Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of former Union soldiers and sailors – the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) – established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be May […]

The final resting place for 1,102 (75 were recovered) crewmen of the U.S.S. Arizona who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. They are still entombed within the Arizona herself. The sunken battleship is commemorated by a 184 foot-long memorial structure that spans its midportion. No part of the edifice touches the ship. There are three sections in the memorial: […]

The Greek community of Astoria rejoiced last week as it celebrated the 38th annual Greek Festival to benefit St. Demetrios Cathedral. Persons of Hellenic and non-Hellenic descent partook in delicious homemade Greek cuisine including souvlaki (kebab), spanikopita (spinach pie), tiropita (cheese pie), gyros and loukoumades which are small fried zeppolis covered in honey and brown sugar. Students of St. Demetrios, […]

Energy is the lifeblood of modern economies and there’s no more amazingly useful form of energy than electricity. That’s why I was initially startled to read the recent news that the last of Japan’s 54 nuclear power plants has been shut down, a turn of events that makes Japan the first major economy of this century to run without operating […]