in the movie Hocus Pocus. These filming locations include the Salem Commons, Ropes Mansion, Old Town Hall, Pioneer Village, and Old Burial Hill Cemetery. There are numerous museums and historic spots worth visiting during a trip. The Salem Witch Museum is cheesy, but it provides a detailed summary of the events that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials. The Witch House is the last building that was directly related to the trials. It was the home of Jonathon Corwin, one of the judges who convicted the accused witches. Although he played a major role in the trials, the house itself doesn’t have much about the trials and is more to showcase the way they lived. The Rebecca Nurse Homestead is another historic house that can be toured. Rebecca Nurse is one of the victims of the trials who was sentenced to hang. It is not in the town of Salem, but it is a close drive. It is located in what used to be Salem Village where the farmers mostly lived. Similar to the Witch House, the Nurse Homestead has less to do with the trials and more about the way of life. It is worth visiting both though, because Jonathon Corwin was significantly wealthier and they had very different lifestyles. Visiting the Rebecca Nurse Homestead also allows you to see their family cemetery which has a monument to Rebecca Nurse as well as an exact reconstruction of the meetinghouse where the trials were held. There is a Salem Witch Trials Memorial where the names of all the victims are carved into stone and people leave offerings of flowers or coins. If museums aren’t one of your interests, just walking around the town showcases the gorgeous and historic elements of the city. For people who like scary movies, Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery has a massive collection of realistic statues depicting characters from scary movies. They also add new figures every year so there’s always a reason to go back. Salem offers walking tours that take you to see different sites while learning deeper information about the town that you would probably never know otherwise. There are also tours on their Trolley. Overall, Salem, Massachusetts is a fantastic place to go for an October trip, or any time the year. There is so much to do and learn from the town and it’s incredible to see how 300 years later, the innocent victims of the Salem Witch Trials are remembered and their stories live on. |
Tiger ProwlCurrent Editon Archives
October 2021
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