DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Contraband Days  is  a festival celebrating Jean Lafitte and his hidden treasures in Southwest Louisiana.  This year will be the  54th Annual Festival since its inception.The festival starts on April 26th and will continue through Sunday, May 8th. There will be many unique events that you can only experience at Contraband Days, including the Live Shark Encounter, Rhino Renovators Bike Race, Boat Parade, Volleyball Classic, American Press 5k, and the Kid's Costume Contest just to name a few. WHAT IS CONTRABAND DAYS?    Contraband Days is one of Louisiana's largest festivals and the City of Lake Charles oldest festival and is celebrating its 52nd year in 2009. Contraband Days is a themed " pirate " festival with close to 100 events. Contraband Days always falls on the first two weekends in May and it's a twelve day festival. The Festival is based on the Lake Charles Civic Center grounds with some events occurring ...

      The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region.    One of the world's great special events, the Portland Rose Festival will celebrate 2011 with the theme, Carnival of Roses . The celebration of the festival's centennial in 2007 was so successful, the Rose Festival was named the "Best Festival in the World by the International Festivals & Events Association".   History    The idea for the Rose Festival was presented to the public in a speech by Mayor Harry Lane,  at the end of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in 1905. The first festival occurred in 1907.    The Grand Floral Parade is the centerpiece of the festival and the second largest all-floral parade in the United States. More than 500,000 spectators line...

   Being a college student myself and interested in all that is creepy and mysterious, I was inspired to write this list of the top 10 most haunted Colleges and Universities in the USA. I apologize in advance for those of you who attend night classes at any of these institutions. Please feel free to add your favorite college haunts to the comment section! We will begin with my current institution… 10. Penn State University       State College, PA    The inspiration for this whole list was the story of Betsy Aardsma who was a student at the university in 1969. She was doing research for her English class when she was stabbed to death in one of the aisles of books in The Pattee Library. Her murder goes unsolved even today. Her ghost is said to wander the library late at night. One student who was looking at books in the very aisle that Betsy was killed in, awoke that night to the sensation of being strangled – so much so that she...

Ogopogo "Lake Demon of Okanagan" BEHAVIOR     Ogopogo is said to move at great speed, coiling its body in vertical undulations and propelling itself forward with a powerful tail. It is believed that the creature prowls the depths of Lake Okanagan and preys on the lake's 22 known species of fish, such as salmon, trout, burbot and chub. WHEREABOUTS    Located 300 miles northeast of Seattle, Canada's Lake Okanagan is said to be the home of a mysterious creature, the Lake Demon of Okanagan. Known to locals as "Ogopogo" and to Native Americans as N'ha-a-itk, it is believed that the creature makes its home in the part of the lake called Squally Point. VITAL STATS    Eyewitness accounts report that the beast is a huge serpentine creature with smooth dark skin, large eyes and an elongated head. Ogopogo has been estimated to measure about 60 feet in length and its body is said to be thicker than a telephone pole. RELATIVES    The Og...

   Mahalia Jackson, often called the greatest gospel singer, returned to her hometown to appear at the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April of 1970. While attending the Louisiana Heritage Fair in Congo Square (then known as Beauregard Square), she and Duke Ellington, who also appeared at the event, came upon the Eureka Brass Band leading a crowd of second-line revelers through the Festival grounds. George Wein, producer of the Festival, handed Ms. Jackson a microphone, she sang along with the band and joined the parade…and the spirit of Jazz Fest was born. This spontaneous, momentous scene—this meeting of jazz and heritage—has stood for decades since as a stirring symbol of the authenticity of the celebration that was destined to become a cultural force.    From the very beginning, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was envisioned as an important event that would have great cultural significance and popular appeal. The Festiv...