Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York • Page 1D

''de Source Imhr Classifieds insid Pouijhkeepme Journal LIFE TVIistings Comics 2 3 4 RAY FASHONA, LIFE EDITOR 845 437 4883 rfashonapoughkeepsleiournal.com ANTHONY FARMER SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2004 OUR TURN Give me a touchdown, no tofurkey When the turkey hits the table on Thursday, it won't take long to come up with a list of what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. My Jennifer, is always at the top. There is not a smarter, funnier, more beautiful woman on the face of the earth; as far as I'm concerned. And there is certainly no one else who could tolerate living with me and my many idiosyncrasies. I'm so thankful for our family our 2 year old son Nathaniel and a new baby we're expecting early next year.

As Nate discovers the world and all it has to offer, I find myself rediscovering much of it, too. I'm also, thankful for my extended family and a great group of friends. There are so many other things to be thankful for. But w)io do I thank fof this wonderful and most American of holidays? Well, that one's not that clear.cut. This is a guy's holiday, no doubt about it.

Stuffingyour face and watching football what could be better. What is often thought of as the first Thanksgiving, with pilgrims and Native Americans sitting around the table, was likely as much a celebration of the annual harvest. And one account notes the participants at Plymouth in 1621 didn't even have forks. And of course, there was no football on TV. That's OK, because people didn't have a lot of time to watch TV in those days.

Arid no, one had invented pills to battle impotence, so who would have paid for all the ads in between plays? In 1777, after a victory over the.British at the Battle of th Continental Congress recommended a day of thanksgiving be bbseryed by the colonists. They were celebrating a victory by the Patriots, so this is really the start of the holiday we all now recognize. The historic battle at Saratoga can even be seen as the first "Turkey It wasn't until 1789 that President George Washington proclaimed Nov. 26 to be a day of national thanksgiving and prayer. Since he failed to proclaim it a national day of thanksgiving, prayer and football, the holiday still didn't catch on as an annual tradition.

Game day created Then, nearly 90 years later, the greatest idea since sliced bread well, it may have been 'before sliced bread came along. The American Intercollegiate Football Association held its first championship game on Thanksgiving day. Of course, only those at the game could actually get the feel of watching freakishly huge men beat the snot but of each other while chomping on a turkey leg. When TV finally came along, the NFL was kind enough to schedule two games on Thanksgiving day, and one of my favorite days of the year came into being. SO this Thursday, I'll skip the cranberry sauce, but please pass the corn bread stuffing.

Sorry, I won't be eating tofurkey arid I won't be watching the soccer match on the tube. A couple of slices of white meat wim some gravy, please, and let's see a touchdown. Our TUrri appears Saturdays in Life, It's meant to capture the lifestyles of twenty' and thirty somethings This edition ofOurTurnis by Jour nal county government reporter Anthony FdrmenHe cati be reached at apfarmer poughkeepsiejournaUom, WESTCHESTER CAT SHOW Kitty from JKilDUl Feline gets star showing after long trek from Afghanistan By Matthew Razak For the Poughkeepsle Journal The star of tis weekend's Westchester Cat Show took a long, arduous journey to get in the spotlight. The Cat of the Year Award will be given to a cat named Queen Soraya, "who escaped from war torn Afghanistan two years ago, with the help of her owner Vanni Cappelli. "I've been a cat lover" all my life," said Cappelli, a freelance journalist who had been working in Afghanistan.

"When they brought my sister as a newborn; I took one look at her and told my parents and relatives in disappointment that I wanted a cat." "While walking through the streets of Kabul on his way home from an interview with the Interior Minister of Afghanistan, he found, snick in a broken air conditioner, the black arid' white tuxedo kitten, whom he named after Afghan istan's controversial first "liberated" woman. Over the next few weeks, Cappelli took care of the cat, feeding her aijd trying to get her to be more sociable toward him, since at first all she would do was hiss and run away. It took her about two weeks to come around, Cappelli said. "She was an extremely hostile cat at first," said Cappelli. "Who knows what had gone on in her life before I found her." After a terrorist attack occurred, Cappelli knew he had tp get Queeriie, as hie affectionately calls her, out of Kabul and home to the safety of the United States.

However, getting a cat out of Afghanistan is no easy task. Long drive out Cappelli and Queeriie had to drive from Kabul to Peshawar, Pakistan, in order to bfrable to fly Queenie put of the Middle East. Even theri, the trip was harrow irig, for once they, reached the airport, Cappelli found that it would cost $100 to fly the cat over seas $100 he did not have ori him. After debating and arguing with airline personnel, the crew decided he could pay once he landed in the United States. "It got to the point where they were holding up the plane," Cappelli said about the heated encounter.

After all the struggles, Queen Soraya finally made it to her new home in Pough keepsie and is living the good life. 4She's doing great," he said. "She just hacTall her shots. She's ah extremely robust, BPP1'' yi3BftsB lHBI Hi 9m7in77B Johanna Dokrey photoitor the Poughkeepsle Journal Vanni Cappelli, above, is pictured in his Pough keepsie home holding Queen Soraya, also pictured bottom right. Cappelli was working as free lance reporter in Afghanistan during the summer of 2002 when he found the kitten.

active and healthy cat." That is one of the reasons the Westchester Cat Show wants to honor her, said Claire Diele, one of the event organizers. The Cat of the Year award is bestowed on a cat that has 'performed an extraordinary act of courage or heroism. "The cat of the year is probably one of the best awards we give because it's not based on beauty, it's based on something spe cial," said Diele. Cappelli said his cat represents that special something. "I see a fantastic amount of ugliness, especially in Afghanistan," he said.

"It's not a war that begins and ends. Rescuing a cat like this is a way reconnect yourself with all the beauty in the world in the midst of all that ugliness. It helps with one's peace of mind." What The 29th annual Westchester Cat Show. When Today and Sunday, 10 a.m. 6 p.m.

Where Westchester County Center, Bronx River Parkway and Central Avenue, White Plains, Admission Adults, $11; seniors, children (6 12), under 6, free. Information Call 1 914 739 5408 or visit www.we$rchesrer eline. org; call 1.914.995 4050 for directions, "J' .1 III mi 'Mil I lam I The Associated Press Cy Coleman is pictured with some of the Antoinette Perry "Tony Award nominations for the musical "The' Life" in 1 997. The composer died of heart failure Thursday night in New York. Gy Coleman, Broadway composer, dead at 75 The Associated Press Cy Coleman, composer of the Broadway musicals "Sweet Charity" and "City of Angels" as well as such pop standards as "Witchcraft" arid "The Best Is Yet to Come," has died of heart failure.

He was75. i Colemari died Thursday riight after attending the opening night performance' and party for Michael Frayn's "Democracy" ori Broadway. He left the party and went to New York Hospital where he collapsed and died, John Barlow, a spokesman for Coleman, said Friday. Coleman, an accomplished jazz pianist, was known for his rhythmic, uptempo style. His pop songs, which also included "Firefly" and "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life," were recorded by such singers as Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee and Nat "King" Cole.

For more than five decades, Coleman wrote music for Broadway shows, starting with material for the 1953 revue "John Murray Anderson's Almanac." Show starred 'Lucy' Iri 1960, he composed his first full with lyricist Carolyn Leigh, The show, which was a vehicle for Lucille Ball, contained the hit song "Hey Look Me Over." The two then colaborat edpn "Little Me (1962), starring television comedian Sid Caesar, playing seven roles. The show, adapted by Neil Simon from the Patrick Dennis novel, contained such songs as "I've Got Your Number" and "Real Live Girl." Coleman worked again with Simon on his third Broadway musical, "Sweet Charity" (1966), based on Fed erico Fellini's film, "Nights of Cabiria." Gwen Verdon starred in the show as taxi dancer Charity Hope Valentine. With lyrics by Dorothy Fields, the musical was later made into a film starring Shirley MacLaine. For "On the Twentieth Century" (1978), a score he Wrote with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Coleman received his first Tony Award. GOODU IN THE MID HUDSON VALLEY 'Little Doctors' host drive Students at New Paltz Middle School might be too young to donate blood to help others, but they are doing their part to recruit blood donors.

The school is one of several in the state participating in the Little; Doctors program, which is a community blood drive organized by kids. On Election Day, the students helped escort donors to the canteen area of the middle school, where they poured, glasses of juice and handed out cookies and whatever else was needed by the participants. A total of 153 pints of blood was collected that day. "They reached put to their fam ilies, neighbors and friends and, with the persuasion of which only a child is capable, managed to get an over whelming number of people to the blood drive," Vincent Cozzolirio, Hudson Valley chairman for the New York Blood Centersaid in a written 'stateriient, His daughter, Kira, is a student at the school and took part in the program. For information ori running a blood drive or donating blood, call 1 800 933 2566; Students help feed needy And speaking Of good deeds by children, students, from Meadow Hill school in Newburgh collected more than 2,500 non perishable food Uems for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County's Youth MP I Iirtfip UslsmirVissssTri ssH Nancy Best Reilly is a real Heinz variety a mix of triany breeds all wrapped into a delightful 4 year old female.

She's one of many pets in need of homes at the shelter In Hyde Park. Turn to page 2D to see more. Leadership Service Council. Students participating iri Big Brothers Big Sisters' Moving Forward and Life choices programs facilitated the drive with the assistance of vice principal Ronel Cook. ShopRite of Newburgh donated 10 turkeys tp cprnplete; the holiday baskets, which will he donated to families in need the day before Thanksgiving.

The remaining food will be donated to local food pantries. Sale to aid garden club What's a wiriter holiday without a wreath arid poinsettias? You can get both the plants, and wreaths now ty ordering through the Tiororida Garden Club, in support of its annual holiday fund raiser, Orders must be place no later than Dec, 8. Pick up for orders will take place at the Hpwlarid Cultural Center, 477 Alain St, Beacon, Dec .16 from 10 aim. tp 3 p.m, Call jean Haight, at 845 831 6673 or Joyce pomarico at 845 831 3333 to place an order. Good Life is a collection of observations about life in themid Hud son Valley.

YoUf comments are welcome. Calt 845 437 4979. This Good Ufe by Journal staff. EMERglM mmKM li FerrlsPoughkeepsie Journal Bring baby on a movie outing A new series of screenings for parents who miss the jure of the big screen after having children offers day time entertainment. Read about the program at Upstate Films in Sunday's life section..