December 3, 2006
Articles from a monthly community newspaper.
This article was in the November 1, 2006 issue of a local monthly newspaper I write. The paper is not quite a year old. I started it with 150 copies, free to the public, supported by local advertisement. In August I printed 300 copies of the 18 page paper and two days later had to print another 100 copies. I mailed 27 of those copies to past residents and 43 were sent via email. The community it is produced for has a population of 437.
It is also notable that after the first issue was released the newspaper has been operating well under the budget offered by the advertising. As it is sponsored by a non-profit organization it has actually made money that is used to winterize the homes of the elderly and pay utility bills for those that find themselves on hard times. I am quite proud of it.
Turkey Dinner
We just have to be different. Most periodicals that you will encounter this month will have loads of holiday recipes, decorating ideas, gift ideas and heartwarming stories that recall holidays past. Not us.
The unique thing about the ‘Neelyville Star’ is that we strive to bring community awareness to our readers. That’s fine in and of itself, however, we feel that we need to keep you informed in other areas as well.
I have done a bit of research and discovered that some enterprising group has also done some research. In a comparison of hospital records throughout the United States, this group learned that there is an average 12% increase in the occurrences of death due to natural causes on Thanksgiving and Christmas. For the days after the two holidays that figure rises to between 14 – 18%.
David Phillips, a University of California, San Diego sociologist, who was the lead researcher in this study states, “The most plausible explanation we’ve found so far is that people seem to be postponing medical care until after the holidays,” Phillips said. “Also, when people travel during the holidays,” he said, “they are less able to find medical care because they are in strange territory.”
Dr. Phillips also stated that these statistics increase by 5% with each passing decade. As the study was made in 1999 that would place the percentage for this year at around 17-21% for the days following this 2006 holiday season.
There is good news. It seems that these statistics did not apply to the years of 1973 and 1981. Why? Inflated fuel prices kept folks at home.
The high price of fuel may actually save Uncle Bubba’s (or your own) life this year. If however you do happen to travel to Grandma’s this holiday season, keep in mind that you don’t want to bother the family with a visit by the ambulance crew.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to listen to your body. It doesn’t care that you have looked forward to this gathering of family for a long time. When it hurts it hurts. When it is sick it is sick
Inspirational Word Arts 