Hilltowns Senior News for Friday, January 29, 2016

“The whole nine yards.” It means all of it, with nothing left over, but why do we say it?

History buffs, pay attention! It may come from World War I, referring to the length of a belt of ammunition for the British Vickers machine gun. If you gave the enemy the whole nine yards, you had fired all of your bullets, until there weren’t any more.

Another interesting possibility comes from the days of square-rigged sailing ships, where nine yards was the total number of horizontal “yards” on which sails were hung. Three yards on each of three masts, would equal nine yards. The jury is still out, but those are two of my favorite theories.

How about all you Yankees out there? Originally, it was Jan Kaas, a slang term for a Hollander (translated, it means “John Cheese,” rather like our “Joe Sixpack.”) After immigrating to America, the Dutch used the term to refer to the English who were moving into Connecticut, north of New Amsterdam (now New York). 

It meant any northern neighbor who was disliked. The English, in turn, used the phrase to refer to any American colonist. To add to the insult, they made up a song jeering at the colonists’ shabby clothing, and singing that a putting a feather in his cap made him think that he was a dandy (the Macaronis were a group of highly fashionable, overdressed gentlemen back in England).

A bazooka is a portable, smoothbore weapon used to fire armor-piercing rockets, but its origin, like so many other things, was on the farm.  Bazookas were funnel-shaped devices for planting small seeds or adding fertilizer to a furrow.

The seed was carried in a shoulder bag, and the bazooka’s three-foot-long tube would dribble the material into the ground in a fine stream. Radio comedian Bob Burns modified it into a horn, which he would periodically play on his popular show.

Another habit that I always thought started with the military is the naming of things by creating an acronym out of the first few letters of its title, like Radio Detection And Ranging, or RADAR.  Turns out that it’s even older than that, and started with firefighters.

Pay attention, all you Anne Rice and “Twilight” fans! The original VAMPS were members of the Voluntary Association of Master Pumpers in the mid-1800s.  The current meaning didn’t come along until about 70 years later, in 1914, when the actress Theda Bara played a seductive vampire in the movie “A Fool There Was.”

So, fellow vamps (whichever you choose), we have next week’s scrumptious lunch menu from Helderberg Senior Services, and a few reminders:  Doors for lunch open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served promptly at noon. 

The Hilltown Seniors will meet on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Senior Center on Helderberg Trail. The 10:30 a.m. meeting will be followed by a potluck lunch. 

Menu

Upcoming events at the Senior Lunch program include another basket-making class, bingo on Feb. 19, and a speaker about emergency push-button alert systems. Dates will be announced as soon as we know them. Of course, we have games and cards on Mondays and Tuesdays, and lively music by Nancy Frueh on Fridays.

—  Monday, Feb. 1: Baked ziti, tossed sald with romaine, whole-wheat bread, milk, and applesauce;

—  Tuesday, Feb. 2: Open face turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, whole-wheat stuffing, milk, and vanilla pudding; and

— Friday, Feb. 5: Chicken Florentine, brown rice, California blend vegetables, pineapple juice, whole-wheat bread, milk, and oatmeal cookie.

 Please call 24 hours in advance to 872-9400 to reserve lunch.  Email , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number.  

We could use a few more volunteers to fill in for our snowbirds who have temporarily flown the coop. If you’d like to come and help out, give Mary Moller a call at 861-6253, or email her at , and put “volunteer” in the subject line. 

Lunches are prepared by our new and talented provider, Senior Services of Albany, with support from the Albany County Department of Aging. The Hilltown Senior Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.

 

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