thanks, Orange Crush, for vindicating me

Wondering what the big topic of conversation was tonight at Jalapenos?

Was it the schedule of fundraising golf tournaments that are coming up for the Georgia Sheriffs' Association Youth Homes?

Nope, but that was a brief topic between Smitty and me.

I'm hoping he will share it with his Sunday afternoon golf buddies.

I know they've already done some fundraising golf tourneys for other charities.

That would be a good thing for Smitty, now that he's retired!

 

What about the upcoming graduations this year of two of our nephews?

Well, Tony and Laura started that one, talking about her youngest son, Noah.

That will be in Missouri.

So I brought up that Merritt will also be graduating!

Moreover, he's completed specialized courses in agriculture and will have an award ceremony in two weeks, with him receiving a special cord to wear over his graduation gown.

How cool is that?

All the fellows at the table perked up for that!

And just where is that graduation to occur?

In Alabama, as that's where the Beaufort boys have lived the last few years.

I'm thinking about going, but it will depend on when it is.

 

Both of those were topics discussed, but the big one was all about Orange Crush.

That's an unofficial reunion of graduates from Savannah State University that's been going on for a little over thirty years.

How do I know that?

Paperwork.

Official paperwork.

In 1991, which was the first year of the event, the organizers of Orange Crush, essentially a last party for the new graduates and maybe some alumni, did the right thing and applied for a permit with Tybee Island to host the gathering down at the beach.

The government of the city of Tybee Island granted the permission and all apparently went so well that attendees wanted to do it again the next year.

So they did...

with more new graduates and alumni invited to the party...

but with no permit for the event.

That means they didn't pay for extra security, they didn't pay for extra sanitation, they didn't pay for clean up.

Nope.

They left all of those expenses for the taxpayers of Tybee Island.

Then they did it again the year after that, and then again, and then again, continuing for THIRTY-TWO YEARS, with the crowd exponentially growing.

That was a mistake on the part of the organizers.

After the huge mess left last year (in 2023), a bill was brought before the Georgia Congress to put a halt to unpermitted events ANYWHERE IN GEORGIA.

I feel so vindicated.
For months in 2019, I took great care to make sure our SERMACS event at Morrell Park was totally permitted, including the hiring of extra security, obtaining insurance to cover any damages that might occur during our event, getting volunteers to help, and taking care to thoroughly clean the park after our event and remove all trash.
As I said, the folks associated with organizing Orange Crush only took that responsible route one time, back in 1991. After that, no one bothered to get the event permitted. They just took over Tybee Island Beach the third weekend of April every year.
Orange Crush held an unpermitted event there for 32 years before someone at Tybee got politicians involved.
And involved they have been, too.
The Georgia Congress, both House and Senate, Republican and Democrat alike, and working together with amazing speed, almost unanimously passed a law (Senate Bill 433) that now holds the organizers of unpermitted events DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for extra costs incurred by the community where that event was held.

Good for them.
If this new law had been in effect in 2023, the promoters of Orange Crush would have been DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for paying the $187,520 that the city had to pay for expanded public safety measures, including the overtime for city police and fire rescue staff, additional ambulance service, portable bathrooms, extra lighting, and other expenses.
That sounds completely reasonable to me.
Our event, which planned for about three hundred people to come to Morrell Park, involved our payment of overtime for two city police officers for crowd control for the three hours of our event, including setup.
The promoters for Orange Crush 2023, which had more than 100,000 people show up (as verified by AI that monitors cell phone use in an area), paid for none during the three days of their time at Tybee Island.

We cleaned up after ourselves, making sure that everything we brought into the park, including any trash generated, was carried out with us.
The promoters for Orange Crush 2023 left the beach and streets littered with trash.

Our event was timed to not interfere with traffic patterns in downtown Savannah, including normal Saturday morning traffic on River Street.
Orange Crush 2023 tied up traffic between Savannah and Tybee, as well as in Tybee and the residential Island neighborhoods along Highway 80, for at least 72 hours.

Whoever is in charge of continuing Orange Crush needs to do so responsibly, paying the costs needed to respect the tax-paying citizens of Tybee, as those citizens have been held responsible for 32 years, and are not willing to do so any longer, nor should they ever have been expected to do so.
My advice to those promoters of such events: Just follow the rules.
It's that simple.
Why do you think I volunteered to take care of that for the 2019 SERMACS?
Because I was familiar with the rules, and I am a native Savannahian.
I respect Savannah, as a taxpayer myself, and wanted to make sure to not burden the city with any costs for our National Chemistry Week event.
Good for me.

Good for the local ACS section for following my lead, even though I was already retired and no longer at the university.
Good for the National ACS for supplying all the materials for our experiments and good for them, and the City of Savannah, for providing giveaway science items for the event.

Good times!

wns, chem-nerd style

A week after the National Chemistry Week event I'd organized, I still had so much science to share!

Sherry Moore told me her students at Southwest Middle School would love to have some of the materials for their class, too -

so, tonight, I met up with her, to pass along three tote bags full of knowledge!

One bag held two hundred of the self-inflating balloons, as well as my instructions about the chemistry of that neat trick.

Still another held two hundred of the "Marvelous Metals" books from the current edition of "Celebrating Chemistry" from ACS, outlining several lab exercises that were perfect for middle-school class rooms.

The third tote held two hundred of the "Saving Savannah's Water" activity books, courtesy of Laura Walker and her office with the city.

And, topping off those three bags, the materials to construct two hundred uv-detecting armbands, carefully organized and with explicit instructions written by me.

Sherry was thrilled to have all of that for her students!

 

I should note that I also gave mi amiga Barbara thirty sets of all of these items for the science teacher at Rambam.

She's a math instructor there, but she knows the value of sharing science with youths!

So does Ruthie Deffley, at my church, who has asked that I reserve some of the kits and books for sharing with the middle-school aged children at Asbury Memorial.

(That will probably not be on her schedule until the spring, though, so I'll have that bag of goodies in my living room closet - aka "the gift closet" until then.

Oh, which reminds me that I'll be dropping science in outgoing Christmas packages destined for Alabama and Louisville this year.)

Plus, I'd made special gift bags for the children of those at the Office of Special Events, Film, and Tourism, as treats - for their minds! - for this Halloween!

Everyone at that office had been so helpful with the NCW event.

(smile!)

Now, what about that WNS?

Well, I have been taking full advantage of having someone else cooking for me once a week!

These Wednesday Night Suppers not only give me a good variation of foods, but also plenty of company, too.

I had thought Sherry and I would get a chance to talk, but she didn't stay for the meal.

More roast beast - I mean, roast beef, lol - for me!

(smile!)

byop, chem-nerd style, take 2

Fresh from the success of last night's sharing of science with others, I was ready for more!

This time, I knew I would be holding court and leading demonstrations, so I left the armbands to be made on the spot by the participants, but I brought the etched-copper stickers - with cool stuff like "BOO!" that I'd written - as giveaway treats.

In all, I brought fifteen sets of goodies!
 

I didn't end up with as many children at Robin's party.

Only Asher, her grandson, was really old enough to get craftsy with chemistry, but he did so quite enthusiastically!

Once Monique and Betsy heard my patter, they came over to make uv-detecting armbands, too, and play with self-inflating balloons, and admire the copper stickers - Betsy is even wearing one of those!

And here's Asher, proudly showing off his armband that he made all by himself!

Notice, please, that none of the beads are white.

That means it's working!

The beads that were white are now lavender and pale blue and pale orange, indicating that sunblock should be worn, even though the sky is partly clouded.

He particularly liked that his armband worked and that I gave him the leftover materials to share with his classmates.

I particularly liked that he had such curiosity about chemistry.

Robin took this shot of me talking early on with him about tungsten, my favorite element - because it's found in wolfram! 

Now, he likes that element, too!

What about pumpkins at this carving party?

Well, there were plenty of those!

Here's my biggest little brother, Smitty, with his contribution to the frivolity: Wicked, ain't it?

I doubt he's ever seen the musical; he just thought the pattern was cool and that's why he did it!

Yet another permanent pumpkin to add to his growing collection!

My littlest little brother, Tony, chose to do a more traditional design on a more traditional surface - that of the real vegetable.

Still, it looks pretty wicked, too, and will be great on their porch for Halloween!

As for me, I didn't carve a gourd of any kind this time around.

Pumpkin guts are icky!

LOL!!

I came to drop some science...

and I did!

To paraphrase the conqueror's famous Latin phrase:

Veni.  

Vidi.  

Ego stillantur quaedam scientiae!

(smile!)

byop, chem-nerd style, take 1

Bwah ha ha, y'all!

The day had finally arrived for this mega-big party of the year out in north Jacksonville -

oops!

I mean Georgetown, of course!!

It just feels like heading off to Florida for a vacation, which is always a good thing!

And here are the host and hostess of the event!

Chris the Koz has truly outdone himself this year, with a new family of creepy clowns on the lawn and other new sights all around.

Nope, the rain didn't stop him at all, either!

 

He had been setting up here while I was doing so for the NCW event at SERMACS.

Dawn has always said to just bring myself, but I know their party as a huge kid magnet.

I knew those thirty uv-changing bracelets, as shown in the bowl, would be a hit!

I hoped the 30 "Hooray for Chemistry" bags, each with two science books, would also tempt curious minds.

I would have brought the self-inflating balloons, too, but I was double-booked and had to fly off for a while.

The wedding shower for the bfe and The 'Cole was being held at Suzy Carpenter's house at the same time as this annual pumpkin-carving blast... yikes!

So, as it was for the physicist most dear, I had to appear.

I'm so glad Yvonne was there, too, to welcome me!

Almost three hours after my departure, I was back at the BYOP and the party had moved from the house to the back yard.

Yeah, that sounds like a long time to be gone, but between drive time and an hour or so at the shower, I did good at hustling back here so quickly.

Plus, I knew from years of experience that this party would be going until the wee hours!

(smile!)

I even caught Bunny and Steve still there!

My former sister-in-law had actually been looking for me so she could tell my 'bye -

they were leaving by the time of my return.

Good thing I'd put some hustle on it!

(smile!)

 

As I said, I had known there would be plenty of partying still to come.

There was pool-playing on the rain-soaked table -

and 100 little Krystal burgers to be eaten by all -

and the shooting of a potato-launcher -

and a crazy tricycle race in the driveway, with the loser shucking clothes for a chilly dip in the pond!

As for the bags of goodies I'd left, all were gone.

Every last one of them!

Thirty minds enriched with knowledge!

Not that the bags held only books, as Dawn's dining room table full of goodies to take home was completely wiped out, for the first time ever.

I guess if you give a kid a bag, they'll fill it up!

A guess that's some kind of lesson for next year's event, right?

But here's the highlight for me!

See this child, posing in her costume?

Well, my thanks to whoever took the photo, because what's that on her right arm?

One of the bracelets I'd loving made!

Woot woot!

Nor was she the only one!

Here's a little boy, posing by the 'menu' of horrible treats (none of which were available - lol!).

And what's that on his right arm?

Could it be...?

Yes, yes, it could be, and is, one of the thirty uv-bead bracelets I'd added to the party!

Which reminds me: I have to stop calling them bracelets, as that is out of vogue.

Very well, then!

Arm bands they are!!!

And everyone loves them!

So... hooray for chemistry!

Hooray for Chris and Dawn, too, not only for another awesome party but for letting me drop a little science!

(smile!)

mole day at sermacs!

Happy Mole Day, y'all!!!
I began mine in true chem-nerd style: drinking
my morning coffee in my brand-new beaker mug!
Cheers!
(smile!)

My sole event at the Marriott on this fourth and final day of the conference was the SERMACS Award Luncheon.
And guess what?
I managed to sit not only at the same table as one of the award winners, but right next to him.
Yes, I felt rather honored!

Here he is, up at the place of honor, receiving the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences!
What a mouthful, right?
And, just think: he teaches at Murray State University,
a small college in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

His name is Bommanna G. Loganathan and he is a Professor of Environmental/Analytical Chemistry.
His wife had traveled to visit family in India and had not been able to accompany him, but I made sure to take plenty of photos for him to share with her!
(smile!)

During the meal afterward, he asked if I knew Cathy MacGowan, as he would like to thank her for all her help.
As good fortune would have it, she was sitting at the far side of our table!
Later, I took him to the SERMACS office to retrieve the box to ship his award safely to his home.
Right place, right time!

As for the meal, it as certainly the ritziest by far!
First was this gorgeous wedge salad with blue cheese - glad I brought some Lactaid!
The entree was a tender chicken breast with potato and vegetables - so good!
But the crowning glory was cheesecake with raspberry swirls and twirls...
I gladly gave up two Lactaids for that rare delight!

And, justthatfast, SERMACS 2019 was over and done.
No more seminars or poster sessions or anything.
I took advantage of the beautiful day to revisit
The Waving Girl, a friend of mine since she was first erected in 1971.
I was only 13 years old and her sea-lore story, and her image with her faithful dog, enchanted me.

Time to put the badge away as a souvenir of this "Chemistry On The Coast" event.
I had adorned the badge holder with several of the pins representing the different ACS sections that I had joined last year in Augusta.
(smile!)
Now, back to my regular life as a busy, vibrant woman!
i thank You, God!

diversity and more fun with fruit

Well, here I was at the third day of SERMACS 2019
and my second luncheon...
only it wasn't just a luncheon, but also a workshop.
Drats, I should have found out more about it!
That's okay, I was easily at the most-diverse table
of the bunch.

I had my 61-year-young self, Brandon Quillian (black, former sailor, mid-40's, and still teaching), and Rashad (a young Indian researcher at AERI).
Diverse in ethnicity, age, and sex, at the very least.
(smile)
The other tables were all vanilla or all chocolate...
at a diversity luncheon.
There's some irony, n'est-ce pas?

The workshop urged us to acknowledge inherent biases, including those of the leader, Rochelle Williams.
As for the meal, it was a notch above yesterday's.
Again, I created my own variation, placing the grilled onions, peppers, and portobello onto my salad greens, then adding some sausage and peppers on the side.
Had to leave room for black and white tiramisu!
(smile)

Afterward, I was wandering about in the expo area when what to my wondering eyes did appear but the tortured orange.
The woman there motioned me over.
I'd asked yesterday about hooking up other fruit...
and she'd fetched an apple from breakfast so we could look at it in action as a battery!
How absolutely, marvelously, fun!!!
The apple was actually more of a powerhouse than the orange!

What might tickle my fancy after that bit of joviality?
How about some far-out "Astrochemistry in the Southeast and Beyond"?
Well, surprisingly, that was just the ticket!
The three speakers I heard had wonderful senses of humor and one of them even talked about my favorite comet, the Hale-Bopp of 1995.
I sure did like seeing that one in the night sky on my drive home from campus!

Then it was time for the headliner talk on my radar
and of the day: "The Past, The Present, And The Future Of The Periodic Table"!
Except I had gotten my wires crossed (get it?).
Instead of it being a single talk, it was a the title of a collection of presentations!
And now it was almost 4 PM and I had missed almost
all of them - ack!

However, I needn't have been concerned.
I was right in time for the entire talk by E.B. Fox.
Remember him, at last year's SERMACS in Augusta?
He was the one presenting The National Historic Chemical Landmark for the Savannah River Site's work with Plutonium-238!
How enchanting to hear about that again!
i thank You, God!

Now, I'm home again and I'll soon be having my "Tina Tuesday" with the running bear.
Hooray for me!
And we'll be feasting at Olive Garden before "Zombieland: Doutble Tap"!
But before I put away this third day of the conference, let's flash back to Sunday.
Well, kinda sorta.
(Hey, ask the bear... lol!)
See that box in my hand?
It also appeared above, by my plate of delectable dessert.
(smile)
It's a new coffee mug, beaker-style, given to me by Patti in thanks for my weeks of work preparing for the National Chemistry Week event.
How very kind of her!
I look forward to using it tomorrow morning... on Mole Day!
Woohoo!

women, an orange, and a steamship

Subtitle: SERMACS 2019, Day Two

Who is that ultra-relaxed person?
That would be me, responsibilities for NCW d-o-n-e!
The Undergraduate Lunch & Learn with Women in Industry was the first item on my radar today.
Remember how much I loved being a lunch lady in Augusta?
That's why I paid to attend all three luncheons here at our SERMACS.

The meal today, designed to attract the younger crowd and to fit their budget, consisted of nice five-inch sandwiches and plenty of salad greens.
I had the grilled chicken wrap and the turkey club,
both sans bread.
That certainly made a mighty fine luncheon salad!

There were nine women on the panel.
From the left, the specialties of these women are medical research, pharmaceutical chemistry, forensics and court cases, public outreach, plastics manufacture, and production of textiles.

Again from the left, the specialties for these three panelists are pine-based products, wood products from utility poles to pulp, and quality assurance and control of imported goods.
(Hi, Erica! Good to see you here!)

All nine strongly recommended to the students the need to take classes outside of their science core.
Take a business class, they said, to better understand how to be a manager.
Take a speech class, to be more prepared for presentation at meetings.
They also echoed the same message of gender bias to the young women in the audience.
The two oldest women, working in a "man's world" for

almost thirty years, had only slightly easier experiences than mine as an electronics tech in the Navy.
That was forty years - or two generations - ago.
However, all agreed that treatment in the workplace has greatly improved in the past ten years, as the older generation retires and takes its biases with it.
As I've mentioned before, change requires the passage of multiple generations, if it is to occur at all.


After the lunch, I was off to the riverside for a walk in the sunshine - ah!
That put me in mind, naturally, for the afternoon session for "Advancements in Environmental Chemistry"!
("Naturally", right? Get the pun?)
I caught the ones on uranium in the marshes; the toxic chromium+6 and ways to reduce it; the puzzle of how technetium was oxidized to +6; and a very interesting look at cloud droplet formation from ocean spray particle size and shape.

Time for wandering around and exploring the expo!
And guess what I discovered?
An orange in need of rescue from torture?
Nope, this orange had volunteered to be a battery!
I had heard of using a potato for such things, from Professor Proton's tv show (get it?).
But using an orange was certainly a new twist.
Quite interesting... and fun!

This was very interesting and fun, too!
Labster is a new virtual reality tool for students to gain lab experience without using chemicals.
They still had to wear goggles, though!
Well, actually, it was a virtual reality helmet, but it still served as eye protection, so that counts - yes, it does!
It made me a bit disoriented and dizzy, but the students just loved it!

The students loved the ice cream social, too!
I had almost decided to allow my lactose intolerance to take the win, but... no.
Leopold's had brought Mint Chocolate Chip as a choice, so I chanced it.
So much tasty fun I had, mining for chocolate in the mountains of creamy mint!

T last it was time for the evening's featured presentation, starring... the Steamship Savannah!
The same groundbreaking vessel that had been lauded on National Maritime Day was in the foreground once more!
John Laurence Busch had written a book about her, "Steam Coffin: Captain Moses and the Steamship Savannah Break the Barrier", and has a website to spread the word to all.
To encourage interest, he had crafted several different talks.
For us chemistry nerds, the topic was prevention of corrosion of metal in a sea water environment.
(smile!)

Why had the man gone to such lengths to spread the word about this 200-year-old ship?
As he explained, she represented high technology.
Specifically, she was "an advance that moved people through time and space in a way not natural".
Until steam power proved its usefulness for transport of people and goods across the ocean, sail power and good old-fashioned use of an oar were the only methods.
Steam allowed a much faster and more reliable transport.
What a nifty way to share his knowledge!
(smile!))

game still on - lol!

Who would have thought those little paper doohickeys would be so appealing to kids of all ages?

Who would have made sure to have plenty available in the colors of ACS?

Me, that's who!

And who are these grown folks happily making the folds of the toys?
 

The student members of the American Chemical Society, at the social specifically for them at SERMACS Savannah!

Thanks to the industrious of the volunteers at Table 6 of the National Chemistry Week event, there were plenty of ChemCatchers already made as giveaways.

Thanks to them, too, for the excellent idea of sharing the printed, unfolded, dad-joke, chem-nerd pun toys with the other students here for the conference.

Big win, y'all!

(smile!)

an afternoon with chemistry: game on!

Subtitle: SERMACS 2019, day 1, NCW event active

What a wonderful afternoon we had!
Did we have busloads of children show up?
Fortunately, we did not.
For the most part, we had a steady number of families, some of whom had seen our ad, some who heard about it on River Street.
That made for a very nice mixture of ages, keeping the day interesting for the volunteers, as they could change their patter to fit each audience at their table.

My thanks to Raven Dean, Chelsea Miller, and Shabrina Jarrell for welcoming one and all at Table 1.
They made sure all participants were given goody bags
to fill, starting with pencils, stickers, and pocket-sized Periodic Tables full of metals, nonmetals, and metalloids!
Plus, they made sure to loan every participant the goggles needed to keep their eyes safe.
(smile)

Once folks had their goody bags started, they were guided to Table 2 to collect their first metal object.
After all, this is in celebration of Marvelous Metals!
At this station, participants received a sealed, aluminum-coated, plastic balloons, which they had to find a way to inflate.
And they did, too, using sodium bicarbonate and citric acid!
That's ordinary baking soda and the tart part of lemon juice!

My thanks to Melina Raymundo, someone else, and Yu Cao for their enthusiasm and joy!
One of them would help smaller participants with breaking the citric acid pouch by taking them to the adjacent walkway, to step on the balloon.
They also demonstrated the reaction which could be heard within the balloon.
What "cool chemistry" that was!
(Get it? Because it was endothermic? LOL!)

Table 3 was sometimes the next station, sometimes the first station folks hit.
There, electrochemistry was the happening thing!
Bright copper was exposed to a cotton swab saturated with sodium chloride, with the aid of a 9-volt battery to allow etching of a design of the participant's choice.
Everyone walked away with a metallic sticker to remember the afternoon of chemistry!

My thanks to Khristal Monroe, Maria Blahove, and Jim Lobue for cheerful encouragement to the participants!
Thanks, also, for perfecting the procedure by using a saturated saltwater that worked most reliably.
That allowed the participants to actually use the cotton swab to easily write and draw on the copper strips.
It helped that they had plenty of samples to show, too!
(smile)

Where to go next?
Well, it varied, dependent upon the group having the hands-on experiences!
I regarded this as the "wet stuff" table... so, naturally, this is where folks picked up the "Saving Savannah's Water" activity books supplied by Laura Walker's office.
That made every station a give-away site to allow chemistry to be shared later, at home, with others.
More spreading the good word of chemistry!

Thank you, Kenayana Thomas and Briana Kinnel, for rocking out at Table 4!
Y'all helped the participants understand density and solubility by using three liquids colored yellow and blue - the colors of the American Chemical Society!
The experimenters even had the chance to identify a mystery liquid based on its behavior.
Very nice!

That brings me to Table 5, the last of the hands-on stations, but with a very nice give-away item: the UV-detecting wristbands!
To make the activity even more fun, the ultraviolet-activated color-changing beads were in a dark bag in a shady location.
That meant the participants could reach in and grab a still-white bead without knowing which of the six colors it would become when exposed on their wristband!

My thanks to Dan Graham and Sabornie Satterjee for keeping this activity light and breezy!
Having these two men staffing the table also made it cool for any fellows who might have been concerned about making 'bracelets' with the bright yellow beads and dark blue stars (again, ACS colors).
"Wristbands" or "armbands", y'all, to encourage everyone to wear sunscreen when the white beads turn purple, green, pale yellow, orange, blue, or pink!

So far, every table has been shown with participants gathered around it.
Why not this one?
Well, Table 6 was the site for the return of the goggles and receipt of the National Chemistry Week issue of "Celebrating Chemistry".
(You can download a copy at this website. You can explore activities for all grades at this site.)
Participants in our event could also receive a sweet treat - a bag of candy - for filling out a short survey.
This close to Halloween, everyone wanted that!

My thanks to this industrious trio!
They are someone, Chan Jenkins, and Robin Tanaka Blitch.
Without them, the goggles would not have been sanitized for the next group of participants.
Without them, the ChemCatchers would not have been folded for easy play, both by those at the event as well as those at SERMACS later today.
Well done, y'all!

All in all, a most successful event!
Most of the folks in this photo were active volunteers, with a few others there to keep up morale.
Four people who should have been included are missing from this photograph snapped by David, though.
Randall Schmidt, who had been helping at Table 5, had to leave early, as did Shabrina Jarrell who worked Table 1.
I missed out on the photo because I was waiting for Jim Lobue, of Table 3, to be able to come over.
All in all, fifteen people kept six tables working like a charm for two hours -
my thanks to them!
My thanks to the folks who came out for an afternoon with chemistry, too!
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to sit for awhile and smile!
Smitty has just brought me and the tote bags home and it's time to relax!
(smile)