Month: May 2022

Independent Filmmaker Larry Cappetto on Giving Voice to War Veterans Through Recording Their Stories

For one independent filmmaker, Memorial Day means much more than a 24-hour holiday or even a three-day weekend. For Larry Cappetto, Memorial Day is his life. Cappetto has dedicated his craft to honoring veterans by recording their memories and experiences for future generations. Since 2003, Cappetto said, he has interviewed more than 1,000 American and…


How One Man Found Unexpected Kindness on a Solo Journey to Remember a Dear Friend

“The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.” —Henry David Thoreau I recently reunited with one of my previous high school students, Doug Finch. We had not seen each other in some 30 years, but we have stayed connected through social media. Doug is a biker, a Harley guy, and…


The Natchez Trace Parkway: A Peek into This History-Filled Attraction in the Mississippi Delta

In the 1951 novel “Requiem for a Nun,” William Faulkner crafts a character who travels from Kentucky to Mississippi along the Natchez Trace: Jason Lycurgus. Who, driven perhaps by the compulsion of the flamboyant name given him by the sardonic embittered woodenlegged indomitable father who perhaps still believed with his heart that what he wanted…


Meet Maine’s Passionate Seafaring Couple Wowing Travelers with Relaxing Windjammer Adventures

One could say that the husband and wife co-captains of the J. & E. Riggin windjammer were destined to one day own and command this particular vessel. Justin Schaefer and Jocelyn Schmidt both grew up on the water. Justin, at just a year and a half old, was introduced to sailing by his captain father….


Craving an RV Getaway? Get Inspired by Stories of People Already Living the Dream

Picture this: You’re on Interstate 15, a four-lane highway that snakes through the Virgin River Gorge, situated between St. George, Utah, and Beaver Dam, Arizona. Your foot’s on the gas. The speedometer’s needle hovers around 55 miles per hour. The late afternoon sun peaks through the towering cliffs to the west, casting a heavenly light…


This Young Alabamian is Carrying on His Family Traditions to Become America’s Next Rodeo Star

Thirteen-year-old Rodney Howard looks like he galloped right out of a Western movie set. He’s sporting leather cowboy boots, wide-legged jeans, a belt with a huge silver buckle, a flannel corduroy long-sleeve shirt, and a worn-out cowboy hat. This is not your souvenir-shop cowboy hat. This hat has seen some action—rodeo circuit action. The outfit…


Zoo Horticulturist Shares the Secrets Behind Recreating Habitats for Animals

When horticulturist Dennis Carter takes his morning walk at the Blank Park Zoo grounds in Des Moines, Iowa, his eye finds every weed, every frond, every stalk in the zoo. He carefully observes each shrub, tree, and vine for good health, stopping periodically to rub a leaf between thumb and forefinger before giving his stamp…


California Congresswoman Applauds Shen Yun for Standing up Against Chinese Communist Party

COSTA MESA, Calif.—Michelle Steel, Republican congresswoman for California’s 48th congressional district, was thrilled by Shen Yun Performing Arts at Segerstrom Center for the Arts on May 22. Mrs. Steel is one of the first Korean-American women to serve in Congress. As a young adult, she came to America searching for opportunities in the hope of…


LIVE UPDATES: Russian Proxies Claim Control of Key Town in East Ukraine

The latest on the Russia–Ukraine crisis, May 27. Click here for updates from May 26. Russian Proxies Claim Control of Key Town in East Ukraine Russia’s separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine claimed full control of the important battlefield town of Lyman on Friday, and Ukraine appeared to concede it, as Moscow presses its biggest advance…


LIVE UPDATES: Mayor: Some 1,500 Killed in Sievierodonetsk

The latest on the Russia–Ukraine crisis, May 27. Click here for updates from May 26. Mayor: Some 1,500 Killed in Sievierodonetsk The Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk is the center of fierce fighting in the east. Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk says it’s holding out even though a Russian reconnaissance and sabotage group went into a city hotel….