FROM THE CORNER

BY DAVID JANKOSKI

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers reading this column.

Hope you have a great day with family.

*** May 1-7 is Teacher Appreciation Week. Congratulations and thank you to all teachers. The pandemic has created additional stress in doing their job again this school year.

*** A couple of observations regarding Stanley food restaurants.

A trip down Broadway in the evening last week, allowed me to observe that Cantina Margaritas Mexican Grill, located at 117 N.

Broadway, is back open. It had reportedly been closed for several weeks due to an electrical issue. +++ Panda Gardens, 617 S. Broadway, is also open again. Panda Gardens was opened in Stanley, at its current location, in 2012, by Guiqian Liang and his wife Xiuling Lin. Liang, age 42, passed away on March 14, 2022 and this has been the reason for the temporary closure and inconsistent hours before and after his death.

*** Volunteerism has shined in Stanley the past several weeks.

The Community Cleanup on Saturday, April 23, assisted many homeowners of property damaged by the tornado. A good turnout of helpers, from a number of communities were on hand for the event. And last week I happened by the library on Thursday, April 28, to see several local servants cleaning the yard at the library. Thank you Darrell and Ann.

*** Here’s an observation. If you want to revive an older person, or get their mind ou their life issues, just take them to a bingo game. I think it is better than any medicine. At least it has a placebo euect.

*** Have you ever wondered how to reduce stress in your life and reduce your heart rate? If so, the U. S. Department of Agricul- ture 's Forest Service suggests that you can benefit both physi cally and psychologically by spending more time in nature. Plus, spending more time in green spaces is also linked to lowering the risk of depression. Here are a few suggestions for retired seniors and empty nesters. Hiking: Hiking helps build stronger muscles and bones, improves the sense of balance, has a positive euect on heart problems and can decrease certain respiratory problems.

Water aerobics: The Center For Disease Control and Prevention indicates that a study in the Journal Arthritis and Rumatology found that water based exercises can be helpful with chronic dis- eases and improves the use of joints auected by arthritis without worsening symptoms. Authorities note that swimming can lead to improved health with people with diabetes and heart disease.

Fishing: Individuals devoted to fishing report feeling less stress after a day of casting for their favorite fish. Volunteering: Local environmental groups often sponsor cleanup of parks, trails and waterfronts. Volunteering for these activities get you outside, provides a way to give back and to meet new people. Many seniors find these activities decrease feelings of isolation and provide enjoyment of being outdoors. Sounds like some good choices for any of us.

*** We have all felt the increase in gasoline prices. Back in 1972, when I was attending graduate school in Milwaukee, I could fill my car with gas purchased on Capital Drive for 26.9 cents per gallon and also receive a free car wash. Here was an eye opener I read recently in an "Ask Marilyn" column, "Adjusted for infla tion, the purchase power of 27 cents in 1950 dollars is $2.97 now.

But here's the big diuerence. The average gas mileage for pas – senger cars in 1950 was 15 mpg but it’s about 25 mpg now. My grandfather says it seemed just as bad when he was young, but how can that be? I read that in 1950, the average price of gas was only 27 cent a gallon. In my reckoning inflation doesn't account for that.” That may all be true, but I don’t know of anywhere you can fill your tank and get a free car wash today.

*** Biden’s Bridges? President Joe Biden has been making the rounds promoting the $27 billion investment that is being made in bridge replacements. You might remember, just before the President visited Pittsburgh, on January 28, a major bridge had collapsed. Many say its time to do something about the 223,972 bridges that nationally need repair or replacement. According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association analysis of federal data, 6.9% of Wisconsin bridges are deficient. Wisconsin has 14,307 bridges and 987 are considered deficient. It is interesting that Iowa has the highest number of deficient bridges with 4,504 and Delaware has the lowest number at 17.

The state with the most bridges is Texas, which has 55,175 and the state with the smallest number of bridges is Rhode Island which has only 779 bridges.

*** Here are some astounding figures from Anthony Nied, a pro ponent of natural and organic lawn care. 59 million pounds of pesticides are used each year to keep lawns “neat.” * Americans spent $103 billion in 2020 to maintain lawns. * Nearly three billion gallons of gas were used in 2018 to maintain lawns, equating to 26.7 million of pollutants. * There is an estimated 50 million acres of turf grass in the United States.

*** There has always been a push to better educate high school students in relation to financial knowledge. It is interesting to note that Wisconsin Dells is one of just 800 school districts in the nation where a one-semester personal finance course is re quired for graduation. According to an article in the Spring Issue of the Wisconsin Education Association magazine, just one in six students across the nation graduate with a decent financial literacy education and only 10 states guarantee at least one se- mester course in personal fiance before graduation. Wisconsin is not among them – leaving it up to the local school district to decide if and how they want to do it. Sarah Campbell, a teacher of Personal Finance at Wisconsin Dells High School, says, “High School is really the best time to get it into their head, while they are on the cusp of major decisions that could determine the trajectory of their lives.”

*** Smile time. Reading won’t solve your problems. But then again, neither will housework. +++ The boss returned from lunch in a good mood and called the whole stau in to listen to a cou ple of jokes he had picked up. Everybody but one girl laughed uproariously. “What’s the matter?” grumbled the boss. “Haven’t you got a sense of humor?” “I don’t have to laugh,” she said. “I’m leaving Friday.” +++ A vacationer noticed a sign that warned DANGER! BEWARE OF DOG! Posted on the glass door of a little country store. Inside the store, a harmless-looking old hound dog was asleep on the floor by the cash register. "Is that the dog people are supposed to beware of?” he asked the store manager. "Yup." The man replied. The vacationer was amused. “That doesn’t look like a dangerous dog to me. Why the sign?” “Well, the manager replied, “Before I posed that sign, people kept tripping over him.”