BY SUZANNE KEENE garages and are appearing more
LANCASTER With a little and more often on the streets and
assistance from the warm weather highways across the state.
and energetic children, many While bicycling is fun and offers
bicycles are finding their way out a means of transportation, it can
of winter storage in barns and be a dangerous activity. According
Little Things Mean A Lot
Midway through our church
service last week, I spied two
familiar faces, visitors to our area,
but nonetheless special friends
from days gone by. After the
service I rushed over to express
my welcome and an invitation for
lunch. (Thank goodness I had
made an overdue pilgrimage to the
grocery store the night before.)
The unplanned lunch was a
success and friendship renewed.
That Sunday afternoon was in
sharp contrast to other times when
we have entertained and I felt like
dropping over by the time the
guests arrived. This occasion was
convincing to me that
“hospitality” is not just how clean
the house is or how excellent the
meal. Hospitality is the enriching
of others lives, making them feel
loved, cherished, cared for and
refreshed! And in doing so, we
create these same feelings for our
own family.
I have enjoyed being entertained
in many places. This has included
everything from dorm rooms,
legislative dinners, ballroom
buffets and even a home in an Arab
refugee camp on the West
Bank. The food was never the
same, but what they all had in
common and what I remember is
the hospitality., not the food
(although Turkish coffee is dif
ficult to forget.)
As summer months arrive and
we move outdoors, casual en
tertaining can be an enjoyable part
of our summer. Through this
hospitality our families will be
enriched by the building of
friendships, sharing of experiences
and the joy of laughter.
Follow these tips
By Michelle S. Rodgers
Lancaster Extension
Home Economist
Some simple tips for summer
hospitality might inspire you to
give it a try. First, relax and be
yourself. A house full of toddlers
doesn’t look lived in without a few
toys sprawled over the room! If
you find yourself hiding everything
from towels to books in the dish
washer or oven, then it’s time to
develop a systematic family ap
proach. Give each family member
a specific responsibility like the
trash, dishes, or books. Secondly,
involve your family in en
tertaining. Including children in
the preparation and the enjoyable
conversation later helps to
broaden everyone’s horizons.
Include everyone in the family in
some way to make it a family
affair.
Plan some simple menus that
you can pull off on short notice.
Keep these ingredients on hand for
surprise mealtime guests. I keep a
small notebook to record what I
serve and what was enjoyed. This
also helps to prevent serving my
favorite simple menu twice to the
same people (that is when I
remember to look at it!)
Use your imagination to make
your guests feel special and loved;
a mint on their pillow at night, a
few pieces of fresh fruit before
they leave for a long ride
elsewhere, a time when you sit and
laugh and share, unburdened by
schedules. These little things do
mean a lot, and express a value
that people are important.
As our family share together in
hospitality to others, in return we
too feel loved and cared for.
The Extension Service is an
affirmative action equal op
portunity educational institution.
for safer bicycling this summer
to the National Safety Council,
bicycles are involved in at least
100,000 traffic accidents each year.
And, more than 78 percent of those
accidents involve cyclists under 19
years of age.
Citing information from the
Consumer Product Safety Com
mission, Extension Home
Economist Michelle Rodgers said
bicycle accidents most often fall
into one of five categories - loss of
control; mechanical or structural
failure; entanglement of feet,
hands or clothing in bicycle parts;
food slippage from pedals or
collision with a car or another
bicycle.
Doric Weik, director of school
safety for the Lancaster chapter of
the American Automobile
Association, says that a lot more
children are on the road than ever
before and it is important for them
be more aware of safe bicycling
rules. To help familiarize school
age children with those rules and
other ways they can operate their
bicycles more safely, the AAA has
published a number of pamphlets
and booklets that provide biking
tips.
Because of the increasing
number of cyclists and the ac
companying need for greater
education, the Lancaster AAA is
sponsoring a bicycle safety rodeo
for children for the first time this
year.
“We are trying to teach them
responsibility on the the road,”
Weik said. Through various
programs, she continued, they
hope to “provide an awareness to
the children. We want them to
establish confidence and to
become more aware of safe
bicycling.”
Responsibility begins with
bicycle maintenance. “A lot of
accidents happen because of
neglect of maintenance,” Weik
says.
Keeping your bicycle in good
working order will help the bike
last longer and ride more
smoothly. A AAA booklet on biking
tips for kids advises cyclists to
keep their bikes in good working
order by checking tire pressure
regularly and inspecting tires for
cracks, cuts and bulges.
It is also important to keep nuts
and bolts tight and to replace any
missing parts immediately. The
chain, wheel axles and other
moving parts need oiled regularly.
Handle grips should be glued or
tightly secured to the handlebars,
and sharp points should be covered
with heavy, waterproof tape.
Having the proper equipment
and accessories is another im
portant part of safe cycling.
Bicycles should be equipped with
both lights and reflectors if they
will be used at night. Federal law
requires that all new bicycles have
front, rear and side reflectors.
A bell or a horn to alert
pedestrians or other cyclists and a
“day-glo” or retro-reflective
bicycle safety flag, are other
devices that can make a bicycle
more safe.
Although the bicycle is in great
shape, it won’t do if it doesn’t fit
the rider properly. To check for
proper fit, sit on the bicycle seat. If
you can maintain balance by
resting the tips of your toes on the
ground, it fits. Standard han
dlebars should be set with the grips
at seat level and high-rise han
dlebars should be lower than the
rider’s shoulder.
Weik said cyclists must obey all
traffic signs, signals, and roadway
markings. “Bicyclists are
responsible for maintaining the
same rules and regulations as
motorists,” she stressed.
While children were once ad
vised to ride against traffic, they
are now told to ride with the flow.
“It’s safer to ride with the traffic,
using the left hand to give signals,”
she advised.
TIPS FOR SAFE BICYCLE DRIVING
Signal for turns and stops.
Obey all traffic signs, signals and rules.
Yield the right of way to pedestrians.
Drive solo-only one on a bicycle.
Keep feet on the pedals at all times.
Keep both hands on the handlebars, except
when signaling.
Drive with traffic in single file - close to the
right-hand side of the roadway and watch for
opening car doors.
Keep your bicycle in good repair.
Equip your bicycle with headlight, reflector
and horn or bell.
Always walk bicycle across busy intersections.
Drive carefully, especially on wet or slippery
streets.
Keep safe following distance-never
onto other moving vehicles.
Be sure roadway is clear before entering. Avoid
busy streets and intersections.
Learn to drive in a safe place, keep off busy
streets until you can drive well.
Cyclists should slow down, look
and listen at all intersections, give
autos and pedestrians the right of
way, and walk the bike across busy
streets. If you must ride at night,
but have no headlight, you should
walk your bike.
Bicycles are not permitted on
Chores help,
learn responsibility
DELAWARE COUNTY - Many
parents feel that housework would
be done quicker and easier if they
did it themselves, but this attitude
can make children lose out on
some of the more valuable lessons
chores can teach them, says Greta
C. Vairo, extension home
economist with the Penn State
Extension Service. If we’re all part
of maintaining the house, then we
all have a vested interest in the
house. The children will be less
likely to take for granted the things
they have. They’ll learn that home
maintenance is made up of a whole
lot of gears that have to mesh.
To get children to cooperate
when it’s time to do chores,
parents should adopt the attitude
that everyone, including the
parents, have chores to do and
that these tasks are necessary to
keep the family moving forward.
Children should be taught that
chores have merit, that they are
beneficial to the family, and that
chores inside the house are just as
important as maintaining the car
or lawn.
Getting children under age six to
help with the chores is often easier
than getting an older child to help.
A very young child wants to help
and should be assigned tasks like
emptying waste paper baskets or
helping to set the table. But much
of the responsibility for getting
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*
highspeed freeways and In
terstates. Bicycle paths should be
used where they are available.
Bicyclists should be familiar
with their town’s laws regulating
the use of bicycles, including
bicycle registration, licensing and
(Turn to Page B 15)
children
children to do chores lies with the
parents. They should realize that
a large part of their time will be
spent teaching children how to do
assigned tasks.
Kids are beginners, you have to
have patience with them. They’re
learning skills, they’re learning
about interpersonal relationships
and they’re learning respon
sibility. But they learn through
repetition. They need to be shown
how to do things and they may
need to be shown 12 times. But then
let them try it. Be watchful, but not
overbearing. A common mistake
many parents make is thinking
there is only one way to do a chore.
Let children experiment. If their
way doesn’t work, discuss it with
them and let them fix it.
Many parents don’t let children
do chores because the children
cannot measure up to the parent’s
standards. Parents should see
their role as a teacher and
patiently, and repeatedly, show the
child what is expected. Making
a list of what each job involves will
.also help children understand what
they are to do. For example, all
chores done by noon will help
ensure that everything runs
smoothly. If they cut corners, do
them again. Penn State is an af
firmative action, equal op
portunity university.
hitch