*Argentina: Children receive their presents on January 6th, known as “Three Kings Day”. On the eve of January 6th, Argentinian kids place their shoes outside the front door of their homes to be filled by the Magi.

*France: On Christmas Eve, children put out their shoes or wooden clogs called sabots, to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel. Pere Noel is said to travel with his  companion, Pre Fouettard, who reminds him how each child  behaved during the past year. On Christmas day, children find what they asked for along with fruits, sweets, and nuts.

*India: “‘Bade Din ki Mubarak”  is Merry Christmas in Hindi. India is a large, diverse nation of different languages, cultures, and religions. Christianity is also a minority, but Father Christmas or Santa Claus is held to be the giver of presents to only well behaved children from a horse and cart.

*Italy:  on January 6, Italian children await a visit from “La Befana”; according to the legend, while on their way to Bethlehem to visit the baby Jesus, the three wise men stopped during their journey and asked an old woman for directions. They then asked her to join them to meet the newborn, but Befana refused. She would refuse again to the traveling shepherds. Within a few hours the woman had a change of heart and wished she had gone to visit the Christ child. She is depicted variously as a fairy queen, a crone, or an ugly witch on a broomstick. Befana is said to be flying around ever since, looking for the Christ Child each year and leaving presents at every house with children in case he is there.

Each Friday, Special Needs students go to the gym and do dances for a part of their exercies to take place for the day.

Alicia Dean said she has been knowing junior Paolya Rivera and senior Bianca Shepard since they were in third grade and dancing is something the girls love to do.

“Special needs kids get to dance for enjoyment and have a good time doing it good thing they all love  to dance,” Dean said.

Rivera said she likes Fridays because Fridays are dance day and “I like to dance.”

See it here

The brand new bill, which is made out of a single piece of polymer and describe here, is a 100 dollar bill with Sir Robert Borden, the country’s Prime Minister from 1911 until 1920. The back of the bill is dedicated to Canadian scientific advances, like the discovery of insulin by Canadian scientist Sir Frederick Banting.

The new, high-tech currency has two windows on the front which contribute to making it look futuristic.

The first window- a maple leaf that is clear on the left side of the bill- changes color in the light which is designed to make it difficult for counterfeiters to create fake versions.

The second window which is larger has a metallic picture that copies the face in the center of the bill. The transparent plastic beneath the smaller portrait is decorated with various digits, and below that is a large picture of a building, carrying a metallic sheen similar to the face above. When tilted, both the face and the building show off a colorful, holographic effect. These features are duplicated on the back of the note as well.

The smooth plastic is also coated in ink which is another safety feature. The edges of the picture and text can be felt when running your finger over it. However, the high quality of the bill isn’t just to keep the counterfeiting problem down.

The plastic money is meant to last twice as long as traditional paper money. It cost 19 cents to make, which is almost double how much it cost to make paper money. But the price of having to print money should steadily decline over time.

The brand new bill was put into circulation on Nov. 14. A $50 version will come out in March of 2012, and $20, $10, and $5 bills will get their makeover sometime in 2013.

The United States has tried reducing prices by producing $1 coins, but Americans don’t really use it. The idea of plastic money hasn’t even been mentioned yet, but let’s see how it works out for Canada.

That’s what people say when they want to convey something is easy. It also is a term used often by  Lufkin defensive lineman Demontrai Lewis.

After Demontrai sacks the opposing team’s quarterback, he signals with his hands as though slicing through cake. In fact, Demontrai signs other things to the coaches, as well as anyone else and has been doing so since learning sign language after being hearing impaired at an early age.

Another reason for the “slicing of cake” is directed toward defensive line coach Brooke Stafford whose wife will bake the sophomore a cake following a good performance on the field.

And Demontrai has had a cake 10 of the 11 games played this year which doesn’t effect his performance, even at practices.

“Demontrai always comes to practice with a good attitude,” Stafford said. “I am very proud on how he has been playing, the boy loves football.”

According to Stafford, Demontrai has improved a lot this year, but there is still some stuff that he can work on.

“He has been doing really good,” Stafford said. “There is always something you can work on, but he has turned out to be a really good football player.”

According to Coach Stafford, it is not hard to coach a hearing impaired football player. The only time it is a problem is when he is trying to yell at him across the field.

Stafford sometimes forgets Demontrai is hearing impaired, but it is only when he is yelling at him or trying to speak to him.

“Whenever he is out on the field and you’re trying to yell and tell him something, you sometimes forget he can’t hear.” Stafford said.

Head Coach John Outlaw also said he enjoys having Demontrai on his team and as a part of his life.

“It is an absolute joy everyday to have him on my team and to see him with a smile on his face,” Outlaw said.

According to Outlaw, he and Demontrai are very close and feels no different than he does for any other kid and notes the only difference being Demontrai’s smiles.

“The feeling is no different when the boy succeeds as it is for any other child out there on that field,” Outlaw said. “Demontrai at least smiles, the others just talk.”

When Demontrai graduates and leaves, it is going to be different for Outlaw, but he will always have those great memories with Demontrai.

“It will be different when he leaves, but one thing is you will always have someone to replace him,” Outlaw said. “I will always have our great memories that we made.”

Just like everyone else, Outlaw learns from Demontrai who has shown not to find excuses.

“Everybody can learn something from Demontrai,” Outlaw said. “He proves that you can overcome any obsticle in life if you choose to and he chooses to.”

Demontrai said he does anything he wants without limits, and that includes playing football and other sports, but added that it is football that he most loves.

“I always played football, basketball and baseball growing up,” Demontrai said. “Any sport I wanted to play I could because I had no limits.”

D-1 colleges have started to look at Demontrai, but said he is focused on the attention.

“It does not scare me,” he said. “I’m not worried about that right now. All I want to be is successful for the team and with the team at high school.”

The fans go crazy on Friday nights when Demontrai sacks the quarterback or does something good. It makes Demontrai feel like a star on the field when he knows all of the attention he gets from students, faculty, and residents is all for him.

“It feels good that they are all paying attention to me, it makes me feel as if I am the star person,” Demontrai said.

According to Demontrai, he takes his grades, class, and the work he does on the field very seriously.

Demontrai knows that he will go to college like the rest of his family because he cannot let them down and wants to follow their examples of chasing a dream, and his dream is to play in the NFL.

“Well when I was six,all of my family had gone to college so I knew I would go as well,” Demontrai said. “One day my dream to play in the NFL will come true.”

René Heintschel, Demontrai’s interputer, wishes that after Lewis graduates that somewhere down the road she will be able to sign for him again, but if not, she really hopes they will never lose touch.

“The boy is like my own child to me,” she admits, “and when he succeeds, my heart burst and I get so excited. I will be very devastated and so lost after Demontrai leaves. I will sign for someone else, but it will never be the same.”

René Heintschel has been with Demontrai since he was 3 years old. She did not start signing for him until he was at Brookhollow Elementary School.

She said the deaf ed music class had just came in from music time and she just started signing with Demontrai. The inturpeter at the time Shela Stoddard told her they were looking for a new inturpeter and they wanted her for the job. René turned down the job three times until she finally took it.

“I managed restaurants before, the money was good, but it felt like something was missing,” Heintschel said. “I sarted to substitute at Brookhollow one day when I was the deaf ed music class came in and I started signing for Demontrai. Mrs.Stoddard told me they were looking for a new interputer, and she wanted me for the job. I turned the job down three times because I never thought I could do it. Soon it felt like God was throwing this at me to do it so I took the job.”

When Heintschel was little she would pray at night and ask God why he made her mom deaf. She soon realized it was because she would soon help out with deaf kids in her future.

Heintschel loves to watch Demontrai play because she can learn from Demontrai and it is absolutley amazing to her when he makes an outstanding tackle behind the line of scrimmage.

“Seeing Demontrai out on the field playing is an amazing experience because I can learn so much from him and pick up everything, it is awesome.” Heintschel said.

Heintschel believes that in the future Demontrai will be able to play for the NFL.

“The boy has no limits, he has the drive and determination and wheel power to go as far as he wants to go,” Heintschel said. “I have faith in him that he will be in the NFL.”

One of  Demontrai’s defensive lineman friends is Corey Clark.

“I have been friends with Demontrai for a little over two years,” Clark said. “It is great and fun to watch Demontrai play and to be out there on the field with him.”

Clark said he learns a lot from Demontrai during practices and during games.

“It is great and fun to watch him make plays and breath taking to see some of the stuff he does out there on the field,” Clark said.

Clark said the two have learned to grown close enough to understand what each one is saying, sometimes with a little help.

“It is not hard to hold a conversation with Demontrai,” Clark said. “He always figures out what we are saying even without Mrs.H. After a while, it gets easier because he reads our lips.”

Clark treats Demontrai the same as all his other friends because he is just like an ordinary person who just has hearing problem.

“I treat him just like all my other friends,” Clark said. “There is nothing wrong with him. He is an ordinary person and there is no reason to treat him any different.”

We went to to downtown Lufkin and while I chaperoned them, I started up a conversation with another kid’s parent. We started talking about Halloween and traditions and I mentioned how tomorrow was the start of the Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead. She asked me if it was kind of like Halloween. That’s when I realized I didn’t know much about it myself.

I went home thinking about that conversation and thought I would do a little research.

Day of the Dead, also known as All Souls Day, originated as a Roman Catholic holiday. In Mexico and large parts of Latin America, it is the day they honor their departed and set out private alters honoring the deceased with pictures, marigolds, food, drinks, music and their favorite belongings. On November 1, they honor children and infants and the adults are honored on the next day.

People go to cemeteries and set up these alters with the intent of encouraging the soul to hear the prayers of the living. Celebrations don’t have to be sad as the celebrating family can remember funny events and good memories about the departed. It is tradition to eat bread called ‘Pan de Muerto’ at the grave-site or alter. The circle on top is the cranium that has bones underneath, and the flavor is sweet in honor of the memory of the deceased.

They view death as the passage to another life, not the end of it. Keeping their loved one’s spirit alive and carrying on tradition is part of this Latin holiday. To forget your ancestors is like forgetting where you came from.

This is taboo in the United States.

We don’t set aside a few days to celebrate our ancestors or departed family members but yet we have a national Pancake Day. It’s just the way we were raised. We’re a society that revolves around youth and life. Death is not exactly our cup of tea.

Many business owners will be handing out candy to trick or treaters from 3 to 5 p.m..

Though for people who are daring, the City of Lufkin has also created a haunted house located downtown next to the Pines Theater. This haunted house is outrageously terrifying like no other but since some scenes may be too intense for smaller children, there are less scary tours that can be arranged for the younger thrill seekers. Dates available to experience the dark and spooked scares of this haunted house are from October 28 through the 3lst. Hours of operation are 7 to midnight and 5 to 10 p.m. on October 31st.

Seniors will write down their personal goal as all seniors watch the sunrise together. This service will begin the many memories to come as an LHS senior, according to Patricia White, student activities director.

Cowboy Nachos

Prep Time:              10 minutes

Cooking Time:      10-20 minutes

Yields:                     6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 can 15 oz. Wolf Brand® Chili
• 1 can 15 oz. Ranch Style® Texas Beans
• 1 package (1 lbs). tortilla chips
• 1-1/2 cups prepared cheese sauce, heated
• 1 can 10 oz. Ro*Tel® Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies

Directions:

1. Combine chili and beans in medium saucepan; heat through.
2. Arrange tortilla chips on a large platter. Top with chili mixture. Pour heated cheese sauce over chili.
3. Then you can set out different optional toppings such as; tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese, peppers, sliced black olives, or sliced green onions to quench each of your guests desired taste!

PREP/TOTAL TIME:     15 min

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients

•  1-1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 package (1 ounce) instant french vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1 cup whipped topping, divided

Directions

• In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and allspice; fold into pudding. Fold in 1/2 cup whipped topping.

• Transfer to individual serving dishes. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish with remaining whipped topping. 

Paige Susanne Parker:
In the sixth grade when we started going to the same school and people would get our papers stuff all confused.
Paige Elise Parker:
The first time I found out that someone had the same name as me, it made me really angry because I just didn’t want anyone else having my name. And then it really sucked because we were both in band and played the French horn, and just so you know, that was really confusing. And then I found out that her middle name is Susanne, which is my mom’s name, same spelling and everything, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I just can’t get away from this girl,’ but it’s all good now.

Have you ever been mistaken for the other Paige?

Paige Susanne Parker:
Yeah, one time I went to go get my driver’s license, like my permit. When the people at the DPS office  looked my name up they thought that I had already gotten mine, but I said no, that’s probably just the other Paige Parker, and they were kind of confused. But I thought was interesting because we weren’t just getting mixed up at school anymore, but it was like the city of Lufkin was getting us confused.
Paige Elise Parker:
Yeah one time they did the same thing to me too, only it wasn’t my permit they they messed up, it was my actual license. I was really not happy about it at all, because it was my birthday and I was a diva.

Paige Elise Parker:
When we were little, Paige and I went to the same doctor and we used to have same pharmacy and they would always get our prescriptions confused and it made my parents very unhappy because they just couldn’t get us straight. Eventually we just had to switch pharmacies.
Paige Susanne Parker:
Yeah, I booted her out of her pharmacy.

When did the two of you become friends?

Paige Susanne Parker:
I don’t really know when we started to become friends, it just kind of happened one day sometime last year, and now we hang out all the time, we have “Paige dates”.
Paige Elise Parker:
Yeah, well at first it was kind of weird texting each other, because it feels kind of like you’re  texting yourself, but we’ve gotten over it. It’s just something that happens now, it’s just something normal.

Now that you’re friends, is it easier for you two to share your name?

Paige Susanne Parker:
I think people will probably be confusing us for the rest of our lives, but it doesn’t really bother me anymore, I actually kind of like it now.

Paige Elise Parker:
Yeah, well at first it made me mad that someone else had my name, because I wanted to be the only one of me. I didn’t want to share my name with anyone else, but now I’m over it. I love Paige, and we’re more similar then people would think.