Archive for the ‘Tea Party’ Category

Guest author talks history of green tea – Daily Trojan Online

Wake Forest University associate professor of history Robert Hellyers book talk marks the first in person talk for the Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religious and Culture since the pandemic. (Polina Past | Daily Trojan)

Robert Hellyer, author and associate professor of history at Wake Forest University, discussed his new book Green with Milk and Sugar: When Japan Filled Americas Tea Cups at Doheny Memorial Library Monday. Hellyers book navigates a dedicated history to green tea and provides a personal narration of his familys tea-processing factories.

The event, co-sponsored by USC Libraries, the USC Department of History and green tea company ITO EN North America marks the first in-person talk for the Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture since March 2020.

Hellyer, whose family shares a personal relationship with tea through their tea processing factories in the Japanese port cities of Shizuoka and Kobe, said his maternal grandmother reserved green tea for guests and coffee for Hellyer because green tea was a sophisticated, elevated beverage.

As my grandmother and I sat on lawn chairs savoring the aroma of freshly cut grass, she often talked of her time in Japan in the early 1930s as the wife of a tea merchant, wrote Hellyer in his book. Much of what propelled me to write this book was a desire to delve beyond the anecdotes from those summer days and to learn more about the worlds of my grandmothers.

Tea classifications, Hellyer said, can be discerned by oxidation levels and is categorized as green tea subcategorized into sencha, bancha and matcha oolong tea and black tea, the latter the most oxidized of the teas. Hellyer said there is a presupposition that America has no standard tea conduct, but green tea was at the center of it.

Many American families, particularly young girls, will be encouraged to have a tea set or have tea time, but we dont have coffee time in the same way, Hellyer said. Starbucks has its own nice, everyday elegance, but its not the sophistication.

Tea consumption patterns in the 1850s demonstrated that American consumers and even former United States presidents continued to drink green tea following the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution, Hellyer said. Sentiment for green tea didnt wane until the postwar era, when anti-Japanese and anti-Chinese views spawned from propaganda.

While Britons preferred black teas, after 1800, in the United States, green tea came to hold an aura of sophistication and was more widely consumed, Hellyer said. Green tea was sold at higher prices than black tea.

Indian Ceylon, a competitor to Japan Tea the first national brand of green tea in the U.S. sought to sell its black tea to the U.S. market following a successful introduction into British society. Indian Ceylon altered Americans tastes from green to black teas with a strategy that involved negative advertising with racist overtones presenting both Japanese and Chinese green teas as dirty, dangerous and fraudulent, Hellyer said.

These advertisements had some impact in reducing American consumption of Japanese green tea but not immediately, Hellyer said. Thats because the war disrupted Indian Ceylon exports, so Japan was able to export more tea to Britain and other European markets.

In bolstering black teas reputation, Indian Ceylon contended that their tea was better quality because it was picked and refined by white individuals, which had long-term impacts on American consumption of Japanese green tea, Hellyer said.

Rebecca Corbett, co-head of the East Asian Library, associate University librarian and moderator of the event, said that, amid rising anti-Asian hate regarding coronavirus origins, conversations about historical instances of anti-Japanese and anti-Chinese perception that parallel modern trends are crucial to observing positive examples of interaction between North America and Asian countries.

A lot of Japanese Americans found it difficult, initially, to live in America and to not have that negative associations because of their heritage, Corbett said. We are looking at the economic and cultural history of tea as a product in America the popularity of it over time and peoples image of Japan and how that can be bound up in Japan as a branding symbol.

Lindsay O Neill, who attended the lecture with students from her General Education Seminar in Social Analysis: Drunk History, or How Beverages Changed the World class, said beverages can tell a significant story about Westward expansion and colonization facilitated by corporations.

Its a smaller way to look at these long term changes, said ONeill, an associate professor of history at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Hopefully, it makes people think, and USC students think more critically about whats on their plate.

Issay Matsumoto, who asked a question about advertisements role of promoting sencha as a health product to stimulate export numbers, said he attended the talk because of his intrigue with tea, which stems from his desire to learn about Japanese products influence in Asian markets.

Depending on the geopolitics of the time, tea can be culturally valued or devalued depending on its origin, Matsumoto said. From the experience, Matsumoto drew takeaways about consumption and production patterns across waters from Hellyers research and personal anecdotes.

You can tell histories close to you because the speakers own family history is linked to this. So, you can tell stories about your own family in really big, interesting ways, Matsumoto said.

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Guest author talks history of green tea - Daily Trojan Online

Luttrell Barn to host open mic night, tea in April – Craig Press

As the COVID-19 pandemic eases and many people return to the activities they enjoyed before all of the closures and cancelations, two fun upcoming events are planned for the Luttrell Barn in Craig.

On April 20, the Luttrell Barn Cultural Center will play host to an open mic night from 6-9 p.m. The open mic night is a chance for musicians to take the stage, and donations will be accepted with proceeds going to support continued work and upgrades at the barn. Anyone interested in playing on open mic night should call Dave Payton at 970-819-4011 for details.

Then from 2-4 p.m. April 24, the cultural center will offer Tea at the Barn, an event that happened annually every year until it had to be canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Now that Tea at the Barn is back, tickets are $20 for adults or $100 for a table of six. Children age 12 and under are free. Tickets can be found at Downtown Books or at the door. For more, call 970-757-2276.

The tea was one of our first fundraising projects to save the barn, recalled Mary Lou Allen, a board member for the Luttrell Barn Cultural Center.

She added that there was so much work to do at the barn in years past, they couldnt hold the tea party there and had to rent space at a local hotel. Thats not the case anymore.

Built in 1910, the Luttrell Barn was originally intended to house livestock, tack and feed. The Luttrell family bought the barn in the 1930s, and the Luttrells daughter donated it to the arts and humanities foundation in Craig in the 1970s.

After 75 years in its original location, the barn was moved to 411 Emerson St. For 30 more years the barn was busy with theatrical events, art galleries and community events. The barn eventually fell into disrepair and was in danger of being torn down.

Several years passed while community members worked to save the Luttrell Barn. In 2016 and 2017, the Luttrell Barn Cultural Center Foundation received its nonprofit status, and after months of repairs and clean up, the barn was reopened for community use.

The barn comes equipped with audio and video systems, and has internet connections, so there are a variety of events that can now be accommodated there. The barns rich history and new systems only serve to make it a wonderful local events venue, Allen added.

Its really quite a nice events center, and people really do enjoy it a lot, she said.

Allen explained that the Lutrell Barn Cultural Center envisions holding regular fundraising events inside the historic barn like the upcoming open mic night, perhaps every month or so, as a way to welcome people into the barn. She hopes the events will help to show off the space and raise a little money for its continued upkeep, utilities and other improvements. One project on the horizon would install an elevator so that everyone can have access to the barns loft.

The regular events could run a wide range of offerings, be it a dance, comedy skit or another fun happening, Allen said.

The barn is also available for rent. Prices and more details are available online at TheLuttrellBarn.com/.

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Luttrell Barn to host open mic night, tea in April - Craig Press

Afternoon tea hosted for Power of the Purse auction winner – Jefferson City News Tribune

Hats were donned, tea was poured, glasses clinked and laughter rang out as Barbara Kalberloh hosted afternoon tea Saturday for the first time in two years.

Kalberloh attended a meeting about five years ago at the Greenbrier Hotel, which hosted tea daily. It inspired her to try putting on tea parties of her own.

"I've always loved hats, and I love good china ... and somebody was talking about fundraisers, and I thought, 'What could I do?' And I thought, 'I'm going to have tea parties,'" she said.

That all came to a screeching halt when the COVID-19 pandemic began, but as case numbers abate, the tea parties can resume.

This particular tea party was an auction item at the Power of the Purse, which benefited United Way.

Elizabeth Sheehan bought the item because she thought it would be a fun, unique experience for her family. She brought a daughter, nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law and mother-in-law along.

"As a mom, you don't necessarily get a lot of fun time to dress up or spend one-on-one time with your kiddos, so it's a fun opportunity. Of course, it's nothing we've done before. This is not what you do everyday," she said.

It's not everyday you wear a colorful wide-brimmed hat, either.

Kalberloh displayed her collection of hats and let each guest choose a hat to wear for the afternoon. There were a few that would fit children, too.

Guests sat down to dine on finger sandwiches, chocolate-covered strawberries, cookies, truffles and, of course, tea.

Kalberloh said she started preparing for the party yesterday.

She said she most enjoys "the flair" of putting them on and bringing "all the elegance back" to a casual age.

"And meeting new people ... I like meeting new people, and it's a way for me to give to others too, something different," she said.

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Afternoon tea hosted for Power of the Purse auction winner - Jefferson City News Tribune

Two Dons and a Marsha – Knox TN Today

Marsha Blackburn wants to be vice president. This is not news to anyone whos halfway paying attention to politics nobody takes winter junkets to New Hampshire and Iowa or spends long weekends in Mar-a-Lago flirting with Donald Trump just for the fun of it.

The senior senator from Tennessee* has always had that yearning, burning feeling inside of her that she was meant for great things, and this hasnt changed as she approaches her 70thbirthday. The key to her success is the 45thPOTUS. And this will remain so until his polling numbers take a nosedive.

(*Sorry, old-timers. I know it gives you heartburn to hear her called that, but Blackburns popular with the young bloods whove recently moved here from New Jersey and California and dont give a fig about Howard Henry or Fred or Lamar or anybody named Bill or Bob. Plus, they think youre all RINOs.)

Meanwhile, Blackburn hasnt put a foot wrong while playing to the Trump base, although the rats nest bouffant she sported while attempting to match wits with Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson might have been a wee bit much for Old 45, who is famously critical of the way women ought to look. Being the 1970 Cantaloupe Queen will only take a girl so far.

But The Donald, as he was famously christened by his first wife, would be well-served to acquaint himself with the fate of the first Don who mentored Marsha Blackburn, a Mississippi native who took her talents to Nashville where she parlayed her beauty pageant bona fides and her home economics degree into a high-profile marketing job at Castner Knott department store that left her with lots of free time to get active in Williamson County Republican politics. Link to interview.

Ad for Marsha Blackburn as image consultant

Blackburn made a lot of friends within the GOP while as she worked her way up, but nobody was more crucial to her start than Gov. Don Sundquist, who was being leaned on by Williamson County GOP leaders to help her raise her statewide profile. He obliged them in 1995 by appointing her executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, where she made many connections in the entertainment industry, particularly in the music sector. To this day, she touts these ties as her greatest strengths.

I havent asked her, but Id bet a bunch that she does not count Sundquist as a mentor. That relationship went sour after the governor declined to pay the high-dollar invoice she submitted for expenses incurred on a prospecting trip to Los Angeles, where she stayed at a five-star hotel and hired a limousine to ferry her around the city.

Blackburn took great exception to being asked to pay her own extravagant way and demonstrated her displeasure by burning the invoice and mailing the ashes back to the governors office. The story got out, of course, but clearly didnt hurt her.

She was elected to the state Senate on the strength of her anti-tax stand and became even more popular with the right wing of her party when she jumped out in front of the parade opposing Sundquists tax reform initiative, which was doomed to tank and left him in GOP purgatory for acting on good intentions and sound fiscal advice. Marsha, of course, kicked him to the curb.

Longtime Republicans still shake their heads over the way she treated Republican Leader Ben Atchley, whose stock-in-trade was working collaboratively across the aisle and whose nickname was Gentleman Ben.

Anybody who couldnt get along with Ben Atchley said one lifelong Republican.

Blackburn moved up to the House of Representatives and was buoyed by the Tea Party movement after Barack Obama was elected in 2008.

Ask Republicans who have served with her to describe her, and the word youll hear most often is ruthless. So, if Donald Trump (the Second Don for the purpose of this column) finds himself on a downward slide which appears to be happeninghed better not depend on the likes of Marsha Blackburn to rescue him. The first Don could set him straight on that one.

Betty Beanwrites a Thursday opinion column for KnoxTNToday.com.

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Two Dons and a Marsha - Knox TN Today

Easter Events in Tucson and Yuma – Signals AZ

Brought to you by Beltone - A leader in hearing healthcare.Spring is in the air and Easter is this Sunday! With it, there are fun events happening all over the Tucson and Yuma areas for you and your family to enjoy. Looking for a little springtime and Easter fun? Check out this guide to local Easter events happening in the area.For more events happening around the state, be sure to check out the Signals A Z events calendar!

April 16, 8:00 am-11:00 am Come to the Easter at the Swap event! Also, hunt for sellers with candy! MORE

April 16 9:00 am-10:30 am Join us for a very special Easter event at Our Play Place!Easter egg hunt around Our Play Place, Easter theme craft, snacks, and of course playtime. MORE

April 16, 9:00 am-12:00 pm The Oro Valley Easter Eggstravaganza is an annual egg hunt that includes crafts, games, food trucks, and other fun activities! MORE

April 16, 9:00 am-10:30 am Join us for an Easter tea party! We will be reading, Fancy Nancy, Tea for Two. Kiddos will get to sip on tea or lemonade and create their own mini Easter egg teacups. There will also be water coloring on doilies, playing dress up, and of course an Easter egg hunt! MORE

April 16, 9:00 am-11:00 am Children of all ages are invited to join us for this years Bunny Bonanza! Egg hunt, crafts, and photos with the Easter bunny! MORE

April 16, 10:00 am-12:00 pm The Easter Eggstravaganza is a great community event for the entire family! We would love for you and your family to join us! MORE

April 16, 10:30 am Easter Egg Hunt! Lunch! Bounce House! Face Painting! Games! All in a safe and nurturing environment! Please join our families for an Easter egg hunt, lunch, and good old-fashioned fun! MORE

April 16, 12:30 pm When the price of eggs go up, mean Farmer Brown decides not to give any eggs to the Easter Bunny to decorate and hide for the children. MORE

April 16, 10:00 am-1:00 pm The Garcia Group at Gateway Mortgage are Happy to Announce That we will be hosting an Easter Egg Hunt for The Yuma Child Burn Survivors and their siblings. MORE

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Easter Events in Tucson and Yuma - Signals AZ