Due to projected road conditions at our normal release time, we will be releasing school at 1:00 today. Busses will run accordingly. No evening practices and our girls basketball games against Brady have been postponed. Just a reminder that we already have a late start scheduled for tomorrow. Thank you and be safe!
#NationalViolinDay
By drawing the bow across the strings, the violinist manipulates the sound in several ways. A violinist uses numerous bowing techniques to master the violin. The strokes dictate not only notes, but the quality of the note played.
While we associate the violin with classical music, it easily crosses genres. For instance, the violinist demonstrates the versatility of the violin by extensive use in baroque music, jazz, folk music, rock and roll, and soft rock.
“Violin” comes from the Medieval Latin work “vitula” which means stringed instrument.
Although having ancient origins, violin-makers developed most of the violin’s modern characteristics in Italy during the 16th century. Further modifications formed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Violin History
It is believed that Turkic and Mongolian horsemen from Inner Asia were the world’s earliest fiddlers. They played two-stringed upright fiddles strung with horsehair strings. Likewise, they played using horsehair bows and often featured a carved horse’s head at the end of the neck. The violins we play today (as well as the violas and cellos) with bows still strung with horsehair are a legacy of the nomads.
1555 – Andrea Amati receives credit for the oldest documented four-string violin, like the modern violins.
The “Lady Blunt” brought a record dollar amount when it was auctioned on June 20, 2011. The Stradivari violin sold for $15.9 million.
Musicians and collectors alike seek instruments made by Stradivari almost more than any other maker.
A luthier makes or repairs violins.
Maxwell JV & Varsity Girls Basketball is scheduled for tonight! Check our Website for start times!
https://www.maxwellschools.org/events?start_date=2022-12-01&end_date=2022-12-31&view=cal-month&filter_ids=43348
Christmas Break Countdown!
GINGERBREAD HOUSE DAY
Gingerbread House Day on December 12th recognizes a family tradition for many around the country.
#GingerbreadHouseDay
A favorite food of an Armenian monk, Gregory of Nicopolis, brought gingerbread to Europe around 992 AD and taught French Christians to bake it. Since gingerbread was often used in religious ceremonies, monks baked to be sturdy to molded into images of saints.
We can thank the Brothers’ Grimm for a gingerbread house, though. Through their tale of Hansel and Gretel, they introduce an evil witch who lives in a house made of gingerbread. It didn’t take long for the German gingerbread guilds to pick up the idea. Soon, they put gingerbread houses to a more festive use making snowy cottages made from the spicy-sweet treat.
Today, we can spend the day baking, cutting, and building to our heart’s delight. Kits take some steps out of the process so we can get right down to constructing our winter wonderlands.
Christmas Music Program Tonight at Maxwell Public School, Curtain is up at 6:00pm.
Weekly Forecast!
Christmas Break Countdown!
NATIONAL PASTRY DAY
National Pastry Day celebrates one of the world’s most favored baked goods. On December 9th, visit your local bakery and pick up one or two of your favorite kinds.
#NationalPastryDay
The pastry is a name given to a large variety of baked goods which are made with ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Pastry dough is rolled out thinly and then used as a base for different baked products. A few of the more common bakery items include pies, tarts, quiches, and pasties. Bakers create both savory and sweet dishes from the doughs they create. Additionally, they continue to develop new and delicious creations all the time!
Pastries can be traced as far back as the ancient Mediterranean where they had almost paper-thin, multilayered baklava and Phyllo dough.
Pastry-making began in Northern Europe after the Crusaders brought it back from the Mediterranean.
French and Italian Renaissance chefs eventually perfected the puff and choux pastries while 17th and 18th-century chefs brought new recipes to the table. Included in the innovative recipes were Napoleons, cream puffs, and eclairs.
Culinary historians often consider French pastry chef Antonin Careme (1784 – 1833) to have been the original great master of pastry making in modern times.
Many different types of pastry deliver baked goods that make our mouths water. Most of them fall into one of the following categories:
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Shortcrust pastry – simplest and most common.
Sweetcrust pastry – similar to the shortcrust but sweeter.
Flaky pastry – simple pastry that expands when cooked.
Puff pastry – has many layers that cause it to puff when baked.
Choux pastry – very light pastry that is often filled with cream or other fillings.
Phyllo pastry – paper-thin pastry dough that is used in many layers.
Wrestling: Varsity vs. Brady Elm Creek Dundy County Stratton Paxton Kimball High School Hi-Line">Multiple Schools (Away) 2:00 pm
Christmas Break Countdown!
To Nights JV Games Have been Postponed!
Basketball: Girls JV vs. St. Patrick (Home) 4:00 pm
with boys to follow, Visit our website for more information.
https://www.maxwellschools.org/events?view=cal-month
Christmas Break Countdown!
Christmas Break Countdown!
NATIONAL ILLINOIS DAY
On December 7th, National Illinois Day recognizes the Land of Lincoln, home to the Windy City, and fertile prairies.
#NationalIllinoisDay
As the 21st state to join the United States, Illinois’s distinct political, industrial, agricultural and population densities create an intriguing contrast to other states.
When farmers began to settle on the Illinois prairie, they found the thick soil challenging to sow. One Vermont blacksmith made the work easier with the invention of the steel plow that cut sod more efficiently than previous tools. John Deere plow was born.
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Railroads and shipping lines grew with farms in the rich prairies as settlers spread across the state. Chicago’s proximity to Lake Michigan has made it a major hub for transportation of goods across the country.
With the invention of the combustion engine, more reliable public highways became a national goal. U.S. Route 66 would become the iconic ribbon from Chicago to Los Angeles. Officially established in 1926, portions of the route were created from already existing roads.
Illinois completed the first leg of Route 66 during an era when Prohibition was in full swing. A paved roadway gave illegal transportation of spirits a bootleg up and the state a reputation that has become legendary for this era.
While Ronald Reagan was the only president born in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Barack Obama all called Illinois home.
Traveling around the state, we will glimpse the wonders of nature or the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. From tours of his architecture in Oak Park to Starved Rock State Park and Horseshoe Mound, Illinois offers urban and outdoor enjoyment.
JH Girls Basketball Today @ 2:00 pm
NATIONAL PAWNBROKERS DAY
Each year on December 6th, National Pawnbrokers Day pays tribute to a profession that provides a valuable service to their clientele. Those who are in need of cash funds and also those looking for a reasonably good deal seek the services of pawnbrokers.
#NationalPawnbrokersDay
The word pawn is derived from the Latin word pignus, meaning pledge.
The history of pawnbroking begins thousands of years ago in the west in Ancient Greek and Roman Empires and in the East over 3000 years ago in China. The pawnbroker offers a loan of cash in exchange for property or goods as security. When the loan plus interest is repaid, the pawnbroker returns the property. However, if the clients don’t repay the loan, they forfeit the property and the pawnbroker may sell it to recover the loan.
Governments and churches even became involved in public pawnshops, though no one ever established this type of brokerage in the United States.
Five years ago, the National Pawnbrokers Association began a wonderful program on National Pawnbrokers Day called Gift Day. Pawnbrokers across the country make generous donations of musical instruments to organizations in need. December 6, 2012, they worked with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and collected instruments for a high school in Mississippi.
Christmas Break Countdown!
Girls JV basketball begin today @3:30pm. (Elwood/Eustis-Farnam Coop)
Varsity games to follow. GO WILDCATS
