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<channel>
	<title>The City Desk &#187; Holidays</title>
	<atom:link href="http://thecitydesk.net/category/holidays/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://thecitydesk.net</link>
	<description>Fictional urbanism.</description>
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		<title>Friday Facts: Impes, &#8220;Leapin&#8217; Lepean,&#8221; Debtors Prison</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/23/friday-facts-impes-leapin-lepean-debtors-prison/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2009/01/23/friday-facts-impes-leapin-lepean-debtors-prison/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:42:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[city council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Craig Gaines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Downtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Morris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=521</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: Mayor Cosgrove is expected to deliver to City Council on Monday her administration&#8217;s plan to make up the city&#8217;s now $728 million five-year deficit. :: Expected remedies: Rec Center  and library cutbacks, trash collection, city vehicle usage cuts, wage rollbacks, hiring freeze. :: The plaque on the Trade and Securities Building (43rd Ave and Roosevelt) remembers investor Tom Lepean, who on October 28, 1929, had made the decision to sell his sizable portfolio of stock and retire to a secluded wooded area. Although Lepean had been inspired by the book Walden, several scorned investors the following day – suspicious of Lepean’s timing &#8211; accused him of either benefitting from inside information of the coming stock market crash, or possibly engineering it. The legend of Lepean’s perspicacity exceeded public temperament, and the once-lucky investor was pushed out a 16th story window by a stenographic pool secretary whose father had been ruined in the Crash. :: Fast-Cash Plus, a national chain specializing in your-auto-title-for-easy-cash swaps, has opened an outlet in the Crestmoor Shopping Plaza, at 35th and Wallace Streets. That plot of land was the location of Munson Prison until 1938, which contained a sizable debtors prison wing. :: Alfred Garret, [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Santamobiles of Bradburn&#8217;s Department Store</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/12/15/the-santamobiles-of-bradburns-department-store/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/12/15/the-santamobiles-of-bradburns-department-store/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:22:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Downtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shopping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=466</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Through the mid part of the century, the City&#8217;s Downtown was home to several large department stores, most of which were flagships of local or regional chains- Osberger&#8217;s, Whitestone&#8217;s, Bradburn&#8217;s, Foster &#38; Asher&#8217;s, Harriman Bros. and even a branch of Gimbels. Of these, only Whitestone&#8217;s is still extant and the Macy&#8217;s in the old Bradburn&#8217;s space is technically the &#8220;cousin&#8221; of the long-dead Osberger&#8217;s, through various mergers and acquisitions (but that would take a flow-chart to accutately explain and our time here is short). Every year, these stores would decorate to the hilt- well, maybe not discount house Harriman Bros., which always played things close to the margin- with trees, garland, lights, fake snow and all of the other trappings associated with good old fashioned city department store Christmas celebrations. Of course, the main component was the store Santa, the big attraction that brought kids into the stores, along with their pursestring-holding parents. In 1952, though, Haskell Bradburn decided to bring the Santas to the city&#8217;s neighborhoods with the creation of the Santamobile. Inspired by the library system&#8217;s bookmobiles, Bradburn outfitted a fleet of ten of his delivery trucks with downsized replicas of his store&#8217;s Santa&#8217;s Toyshop attraction and sent [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Profile: The Absent-Minded Philanthropist</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/12/09/profile-the-absent-minded-philanthropist/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/12/09/profile-the-absent-minded-philanthropist/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[charity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[profiles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ray Ingraham]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=464</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“One of my foster mothers always said God gave me such a big heart to make up for my lack of common sense,” jokes Bill Mayweather. “If that’s true, I must have a heart the size of a city block.” Mayweather, 37, works in the housekeeping department at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Shaffer Blvd. He resides alone, satisfied to live modestly in order to set money aside for a charitable cause every Christmas season. The City Desk recently interviewed Mayweather in his studio apartment about his penchant for charity. “I used to write checks to places like The Salvation Army or March of Dimes,” says Mayweather. “I knew those folks would use the money for good causes, but a few years back, I made up my mind to do something more personal.” So, in the winter of 2006, Mayweather spent all night long in his kitchenette, preparing treats for some of the city’s neediest: the stray dogs at the 87th St. animal shelter. Leslie Rhea, a volunteer at the shelter, recalled the afternoon Mayweather made his visit. “This great big guy comes in from the snow with a huge grin on his face. He’s carrying about a dozen wrapped [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>For Your Ears: Wasted Words</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/11/12/for-your-ears-wasted-words/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/11/12/for-your-ears-wasted-words/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:51:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shek Baker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Levinson]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=431</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A new episode of the Wasted Words podcast is now available. It is hosted by your editor, RJ White, and the panel includes The City Desk contributors Shek Baker and Stephen Levinson. Thank you.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Snapshots: Before the Great Downtown Fire, July 4th, 1911</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/07/02/snapshots-before-the-great-downtown-fire-july-4th-1911/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/07/02/snapshots-before-the-great-downtown-fire-july-4th-1911/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:33:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fourth of July]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[snapshots]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/?p=278</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[July 4 ,1911- Mayor Jonah Woolsey (second from left) addresses a large crowd gathered at Main Avenue and Baylor (now Third) Street, during three hours of speeches in celebration of the holiday. Later that evening, stray sparks from fireworks at Memorial Park would light several piles of unused bunting afire next to the Geo. Hardlin and Sons lumberyard, thus setting off what became known as the Great Downtown Fire of 1911. The fire raged for twelve hours, spanning thirty blocks and burning over six hundred buildings. Amazingly, only two people lost their lives. The following year, the fireworks were moved to the City&#8217;s new fairgrounds, two miles outside of town. - RJ White (Original)]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Local Clippings: Barriers Still Unbroken</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/01/21/local-clippings-barriers-still-unbroken/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2008/01/21/local-clippings-barriers-still-unbroken/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:14:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[hockey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[holiday]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Local Clippings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MLK Jr. Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newspapers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ray Ingraham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xtreme]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2008/01/21/local-clippings-barriers-still-unbroken/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In Local Clippings, we bring you what we feel are notable items from the city&#8217;s newspapers. Today, we bring you the special Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day column from longtime sportswriter Mike Harvey, in today&#8217;s Evening Press. NOTE: The inexplicable edit of a certain word toward the end isn&#8217;t ours, but that of the (rather conservative) paper. Harvey on Sports: Barriers Still Unbroken This city is well-known for producing successful professional athletes. Since 1950, we can claim 24 NFL players, 15 MLB players, 5 NBA players and even MLS superstar Quentin Clemens. Yet, somehow, in spite of the access to over a dozen ice rinks and the largest winter skate park in the tri-state area, not a single athlete who calls this town home has made it to the National Hockey League. Only one player even made it close. The Phenom In 1952, Sidney &#8220;Silk&#8221; Stalkins might have been the next Big Thing in hockey. A full 6&#8217;4&#8243;, 230 lbs at the age of 20, Stalkins lead the league with 109 goals and 75 assists in just 46 games played with the late local junior hockey squad, the Whizzers. They say they say that Stalkins had the build and [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>This City is Not Very Good at New Year&#8217;s</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/26/this-city-is-not-very-good-at-new-years/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/26/this-city-is-not-very-good-at-new-years/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:34:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[clubs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leonard Pierce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new year's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sister cities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/26/this-city-is-not-very-good-at-new-years/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Our city’s reputation for somewhat slipshod urban planning is as much a part of its character, for better or for worse, as is government corruption in Chicago, gridlock in Los Angeles, and chili with spaghetti in Cincinnati. The city particularly seems to lose its grip around New Year’s: :: In 1994 at the Artemis Nightclub, the oversized mechanical silver apple and full moon contraptions, which are traditionally raised to the top of their housing at midnight on New Year’s Eve, somehow became entangled with one another, stalling halfway up the main shaft and making a calamitous grinding noise while the gears tried to work loose. Workmen finally fixed the problem at 1:33am, but by then, everyone had gone home. :: Icy roads and a higher-than-usual number of highway accidents in 2003 led to a citywide shortage of champagne, and a number of bars and clubs resorted to handing out 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor to their patrons on New Year’s Eve. :: In 1981, City Hall, using state-of-the-art satellite TV technology, intended to let the public in on a simultaneous New Year’s Eve celebration with Maracaibo, Venezuela, one of our former sister cities. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be aware [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Friday Facts: End of Year Closeout Special</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/21/friday-facts-end-of-year-closeout-special/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/21/friday-facts-end-of-year-closeout-special/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Christmas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Andrews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friday facts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public works]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restaurants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RJ White]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/21/friday-facts-end-of-year-closeout-special/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[:: With Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both falling on a Tuesday this season, please note that all city services will be open and functioning on Monday, Dec.24 and Monday, Dec. 31, with the exception of the Mayor’s Office, which will be closed at 2pm on Friday, Dec. 21, and reopen Wednesday, Jan. 2, so that Mayor Wilders can attend the Urban Environmentalism Awareness Conference in Aruba. :: Founder&#8217;s Pier will once again host &#8220;A Taste of Nog&#8221; Sunday, Dec. 23. Fans of the festive holiday drink can purchase tickets to sample some of the finest nogs the city has to offer. Favorites from last year included Traditional Egg Nog (The Legacy Diner), Quail Egg Nog (Le Cafe Brulee), Root Beer Nog (Felix&#8217;s Frankfurters), and the Triple Bourbon Nog (Grinning Kinsky&#8217;s). Tickets are 5 for $7.50 for non-alcoholic nogs, and 5 for $17.50 for adult nogs (Limit 10). :: St. Albert’s Cathedral on Algonquin Avenue issued a public correction to an item published in their most recent newsletter. The choir concert featuring Handel’s “Messiah” will take place Sunday, Dec. 23 rather than the listed date of Tuesday, Jan. 8. Also, the Parents without Partners ‘Elvis Night’ dance will take [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Go There: American Insurance Holiday Model Railroad</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/19/go-there-american-insurance-holiday-model-railroad/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/19/go-there-american-insurance-holiday-model-railroad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:45:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cedric Rose]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central Corridor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Downtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[go there]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[old city hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transportation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/19/go-there-american-insurance-holiday-model-railroad/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Go There is a feature in which our writers tell you about tourist attractions and other places of interest around the city. The annual American Insurance Co. holiday model railroad display at Central Station has delighted kids since 1952. Each year, Warner Mendelsohn hunches over his soldering gun and recreates the city, in ever-increasing scope and staggering detail. More than eight hundred model train cars, locomotives, and automobiles follow two miles of track and miniature interstate highway, above which model aircraft circle. Though he retired from the insurance company thirteen years ago, it&#8217;s still Mendelsohn&#8217;s project. The display has not been without controversy, beginning in 1962 when American Insurance (now American Insurance Mutual, Ltd.) fired Mendelsohn for an alleged conflict of interest after he privately sold advertising on the sides of the model train cars, including American&#8217;s competitor, Provident Mutual Insurance, Ltd. So popular was the display at that time that Mendelsohn took in thousands in advertising revenue. Thanks to community pressure, American allowed Mendelsohn to stay on, provided he turn over the revenue to American. In 1972, a prankster called in a bomb threat to &#8220;the model Old City Hall&#8221;, police staked out the display. Several Black Cat firecrackers [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The City&#8217;s Letters to Santa</title>
		<link>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/17/the-citys-letters-to-santa/</link>
		<comments>http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/17/the-citys-letters-to-santa/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The City Desk</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christmas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[formalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hoboes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landon Ave Army]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leonard Pierce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[letters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[newspapers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organized crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[santa]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecitydesk.net/2007/12/17/the-citys-letters-to-santa/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, the Journal-Clarion will mail, free to its subscribers, a small soft-cover book entitled The Kringle Memoranda. The book is a handpicked collection of children’s letters to Santa, which the newspaper has been printing in a special supplement in the week before Christmas since 1922 (when it was still the Journal-American). The volume, with art by Journal-Clarion editorial cartoonist Jack Belinsky, will no doubt appeal to the children and parents who are its primary target, but to long-time connoisseurs of urban strangeness, it’s more noteworthy for what it omits than what it includes. The letters bound within the red-and-green covers alternate between po-faced sincerity and kids-say-the-darndest-things humor, and entirely ignore the fact that, for almost seventy years, the letters-to-Santa supplement of the newspaper was where one could find some of the city’s strangest manifestations of subversive art and unexpurgated oddness. In 1926, Journal-American publisher R. Darren Mingers’ 6-year-old granddaughter Claire (who would later rise to fame as a director of sentimental melodramatic films in Hollywood, and who organized the first Founders Day Film Festival in 1972) wrote a letter to Santa, which was not published in the supplement. (Though no reason was ever given – the editor in charge [...]]]></description>
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