You know it’s almost Halloween when the road to the Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence, N.Y. is backed up with vehicles carrying big -- very big -- pumpkins. The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] reports that Scott Andrusz of Williamsville, NY has a leg up in the competition; his 2,554 pound gourd certainly makes it the biggest in the U.S. thus far. But it’s kind of a lightweight when compared to the 2,702 pound pumpkin an Italian farmer grew in 2021, winning the still standing Guinness World Record.

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Popcorn lovers rejoice: October is National Popcorn Poppin’ Month, a seasonal celebration of one of America’s oldest and most beloved snack foods. As farmers head into the fields to harvest crops, families and friends gather to honor this ever-popular treat.

Archive Photo OCESD#1 volunteer firefightyer Larry Williams and his wife Holly pose on the downtown Dallas street in front of the Renaissance Tower on the Saturday morning before the 9/11 anniversary. Larry climbed the stairwell of the 55-story building twice in remembrance of New York City fireghter Scott Larsen who died trying to rescue people afterthe attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

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Every occupation has a vocabulary of its own; those whose business is to keep track of the weather are no exception, says the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. They come up with what is known as “wacky weather words” every once in a while. Take the term “frog strangler.” Meteorologists down south in 1870 are said to have come with the term when describing a particularly heavy downpours. More recently, just a couple of years ago, a meteorologist in Texas, Reed Timmer, dreamed up the term 'Gorilla Hail' when he reported a particularly nasty hail storm. And 'Bear's Cage' was first used to describe a tornado in the 1996 movie Twister.

The Stark Museum of Art is excited to announce the return of our SMA Playdate program for children ages 5 and under and their grown-ups beginning Friday, September 9, 2022! This FREE monthly program is held on the first Friday of the month from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. in the Walter G. Riedel III Education Center at the Stark Museum of Art.

Sam Houston State University students and faculty embarked on a unique journey to Bangladesh this summer in response to a prestigious RO1 grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH). A five-year grant, secured in 2021, has allowed Principal Investigator and Associate Professor Khalid Khan of the Department of Population Health and his colleagues determine how environmental metals impact the brain health of young children using a study population from rural Bangladesh.

It gets hot and humid in New York City come summertime but the city’s most prolific inhabitants -- its squirrels -- have found a way to keep cool, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. It’s called “splooting.” There they are on their stomachs on the cool ground, limbs spread out in the coolest possible position. Lest you think the words “sploot” and “splooting” are the result of someone’s overactive imagination, check out the definition at Dictionary. com: “Sploot” is slang for the pose four-legged animals make when lying down in that position. It makes for a good snapshot and New Yorkers have been flooding online social media sites with iPhone pictures of splooting squirrels all summer long.