The Paducah Sun | Thursday, November 22, 2012 | paducahsun.com Section C

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Tale of Two RalphiesActors talk about ‘A

Christmas Story’ on stage.Page 2C Page 8C Page 5C

M ost people would describe Paducah as a quiet town, but Dario

Lazzaretto disagrees.As a sound artist, Italian-born

Lazzaretto travels the world recording the noises around him. And the Paducah Arts Alliance’s artist in residence says he has found plenty of material to work with during his stay in Paducah.

“Everyone was telling me that it’s so quiet here, but it’s not so quiet at all. It’s very noisy, but it’s not that kind of noise you will be complaining of when you’re in New York or L.A.,” he said.

Lazzaretto took samples of sounds to which most Paducah-ans pay little attention, such as

crickets and trains, to create a body of work refl ecting his expe-rience here.

“The sound I decided to use is something that’s slowed down a lot, until it changes perception, until the train becomes some-thing like the soundtrack of ‘The Shining,’ that’s never-ending and quite anxious and annoying,” he said.

During his residency, Laz-zaretto took advantage of the opportunity to learn from other artists, as well as give back to the community in the form of work-shops with elementary school children in Metropolis, Ill. Dur-ing the workshops, Lazzaretto asked students to make record-ings of sounds that remind them of home.

To start the assignment, he posed this question: “Imagine you won’t be able to see your home for years... what would you want to bring with you?”

Though he had his misgiv-ings about entrusting recording equipment to youngsters, Laz-zaretto says they turned out to be unfounded.

“This has been a beautiful experience, really, that I want to do other times,” he said of his workshops with the students.

Lower Town artist Freda Fairchild helped Lazzaretto learn a non-toxic method of printmak-ing, and Lazzaretto also worked with sculptor Mitch Kimball to create a visual element for his fi nal sound art installation, “Global Fear Fun,” that opened

in the second week of November. The installation featured a loop-ing track of screams sampled from amusement parks in Japan, Italy, and the U.S.

Although the residency al-lowed Lazzaretto to work in different media, he says his main focus remains sound.

“The real perception, the strongest of our senses is hear-ing ... It’s something to me that gets back to the real event of art. Something that is not meant to be sold, but that is more inter-ested in talking to the people and having a relationship,” he said.

Lazzaretto’s stay in Paducah will end in mid November, but the town can look forward to more international artists

through Paducah’s Artist-in-Residence Program.

“I think the residency is enor-mously benefi cial for the whole community,” Fairchild said. “Not only do we get different in-puts, but these artists carry their view of Paducah back to wher-ever they go. So the international artists have voiced an opinion about how valuable it is to come to a place in middle America,” she said.

Sculptors Sondra Schwetman and Patrick Williams are next on the residency roster, and will be staying in Paducah through Nov. 30.

Contact Laurel Black, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8641.

Photo contributed by Michele Longworth

Sound artist Dario Lazzaretto works on an art project with school children at Metropolis Elementary School in Metropolis, Ill. Lazzaretto, of Padua, Italy, participated in childrens’ workshops as part of his residency through the Paducah Arts Alliance’s Artist-in-Residence Program.

Italian sound artist offers take on PaducahBY LAUREL BLACKlblack@paducahsun.com

NEW YORK — This holiday season, the biggest discount chains in the U.S. will tell the tale of two very different shop-pers: those that have and those that have not.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, on Thursday acknowledged that its low-income shoppers continue to struggle in the economy and issued an outlook for the fourth quarter that falls below Wall Street estimates. On the same day, its smaller rival Target Corp., which caters to more af-fl uent shoppers, said it expects results during the quarter to exceed the Street’s projections.

The two discounters offer valu-able insight into how Americans

will spend in November and De-cember, a period that’s tradition-ally the busiest shopping period of the year. Some merchants depend on the holiday shopping season for up to 40 percent of their annual sales, but economists watch the period closely to get a temperature reading on the over-all mood of American consumers.

The forecasts seem to confi rm a trend that has taken shape during the economic downturn. Well-heeled shoppers spend more freely as the economy begins to show new signs of life, while consumers in the lower-in-come brackets continue to hold tight to their purse strings even as the housing and stock markets rebound.

Wal-Mart and Target both are discounters, but they cater to

different customers. Wal-Mart, which says its customers’ aver-age household income ranges from $30,000 to $60,000, hammers its low-price message and focuses on stocking basics like tee shirts and underwear along with household goods. But Target, whose customers have a median household income of $64,000 a year, is known for carrying discounted designer clothes and home decor under the same roof as detergent and dishwashing liquid.

The difference between the two discounters is becoming more ap-parent during the holiday shop-ping season, as both discounters attempt to cater to lure different shoppers into stores.

Wal-Mart last week said it will offer deeper discounts and a

broader assortment of merchan-dise. The company also started its holiday layaway program a month earlier than a year ago and lowered its fees for the pro-gram from $15 to $5.

Target, on the other hand, is trying to appeal to higher-end shoppers.

The retailer is teaming up with luxury merchant Neiman Marcus to offer a limited collection span-ning from fashion to sporting goods. More than 50 products from 24 designers, including Oscar de la Renta and Diane von Furstenberg will be available at both stores and on their websites starting Dec. 1 until they sell out.

Target for the fi rst time is matching prices that custom-ers fi nd on identical products at some online competitors

this holiday season, including Walmart.com and Amazon.com. The price match program, which covers the period from Nov. 1 through Dec. 16, is an attempt to combat the “showrooming” trend in which shoppers use their smartphones while they’re in stores to browse for products at cheaper prices.

Target’s customers may be a little more resilient than Wal-Mart’s to the economy’s woes, but Target offi cials said that the retailer expects shoppers to remain cautious

“Our research with (custom-ers) indicates they are continu-ing to shop with discipline, focusing on lists and budgets and occasionally splurging on more discretionary items,” said Target’s Tesija.

Wal-Mart and Target offer holiday tale of two discountersBY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO

Associated Press

2C • Thursday, November 22, 2012 • The Paducah Sun Current paducahsun.com

ThursdayThanksgiving Day Buf-

fet: 11 a.m., The Patio Grill at Drake Creek, 1 Torrey Pines, Ledbetter. Adults $18.99, children ten and under $8.99.

Shandies Thanksgiving Day Buffet: 11 a.m., Shan-dies, 202 Broadway.

Ladies Night: 5 p.m., Casa Mexicana, 4793 Vil-lage Square Dr.

Night Moves Dance Club: 6 p.m., American Legion, 425 Legion Dr. $4.

Like Water: Original Mu-sic: 6:30 p.m., JP’s Bar & Grill, 119 Market House Sq.

Trivia Night: 7 p.m., The Star, 3100 Broadway.

Karaoke with Stephen French: 9 p.m., Pure Coun-try, 4101 Clarks River Rd.

FridayHoliday Candle Sale: 12

p.m., 502 N. Sixth St.Wine Tasting: 5 p.m.,

Wine Pro, 5408 Cairo Rd.Ms. Dahn Piano and Vo-

cals: 6 p.m., Ristorante di Fratelli, 211 Broadway.

American Pride Enter-tainment Karaoke: 8 p.m., Show-Me’s of Paducah, 3009 Old Husbands Rd.

Paducah Writers Group: 8 p.m., Etcetera Coffee-house, 320 N. Sixth St.

Shandies Friday Night Sing Off: 9 p.m., Shandies, 202 Broadway.

SaturdayThe Very Merry Holiday

Fair: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Paducah Elks Lodge, 310 N. Fourth St.

Free Wine Tastings: 11 a.m., Purple Toad Winery.

Wine and Beer Sampling: 3 p.m., Roof Brothers, 3145 Park Ave.

Craft Beer and Wine Tast-ing: 4 p.m., Wagner Wine and Spirits, 2700-B New Holt Rd.

Josh Tubbs: 6 p.m., Glis-son Vineyards and Winery, 126 Market House Sq.

Reggie LaFaye: 6 p.m., Ristorante di Fratelli, 211 Broadway.

Paducah Improv Studio Series: 7 p.m., 9 p.m., The Market House Theater. $5.

SundayAnnie Moses Band: 3

p.m., Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center, 100 Ken-tucky Ave.

Cabaret Jazz Technique: 5:29 p.m., Paducah Jazzer-cise. $25 a month.

Contact Laurel Black, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8641.

Not everyone can be Martha Stewart. For the mere mortal hosts among us, holiday party planning can whip up stress and anxiety: Is my house invit-ing? Do I have enough chairs? What about food?

If the thought of enter-taining sends you to the nearest couch with a bottle of aspirin, relax — we’ve compiled advice from some of the best party experts around.

Setting the mood

“Parties give us the chance to suspend what’s going on in our lives and give us space to be merry,” says Danielle Rollins, the Atlanta-based author of the new “Soiree: Enter-taining with Style” (Riz-zoli).

The best way to cre-ate that space, she says, is to build tradition into your party and make it something people can look forward to year after year. Decide on a theme or an anchor activity — ginger-bread decorating, caroling, ugly holiday sweaters — and specify a dress code on the invitation.

“It’s fun to have an ex-cuse to dress up,” Rollins says. “You’ll build excite-ment around the event if guests know what to expect.”

Decor should echo the theme and reinforce the style of party you want to have. But don’t feel you have to stick with a traditional holiday color palette or decorations. “Thanksgiving doesn’t have to mean orange and Christmas doesn’t have to mean red and green,” says Rollins.

Lyric Turner, the owner of Red House Staging and Interiors in Washington, D.C., suggests introduc-ing a warm color palette — burgundy, chocolate brown, purple and orange — through accent pil-lows, throws or curtains to create a festive look in an unexpected way.

Setting the stage

Whether your party is large or small, deciding where to put the guests can be tricky. Many people make the mistake of removing all the furniture

for a cocktail party, says Rollins, but it’s important to have places to sit.

“Your living space should be structured for conversation,” says Turner. She recommends creating seating clusters around the house. “Any-where you have a little extra room — an entry-way, an offi ce — you can group a few chairs around a small table.”

Rollins emphasizes the need for tables and stools spread throughout the gathering spaces.

“Pretend you’re a drink,” she says. “Where will you go?”

Setting the lights

The right lighting makes your home (and your guests) look their best.

Our experts agreed that overhead lighting has no place in a party; place lamps on multiple levels throughout your rooms, dim the lights and add candles wherever you can.

“Avoid candles by the bar and the buffet, though,” cautions Rol-lins. “You don’t want your guests going up in fl ames.”

She also suggests skip-ping scented candles because they compete with the scent of the food.

And while lighting should be low in conver-sation areas, keep bath-rooms and food areas better lit.

Setting the table

Food can make or break a party, but Rollins insists, “It’s not about what you’re

serving, it’s how it’s dis-played.”

For buffets, she suggests using smaller dishes and refi lling them frequently.

Push the dining table against the wall to create more space for mingling around the food, Turner recommends.

And a signature cocktail adds a festive touch, and can streamline bar mess and bar costs.

For dinner parties, Mindy Weiss, a Los Angeles-based party plan-ner, suggests setting the table the evening before the party.

Personalized place cards are a thoughtful touch and can be tailored to any theme. “My guests were given ‘I’m thankful for.’ nametags one Thanksgiv-ing,” Rollins says. “As I made my toast, I said, ‘I am thankful for all of you gathered with me today to celebrate the blessings we have.’ And I asked each guest to refl ect on what they were thankful for.”

Details, details

It’s the small touches that really bring your party to the next level. Turner recommends wow-ing guests with a spa-like bathroom: “Remove all your junk and replace it with a sprig of pine, a candle, new hand soap and lotion.”

Provide a stack of rolled hand towels so guests don’t have to share the same (increasingly damp) towel, Turner suggests.

If children are invited, Weiss suggests having spaces and activities avail-able to them — a table with construction paper turkeys or wreath-making kits — so parents can relax.

As for where to hang coats, Rollins recom-mends a rolling coat rack in a bedroom. “It’s so much nicer than just throwing them on the bed,” she says.

She also recommends being prepared for winter weather: “Keep salt and shovels on hand,” she cautions. “And make sure driveways and entryways are well lit.”

Above all, make guests feel welcome. Get the cleaning and chores out of the way before they get there, and “open your door to welcome your guests looking like you didn’t lift a fi nger all day,” Weiss says. “If you time things right, then you should be able to offer your guests a cocktail and conversation.”

Associated Press

A table set for a holiday dinner party from the book “Soiree: Entertaining with Style” by Danielle Rollins shows a table set for a holiday dinner party. Rollins says it’s now what you serve but how it’s displayed that makes a difference.

Holiday Parties 101: Get ready to hostBY CEDAR BURNETT

Associated Press

Associated Press

Danielle Rollins’ “Soiree: Entertaining with Style” shows a festive dish prepared for a holiday party.

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The Christmas tree is the focal point of many homes during the holiday season, so if yours is looking less than lush, here are some tips from the pros for, well, sprucing up its appear-ance.

Location, location, location

Whether your Christmas tree is real or artifi cial, placing it in the right spot can go a long way toward giving it a bountiful look. Avoid placing a thin-looking tree in front of a window or light-colored wall, which will highlight its patchy areas. Real trees should be kept away from heat sources and radiators, which can drain them of moisture and fullness.

Fluffing with flourish

Spend time fl uffi ng your tree for a more voluminous look, says Jami Warner, executive director of the American Christmas Tree Association, a California-based trade group.

She advises starting at the bottom of an artifi cial tree and working your way up, carefully adjust-ing each section as you go. To get the best coverage, tips that are closest to the center pole should be angled vertically and out to the sides to resemble a peacock’s fanned tail. Consider researching the natural bend of branches and tips that your tree should imitate.

“Modeling your tree after a photo of that style will help you ideally shape your tree,” Warner says. Her organization’s website, www.Christmastreeasso-ciation.org, has pictures to help guide in fl uffi ng.

Nourishment

Real trees should be well-nourished to keep them looking full. Some green thumbs swear by a teaspoon of brown sugar or fl at ginger ale, but War-ner says fresh tap water daily is all you need.

Dazzle with light

So you’ve placed your tree in a cozy spot, ar-ranged its base and

branches just so, and now it’s time to make it shine. Sabrina Soto, Target’s home style expert and an HGTV designer, says one of the easiest ways to give a tree life is through lighting. She recommends allotting at least 100 bulbs for every foot of height.

“A full, brightly lit, deco-rated tree gives a feeling of abundance that puts ev-eryone in a happy holiday mood,” Soto says.

A lighted garland can go far in fi lling empty space on a thin tree, she says, and creates an even warmer glow.

Add any extra lighting before you decorate with ornaments so you’re not getting them tangled up. Also, while lighting makes your tree sparkle, it also can highlight bare areas and show where orna-ments or other items may be needed to create an ample appearance.

Trimming the tree

If you’re looking to create bulk or a new look, Soto says hot ornament trends this holiday season include unconventional colors such as pinks, pur-ples and blues. Jewel tones and bright citrus hues are also popular, as are gilded and mercury ornaments that really “jazz up” a tree.

Also popular are nature themes, and upcycled or recycled items.

Karen Edenfi eld, a de-signer with Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, suggests using feathers, pine cones or artifi cial pine stems for natural-looking fi ller, or

fl oral stems and bushes for bulk, texture and color. Berry stems can be placed deep in the tree to mask gaps and give a glimpse of color. Reused and recycled items could include old sheet music, jewelry, and gift wrapping or bows.

Other trendy themes include wine and grapes; seashore; and cupcakes and other sweets. Themes can be a great fi x for sparse-looking trees: “People won’t focus as much on the tree as they will on the overall look,” Edenfi eld says.

Ribbons are another simple way to fi ll out a scraggly tree, and can be found in an array of patterns. If placed hori-zontally, they should go on after lights and before ornaments. Or use a large, multi-bow ribbon at the top of the tree with ribbon streamers hanging down for a fi nishing touch.

And decorations aren’t just for the tips of the branches. Remember to place lights, ornaments,

garlands, picks, stems and other decorations deep and outward to give more dimension.

“A full-looking tree signifi es abundance, family and warmth of the holiday season,” Warner says.

Preparing for next year

Carefully packing and storing your artifi cial tree can ensure that its needles don’t fl atten out, and will make decorating next sea-son a little easier.

Edenfi eld recommends a cool, dry storage area. Heat can shorten the life of the needles. Ideally, she says, store the tree so it doesn’t have to be crammed back into its small box.

If your artifi cial tree won’t make another holiday appearance at your house, don’t just throw it in the trash. Consider donating or recycling it, or reuse its branches as fi ller for an even more ample tree next Christmas.

Simple ways to bulk up your Christmas treeBY AMY LORENTZEN

Associated Press

Associated Press

This festive holiday room scene was crafted by Jo-Ann Fabrics in Hudson, Ohio. Placing your Christmas tree in the right location can go a long way toward making it look its best.

Associated Press

Unconventional colors and ornaments can help spruce up the appearance of your Christmas tree.

’Tis the Seasonto eat, drink, and be merry!

The cookbook will include recipes for Mocha Punch, Frozen Banana Pineapple Salad, Jalapeno Bacon Deviled Eggs and many more savory recipes just in time for the holidays.

Thank you to everyonewho submitted recipes!

Season’s Eatings!

’Tis the

Holiday Cookbook

SeasonFeaturing over

75recipes from our readers and employees

2012 edition

a special interest publication of

The Paducah Sun’s special holiday cookbook,

’Tis the Season,will publish with the Sun in early December.

paducahsun.com Current The Paducah Sun • Thursday, November 22, 2012 • 5C

NEW YORK  — This Christmas, if Ralphie ever actually does shoot his eye out with a Red Ryder BB gun, don’t worry. There’s a spare Ralphie.

Johnny Rabe and Joe West, both 12, are taking turns playing the bespec-tacled, daydreaming hero in a musical stage version of the cult fi lm “A Christ-mas Story.”

Both grew up watch-ing the 1983 movie, both initially auditioned by submitting videos and both are now making their Broadway debuts.

“It’s so great to be here,” Rabe says during a joint interview in a rehearsal room. His co-star agrees: “I’m very excited but, at the same time, nervous.”

The fi lm and musical are based on writer and radio-TV personality Jean Shepherd’s semiautobio-graphical story of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker’s desperate attempt to land an air rifl e as a Christmas gift, despite warnings from everyone that he’ll shoot his eye out.

Like the fi lm, the musi-cal features a menacing school bully, an annoying kid brother, an eccentric father, a lace-stocking-clad leg lamp, a bright pink bunny suit and a kid who gets his tongue stuck to a frozen fl agpole during a triple-dog-dare.

“It’s cool to be playing such an iconic character,” says Rabe. “I mean, a lot of people know Ralphie. They know who he is. They know the gun, the glasses, the cheesy smile, the day-

dreaming.”The show has more

than a dozen catchy songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul — titles include “Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun” and “A Major Award” — and a book by Joseph Robinette. It also stars Dan Lauria, who played the dad in “The Wonder Years.”

But the stars are really Rabe and West, who will shoulder the role of Ral-phie for as many as nine shows a week. Though West will take the bulk of the Ralphies, the boys in-

sist there’s no competition.“We both have it so it’s

going to be great,” says West, from Valencia, Calif., who has already played Oliver in “Oliver” and Jem in “To Kill a Mockingbird” in California.

“Both of us really just want to have a great time,” says Rabe, from Naper-ville, Ill., who has appeared in productions of “The Music Man” and “For the Boys” in his native state.

John Rando, the show’s director, is grateful he’s landed two Ralphies ooz-ing talent. “We’re talking

about these very young boys, but yet their confi -dence levels and their pro-fessionalism is extremely high,” he says.

West was almost born to be doing this — his parents, Maura West and Scott DeFreitas, are actors who met on the soap opera “As the World Turns.” Rabe’s parents have no connection with show business but their son has loved theater since he was 2. Both boys are being homeschooled by their moms during the show’s run.

A rough early version of the show debuted in Kan-sas City in 2009 with a dif-ferent creative team. Since then, it’s found a director in Rando (”Urinetown: The Musical”) and a cho-reographer in Warren Car-lyle (”Finian’s Rainbow”). Last year, a version with a different Ralphie went on a fi ve-city tour. That actor aged out of the role — at 13 — and a national search was launched.

Rabe knew the part since he’d been in the tour’s ensemble. Rando says the creative team had

been quietly considering the young man as a good choice one day to play Ralphie.

“When he was onstage, my eye kept drifting to him,” says Rando. “He has a kind of young, scrappy boy quality that I think fi ts the part. He’s hearty. He’s from the Midwest and that also gave him a quality that I was really interested in.”

West was cast after he submitted a video audition and was asked to come to New York to try out in person. “He had a remark-able singing voice for an 11-year-old boy. That was the thing that really perked up our interest in him,” says Rando. “He, too, has this sort of scrappy quality that I think is really right for the role.”

If ever they need inspira-tion, the boys need look no further than Peter Billing-sley, the original Ralphie, who has signed on as a producer of the musical. All three have chatted.

“We’ve been told to play our own Ralphie. He hasn’t given us a lot of advice. He’s just saying, ‘Be your own Ralphie and have a lot of fun,’” says Rabe.

Along the way, the two boys have bonded. Quick to joke around but equally serious when it comes to work, Rabe and West have learned how to tap dance and discovered that they both like fencing. They’re also earning a paycheck for being on Broadway.

How much? They’re too polite to say.

“A very nice amount for a 12-year-old,” says West with a laugh.

The 2 Ralphies in ‘A Christmas Story’ speak up

Associated Press

Joe West (left) and Johnny Rabe hold a Red Ryder BB Gun, one of the props from “A Christmas Story, the Musi-cal” in New York. Both 12-year-old boys are making their Broadway debuts playing Ralphie in the stage adaptation of the cult 1983 film.

BY MARK KENNEDYAssociated Press

NEW CASTLE, Del.  — Teddy didn’t care if the children reading to him mispronounced a word, or mistakenly skipped a page.

He seemed to care more that he was occasionally petted and stroked and that a treat appeared at the end of the story.

Teddy, a German shepherd and beagle mix, works as a therapy dog with PAWS for People, a nonprofi t that connects adults and children with pets for a variety of rea-sons, including health or education.

Both Teddy and another dog, Jasmine, a golden-doodle, were at Harry O. Eisenberg Elementary School in New Castle to serve as “reading dogs.”

The PAWS for Read-ing program sends dogs and their owners into

more than 35 schools in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to hear children read sto-ries. Students are selected to take part in the program for a variety of reasons — a reward, extra time focused on reading or to familiar-ize a child with animals.

Stephanie Barry, direc-tor of PAWS for Reading, said “a dog is a nonjudg-mental listener who will not care if the child makes mistakes.”

Eisenberg began the program in 2010, with Cassie Rogin, an English as a second language teacher, coordinating the effort.

Rogin said about 20 students participate in the program each year — about 10 students in each of two four-month long sessions.

The dogs usually visit twice a month, and each

student reads for about 10 minutes, Rogin said.

Barry said in addition to the reading program, PAWS coordinates therapy programs at hospitals and rehabilita-tion centers, and also has programs working with autistic children. She said there are more than 300 therapy teams of pets and owners within PAWS, and each undergoes at least 14 hours of training before they begin visits.

Special dogs help kids learn to readAssociated Press

NEW YORK — If the holidays still seem a long way off, you clearly haven’t done much television channel surfi ng lately.

The Hallmark channel has already begun two months of wall-to-wall holiday programming. Lifetime has ramped up its seasonal selections with 10 new made-for-TV movies, the fi rst one airing last weekend. ABC Fam-ily’s annual “25 Days of Christmas” programming isn’t enough, so they do a “Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas,” which started Nov. 18.

This is in addition to all the old favorites, from Charlie Brown to Frosty the Snowman, that will fi ll broadcast network schedules during the next month.

An already popular tele-vision genre is growing in power, judging by the 22 new movies Hallmark and Lifetime are rolling out between them, and a new Disney holiday musical.

“This is a strategy that developed naturally from demand,” said Rob Sharenow, executive vice president of programming at the Lifetime networks. “It’s really giving people what they want.”

A sneak preview of the movie “Christmas Song” on Hallmark Nov. 3 was a hit that left the network second behind ESPN in cable viewership at that time, the Nielsen company said. Hallmark’s 2006 movie, “The Christmas Card,” is still the network’s most-watched original movie and will be repeated again this season.

“Others try and emulate and replicate and copy what we do, but because of our brand, no one can do it like we do,” said Bill Ab-

bott, president and CEO of the Hallmark Channels.

Lifetime’s aggressive investment makes it the relative newcomer in this area. The longtime maker of TV movies that appeal to women is coming off its biggest success in years, October’s “Steel Magnolia” remake with Queen Lati-fah, which surprised even network executives with its potency.

Its movies feature Mira Sorvino, Shelley Long, George Wendt and Lea Thompson. Wendt and Long play Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus as they’re about to meet their future daughter-in-law, Ralph Macchio is a former dance champion who comes back to win a Christmas Eve dance contest, and Thompson is featured in “Love at the Christmas Table.”

Happy endings abound. Don’t expect any holiday shootouts.

Beyond the new origi-nals, Lifetime is airing more than 50 seasonal fi lms, the biggest commit-ment in its history.

“In the times we’re in, people want to feel good,” Sharenow said. “People

are defi nitely gravitating toward feel-good escapism and having fun and that’s what these movies do. They’re like little Christ-mas gifts.”

Hallmark is a natural for holiday programming. This is the fourth year that the network essentially shuts down its regular programming for two full months to devote itself to the genre. The holiday focus began on Nov. 9 and ends Jan. 2.

There’s a risk both in overkill and having fans get out of the habit of watching the network’s regular shows, Abbott said, “but we have found over the years that our viewers really look forward to it and really want it.”

Hallmark’s original mov-ies are premiering every Saturday and Sunday night heading into Christmas.

ABC Family’s holiday focus is primarily on mov-ies that started in theaters, like “Home Alone” and “Elf.” Its own production is “The Mistle-Tones,” about a woman who creates her own Christmas singing group after being turned down for a spot in a well-known group.

Holidays a cable TV industryBY DAVID BAUDER

Associated Press

Associated Press

Tori Spelling stars in “The Mistle-Tones.” The special is part of the ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas” pro-gramming.

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6C • Thursday, November 22, 2012 • The Paducah Sun Current paducahsun.com

DETROIT — When Stephany Watkins entered Christian Tabernacle Church in Southfi eld, Mich., last month to get some free clothing, the 55-year-old Detroit woman — recently unemployed — was expecting what she had seen at other centers for people in need: a table full of old clothes or maybe crumpled bags of gar-ments.

But inside the church was a boutique that looked more like the women’s clothing section of a department store. Name-brand suit jackets like Anne Klein hung on racks. Designer shoes were tastefully arrayed near the entrance. And two atten-dants with wide smiles attended to her, listening to her needs.

After trying on several outfi ts, Watkins left with a black chiffon dress with ruffl es coupled with a pair of shoes with rhinestones — all packed in tissue paper in department store-like bags.

“It didn’t feel like hand-me downs,” Watkins said. “They made me feel like, this is just for you. … It was like you were in an expensive store.”

Called Legacy Cloth-ing Boutique, the new program began in May at the nondenominational congregation with about 5,000 members. It’s just one example of the push to preserve the dignity of those less fortunate while providing crucial assis-tance. There are thou-sands of places that have long given the poor and homeless free clothes. But churches and nonprofi ts are working to make the experience more pleasant as many continue to face economic challenges.

It’s the small things that can make a big differ-ence — the way clothes are arranged, how people are greeted and even the bags the clothes are placed in, according to those who work with people in need. At Christian Tabernacle, the goal is not only to help women with cloth-ing needs, but boost their self-esteem. In the corner of the boutique is a box of Kleenex because some women who get clothes there start crying, so moved by the experience.

“They’re not expecting what they see and experi-ence here,” Judy Miller, coordinator at Legacy Clothing Boutique, said. “Every woman has a heart and deserves to be treated with dignity.”

With many people living on the economic edge, the demand for such services is high. In some cases, the women’s clothes are paired with job services aimed at

helping women get back into the workforce. At Jackets for Jobs, a Detroit nonprofi t, and churches such as Fort Street Pres-byterian in Detroit, career

services are provided along with suit jackets and blouses.

Inside what used to be a gymnasium at the Presby-terian church, Benjamin Ogden of Oak Park, Ill., points to a rack of clothing that’s for needy and home-less people.

“We try to duplicate some sense of a retail es-tablishment,” says Ogden, director of a social services program at the church. “We keep the dignity as high as possible. Here, it doesn’t feel like you’re going to a clothing bank and being handed a bag of clothes. We have people who work with the guests one on one, to help them match clothes, shirts with

suit jackets.”In 1967, the church

started the Open Door, which provides an ar-ray of services for about 500 people every week. As part of that, a weekly program called Career Closet focuses on those seeking jobs, offering them dress clothes, along with interview and résumé as-sistance.

About 85 percent of the roughly 30 needy people in that program are women. And, like other centers, “We get a lot more wom-en’s clothing donated than men’s clothing” because women are often more likely to get rid of old clothes, said Ogden.

The set-up inside the

Presbyterian church is not as upscale as the South-fi eld boutique, but it’s more inviting than what you would fi nd in other places that serve homeless people. There are books in the corner that people can borrow, and a barber’s chair in another where they can get free haircuts. It’s important, said Ogden, to give people options; this helps them feel a sense of control.

“We help them go through the racks to fi nd what fi ts their needs best. … It feels like you’ve got-ten care, not a service,” he said.

SeQuanda Baker, 37, of Detroit, who bounces from home to home with her fi ve sons, also visited the Southfi eld church last month after hearing about it through a friend. She got three pairs of shoes, a Gucci purse, pants, a black wool skirt and a “purple sweater that I fell in love with.” The assistants en-couraged her to try cloth-ing with more color.

“They helped me change the style of clothing that I usually wear, which is a good thing,” said Baker. “And they give you a boutique bag,” she added. “It wasn’t a grocery bag, a garbage bag. … I had a smile on my face.”

Churches help folks bounce back with clothingBY NIRAJ WARIKOO

McClathcy-Tribune News Service

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Stephany Watkins (center) receives bags of clothing from Legacy Boutique, a new clothing store organized by members at Christian Tabernacle Church in Southfield, Mich. The boutique aims to provide a quality shopping experience for women who need clothing.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Stephany Watkins, 55, looks at a casual suit at Legacy Boutique, a new clothing store organized by church members at Christian Tabernacle Church.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Various jewelry and accessories are on display at Lega-cy Boutique in Southfield, Mich.

For the Kent family of Amherst, N.H., getting dressed for the holidays of-ten means lacing up hiking boots or buckling a helmet. For the last 11 years, they have made a tradition of spending many Thanks-givings, Christmases and Easters at a national park doing something active.

Many Americans fi nd holiday breaks an ideal time to pursue fi tness-oriented activities, from holiday-themed races to just exercising together.

“More communities are offering family-oriented events. It just creates another opportunity to create lasting memories,” said Cheryl Richardson, senior director of pro-grams for the American Al-liance for Health, Physical

Education, Recreation and Dance, in Reston, Va.

The Kents’ children — Tanner, 18, and Peyton, 16 — have explored caves in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, hiked glaciers in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska and rock-climbed in Yosemite National Park in California.

“People associate holi-days with a sit-down meal like Easter ham or Thanks-giving turkey,” said their mom, Lisa Kent. “We were replacing it with hiking or an outdoor adventure.”

Myrna Ryti and her family still enjoy a Thanks-giving meal but they do it after running or walking in the Huffi ng for Stuffi ng Thanksgiving Day Run held in Bozeman, Mont.

“It makes for a wonder-ful way for a family to start the day,” said Ryti, who

runs the 5-kilometer race with her daughter and son-in-law. Other members of the family, including her 4-year-old grandson, walk the course.

Running a 5K also can make you feel less guilty about eating sweet potato pie, said Christy Rezabek, who runs the Turkey Trot race with her husband, Doug, every year in Hunts-ville, Ala.

“We get up and run. We know we’re going to be eat-ing bunches of junk food,” she said.

She and her family were preparing for the St. Jude Research Hospital’s annual marathon, in Memphis on Dec. 1. The race, which attracts some runners in Christmas-themed cloth-ing, is normally scheduled between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Doug Rezabek plans to

run the full marathon, his wife the half marathon and their three children the 5K. And they’re motivated by more than fi tness: Christy Rezabek’s daughter, Lakelee Leach, 8, has been treated for cancer at the hospital.

“St. Jude’s does so much,” Christy said. “We wanted to give back.”

Many families are grate-ful for opportunities to exercise together at the holidays, said Jerry Bocci, whose family has orga-nized a New Year’s Eve run in Belle Isle Park in Detroit since 1970. Families come out in all kinds of weather to participate in the 5K or children’s run.

“The kids have a good time in the sometimes snow, sometimes sleet,” he said. “When you look out over the crowd, there are a lot of smiles.”

Sweat before sweets: fitness for the holidaysBY MELISSA KOSSLER

DUTTONAssociated Press

paducahsun.com Current The Paducah Sun • Thursday, November 22, 2012 • 7C

NEW YORK — Melody Campbell-Goeken remem-bers taking her son to see “The Nutcracker” for the fi rst — and as it turned out last — time when he was 5 years old, at the Municipal Auditorium in San Anto-nio, Texas.

“As soon as he saw the giant rats and mice, he yelled loudly, ‘I’m outta here!’ and fl ed the aisle,” his mom recalled. “That was the end of that highly expensive family memory. I suppose I should have prepared him much, much better.”

Indeed, many moments in “The Nutcracker” are potentially confusing and sometimes even upset-ting to young children: the Christmas tree growing tall, Clara’s sorrow over her broken nutcracker doll, Uncle Drosselmeyer with his vaguely sinister eye patch, and, yes, life-size mice and toy soldiers engaging in battle. Later, as the ballet becomes less plot-driven and more of a spectacle showcasing the costumes, orchestra and dancing, children may become restless or bored.

Of course, no adult goes to see “The Nutcracker” without recognizing that the audience will be full of children who may never have seen a ballet or live performance before. There’s more tolerance than usual for fi dgeting and maybe even the oc-casional outburst.

But if you’re planning on taking a child to see the ballet this holiday, there are things you can do to prepare. Familiarizing children with the story, the music and audience etiquette can make the outing more enjoyable for all. Here are some tips.

Share the story, don’t spoil the magic

Larry Attaway, chairman of the dance department at Butler University in Indianapolis, says it helps if children understand that “the whole fi rst part of ‘The Nutcracker’ is real, but when Clara falls asleep,

the rest of it is entirely her dream, and sometimes dreams are scary, some-times dreams are beauti-ful, and sometimes dreams are really strange.”

Butler’s classical bal-let program invites 4,000 public school children to attend a full-length performance of “The Nutcracker” each year, and the college supplies teachers with material beforehand to help kids understand what they’ll be seeing. “Nutcracker” prep

includes not just telling the plot, but also explaining that “the things that were under the tree in Act I all come to life in one way or another” during the rest of the show, Attaway said.

Parents at home can fi nd online summaries of the story and video excerpts. Just make sure they know that, as with many fairy tales, it ends happily: Clara wakes from her dream with her family, her doll and her magical memories.

But don’t show a DVD of

the entire ballet at home. “Save the movie for after-ward so you don’t spoil the magical fun of their fi rst ‘Nutcracker’ experience that could go on to become an annual tradition,” said Tauna Hunter, director of the Mercyhurst University dance program in Erie, Pa.

Etiquette, the acts and acting your age

Attaway says kids have one part of audience behavior down pat: “At

the end of the dance, you applaud. They’ve got that nailed down.” But other aspects of theater etiquette — being quiet, sitting still — must be taught.

Most kids are captivated by the fi rst act, with its well-defi ned characters and dramatic moments, like the party where Clara’s brother misbehaves and breaks her toy nutcracker, or the sword fi ght with the mouse king.

“There’s so much going on that it keeps them very much enthralled,” said Attaway. While they might vocalize a reaction, they probably won’t be bored.

It’s harder to maintain attention as the ballet progresses. “As a parent and director, I found that young children have a dif-fi cult time getting through the pas de deux (dance for two) toward the end of Act II,” said Hunter.

If your kids hit a wall and can’t settle down, “feel free to leave. Don’t make it torture,” said Attaway. Better to enjoy part of the show and go than to suffer through the whole thing,

admonishing a squirmy little body to “Sit still!” while disturbing others.

Still, if they make it through the pas de deux, there’s a payoff. “The fi nale will get them excited again and ready to go home dreaming of sugar plums,” said Hunter.

Many versions of the classic

If your child isn’t ready for a traditional, full-length version of the classical bal-let, you may be able to fi nd an abridged performance, a dance school offering highlights or even a puppet show with dialogue. There are also alternate versions set in the present and even “Nutcracker on Ice” shows. Make sure kids know that the production they see might differ from the story they read.

Some dance companies have events for kids with souvenirs and backstage tours. The Houston Ballet hosts a party of cookies and punch where children can meet performers and take pictures with them.

How to prepare kids to see their first NutcrackerBY BETH J. HARPAZ

Associated Press

Associated Press

Garrett Glassman, now with the Milwaukee Ballet, and Mai Uesaka, now with the Montgomery, Ala., Ballet, dance the pas de deux from “The Nutcracker” at Butler Ballet in Clowes Hall, in Indianapolis in 2011. Butler’s ballet program invites public school children to see “The Nutcracker” each year and sends teachers materials be-forehand to help them familiarize kids with the story and other aspects of the ballet.

Associated Press

Dancers perform a scene from Butler Ballet’s produc-tion of “The Nutcracker” in Indianapolis.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  —Tasty tomatoes can be hard to come by, but scien-tists are starting to unravel clues about how to put the fl avor back into one of the nation’s most beloved vegetables.

Professor Harry Klee of the University of Florida’s horticultural sciences department discovered the gene that helps fi lter the enzymes, or proteins, that make a tomato taste sweet and juicy instead of watery.

“Most people feel that the quality of the supermarket tomato leaves much to be desired. What we want to do is in a nutshell help the breeders make a better-tasting tomato,” Klee said. “In order to do that, we have to identify the genes that control the compo-nents of fl avor.”

The gene that Klee recently discovered, called CXE1, controls a protein by the same name that triggers chemical reactions in a tomato that remove its bad-tasting compounds.

“There’s a huge range of fl avor components out there in the tomato world. Our goal is to identify the best versions of these genes,” Klee said. “Our ul-timate goal is to assemble

a tool kit for the breeder.”Klee compares the pro-

cess of selecting for good tomatoes to the Human Genome Project, which identifi es genes that make people susceptible to cer-tain diseases.

Another potential outcome of the Human Genome Project, albeit a controversial one, is the ability to select good genes for positive traits — in other words, to potentially design people.

“We’re doing the same with plants,” Klee said. “We’re giving the breeder the genetic tools to pick out the best versions that he or she needs.”

Breeders have tradition-ally focused on external factors that infl uence taste such as soil quality or disease-resistant vines, Klee added. “What we’re trying to do is give (breed-ers) the ability to go back 100 years. The fl avor was always there,” Klee said. “We just lost it because we haven’t been able to select for it.”

One of the challenges to making a good-tasting tomato is meeting year-round market demand. “It’s hard to get a good tomato into the market-place 12 months a year,” said Jay Scott, a professor in horticulture department

at UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education in Wimauma.

Not all tomato growers are trying to get a better breed, however. Rusty Ludlam, a farmer from Suwannee County who sells tomatoes and other vegetables at Alachua County farmers markets, said the tomatoes he grows taste just as good as the to-matoes he grew up eating from his parents’ two-acre garden decades ago.

Ludlam said store-bought tomatoes have lost their fl avor because people pick them prematurely and refrigerate them during shipping.

“They ripen and get soft. That’s why they don’t ship very well,” said Ludlam, adding that Heirlooms were later bred for fi rm-ness to be shipped.

And now that scientists are trying to turn back the clock and breed Heirlooms and other tomatoes back to their original form, Lud-lam pointed out, “You’ve still got to ship them.”

And that may be a later challenge. But for now, “The challenge is to put the fl avor back into something the commercial grower will actually want to grow,” Klee said. “Prices will fall, so everyone can buy toma-toes year-round.”

School finds key to tastier tomatoBY KRISTINE CRANE

Associated Press

Associated Press

Mary Ludlam stocks her pro-duce booth with tomatoes from Dogwood Lane Farm at the Union Street Farmer’s Market in downtown Gaines-ville, Fla.

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8C • Thursday, November 22, 2012 • The Paducah Sun Current paducahsun.com

In past years, we would have started talking to you about online shopping for the holidays a few days before Thanksgiving.

But as your email inbox and visits to stores may have already told you, on-line holiday shopping deals kicked off around Hal-loween. And the shopping frenzy we’ve come to know as Black Friday is now a seasonal marathon that stretches past Christmas all the way to New Year’s Day.

So it’s not just your imagination that the shopping season feels increasingly protracted. And the trend’s not going away. Online shopping sales for November and December are expected to reach $54.5 billion, a 16.8 percent increase over 2011, according to research fi rm eMarketer, which is closely tracking holiday trends.

The ways people are online shopping are also changing dramatically and 2012 may be the tipping point for a few new options that were just starting to gather steam last holiday season. This year, you can expect to see more people shopping by smart phone and tablet via apps, more deals tied to popular social networks like Pinter-est and Instagram, more widespread daily deals from online and traditional retailers, and some new tricks for hardcore deal hunters looking to save some extra dollars.

Here’s a short guide on what to expect.

■ Price matching and same-day shipping. Brick-and-mortar retailers used to whine that online sellers like Amazon were destroying their busi-ness with lowball pricing and by urging shoppers with smartphones to use brick-and-mortar stores as showcases, then buy-ing online. This year, the gloves are off. Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Nordstrom and others are offering to match prices against online retailers and offer-ing options like same-day shipping and in-store pickup to level the playing fi eld.

■ Shopping by phone and by tablet. The whole concept of Cyber Monday came from bored of-fi ce workers using their employers’ fast Internet connections to get their Christmas shopping done online. A surpris-ing amount of shopping, though, is now shifting away from the computer desktop and onto phones and, in particular, tablets like the iPad. SteelHouse, a research fi rm, says that in a survey it conducted of 300 U.S. shoppers, 52 percent of owners say they plan to spend more money this year using their tablets for holiday shopping.

Using mobile devices while shopping has a few clear advantages. You can compare prices with other stores while you’re shop-ping in person, look up reviews of sale items like HDTVs or video games, or double-check a loved one’s shopping list if they keep it online. Apps and mobile web sites are also useful for getting product recom-mendations or checking store inventory.

Retailer apps and mobile-friendly web sites in general have greatly improved over the clunky, slow interfaces of the past and so have our mobile Internet speeds.

This year may also mark a change in the way people use coupons with mobile devices. Coupons.com,

Valpak, Target and Wal-greens, among others, are using Apple’s “Passbook” app on newer mobile de-vices to make mobile cou-pons easier to keep track of and scannable in stores.

You can also expect mobile device shopping to be popular when people sit down for Thanksgiving. Jeffrey Grau of eMar-keter wryly observed in a research webinar, “People are bringing their smart-phones and tablets with them to their Thanksgiv-

ing dinner at friends’ or relatives’ homes and using their mobile devices to shop before and after the Thanksgiving meal.”

■ Bargain hunters have new tools. Websites like Slickdeals and FatWallet for bargain-hunting shop-pers have gotten increas-ingly mainstream over the last few years and have ex-panded into social media, apps, and in the case of FatWallet, even a cashback rewards program.

That’s something you can

expect to see more this year from credit card companies and upstarts like Shopkick and MyPoints in addition to retailers. Loyalty pro-grams sometimes offer as much as double-digit per-centages for money back on what you buy or store credit toward buying items later on like Buy.com’s Ra-kuten points program.

Some of the more shop-ping-friendly social media services have also gotten into the act. Users on the aspirational site Pinter-

est are being wooed by retailers who fi gured out that Pinners tend to spend more than other custom-ers. The photo-sharing site Instagam has also become a place for brands to con-nect with customers.

For heavy online shop-pers who have to deal with lots of packages, we’ve been intrigued by one new product, Elephantrunk parcel drop, a secure box to send and receive pack-ages from your front door. It works with major pack-

age delivery services and is being sold in a test run through Home Depot.

■ Our advice. That’s a lot of information to digest, but you can take away this: seek deals both online and in stores, stick to trusted re-tailers and online deal sites, and pace yourself. Many of the best online deals may not be available until after Thanksgiving. And all those deals happening after Christmas? It’s never too early to get started on your shopping for 2013.

Holiday online shopping started early; here’s what to expectBY OMAR L. GALLAGA

McClatchy News Service