Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 35

Lansing State Journal LIVING Thursday June 13, 2002 www.lsj.com Tim Makinen Features Editor 377-1053 E-mail: livingslsj.com Crafty ways to beat the Mom, 0 oreo es TTT WLAJ anchor headed toN.Y. At same time, WILX grabs top local newscast By Mike Hughes Lansing State Journal In the unbudging world of local TV newscasts, there are two major changes: The top two news stations have flip-flopped. WILX (Channel 10) has topped WLNS (Channel 6) in the Nielsen ratings this time without getting any help from the Olympics. Joe Parker, the anchor for the bottom- 5 The Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame holds its 18th annual Picnic on the Lawn fund-raiser from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

today. The theme of this year's picnic "Rosie the Riveter" accompanies the museum's exhibit about the role of women in World War II. Geraldine Doyle, the model for the original "Rosie the Riveter" poster, will sign copies of the poster. Longtime volunteer Dorothy Payne also will be honored. Food will be provided by Silver Service, and the Second Time Around band will perform.

Admission is $40 ($30 is tax deductible) for adults, $8.50 for kids ages 5 to 12, free for kids younger than 5. Info: 484-1880. Join Northwest Michigan winemakersfrom Bel Lago, L. Mawby and Peninsula Cellars for short presentations about their wineries from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

today at Schuler Books Music in the Meridian Mall. Guests can taste the featured wine from each vineyard while nibbling fruit and cheese. Admission is free. Info: 349-8840. ft.

rated WLAJ (Channel 53), is leaving. He'll co-anchor the main newscasts at WRGB in Albany, N.Y. Parker JAN-MICHAEL STUMPFor the Lansing State Journal Jared was participating in the YMCA's School's Out program. The group meets daily to work on arts and crafts projects. Go Wings: Eleven-year-old Jared Buck, a fifth-grader at Post Oak Elementary School, paints a flowerpot red and white in honor of the Detroit Red Wings.

Try making flowerpot chimes, fruity pizza Story by Christine Rook Lynn Bartley, a member of Polar Trek 2001, will give a multimedia presentation at 7 p.m. today at the Smith Building, 2100 Gay lord C. Smith Court in Okemos. Polar Trek 2001 was the first all-female group to travel to the North Pole. Admission is free.

Info: 339-2324. 1 16-ounce package frozen strawberries, thawed and drained cup pecans or walnuts 1 10-ounce jar apricot preserves ft Dash af lemon iuice i Heat oven to 350 degrees. 7 rii. A L. i ouubii wjuiue uuuyii diiu about that, but that's what kids get into the most." The good news is that acrylic paint washes out of most things, and there are enough craft projects in existence to keep kids busy through the summer.

To get you started, Dunlap and her staff suggest the following: Modeling dough What you'll need: HVi cups flour 1 cup salt 3A cup water I One package of Kool-Aid to yiaic in yicaacu 14-inch pizza pan. Roll to within one-inch of pan edge. From the "Who cares where he is now" file: Way before Eminem, suburban kids in search of a safe rapper to idolize found their man in Making tracks: Tessa Feeley, 9, a fourth-grader at Post Oak Elementary school, lets the paint drip down the sides of her upside-down flowerpot to create a pattern. give dough color and a fruity scent Vanilla Ice, a guy from the Florida suburbs who as a thug with a YfFi I Mixing bowl I Air-tight container. An old icecream container works By Friday, most mid-Michigan schools will have let out for the summer, meaning that by Monday, most mid-Michigan kids will be whining that there's nothing to do.

Parents and caregivers can survive the summer with a few well-chosen craft projects that will meet both every kids' desire to be entertained and the desire to remain within a budget. Supplies as simple as a small terracotta pot and some acrylic paints have the power to create a whine-free half-hour. Eleven-year-old Jared Buck, a fifth-grader at Post Oak Elementary School in Lansing, gladly painted a flowerpot at the YMCA's after-school program Monday. "I'm painting it all red," he said, "and I'm going to paint Red Wings in white." Casey Dombroski, 8, a second-grader at Post Oak, looked up from his own flower pot. "Is hockey all you talk about?" Casey said.

"No," Jared replied. "Football." In 20 minutes, Jared had completely covered the pot in red and had managed to neatly paint something pretty close to the Red Wings logo. Casey had managed to make a mess, having finished his flowerpot and determined that the vinyl tablecloth needed to be painted a lovely shade of mud. "I know that kids always enjoy things that are messy," said Jennifer Dunlap, youth and family director for the downtown YMCA and coordinator of eight YMCA school sites. "I know that parents aren't happy Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar. Spread the sweetened cream cheese on the cookie crust. Cover and refrigerate overnight. After the crust has been refrigerated, layer fruit and nuts on it.

In a small saucepan, heat apricot preserves to the consistency of syrup, add lemon juice and pour over fruit. Top with whipped cream, if desired. Serves 12. Paint the town What you'll need: Sketch book Pencil Butcher paper or craft paper I Washable paints and paint brushes Tell the kids to grab their pencils and sketchbooks. Take them on a tour of their community.

Have the kids sketch Vanilla Ice "This is a big promotion," Parker said. "That market is twice as big." Jim Wareham, the general manager at WLAJ, agreed. "It's a huge promotion big money and a three-year contract." Darcy Sullivan has been filling in for Parker this week while he worked out details in Albany. Wareham expects no major changes in the "News Express" format that Parker anchors. That's a lower-budget approach that has drawn low ratings for WLAJ, an ABC affiliate.

"It takes time for people to find it Wareham said. The big local news ratings which play a huge part in setting ad rates have usually gone to WLNS (a CBS affiliate), with WILX (NBC) second. Now that's been reversed. "This is without a doubt the greatest book the station has ever had," Michael King, general manager of WILX, said of the Nielsen numbers for a four-week period ending May 22. Ross Woodstock, general manager of WLNS, was less cheerful.

"This is definitely not the book we expected," he said. His long-dominant station managed two minor victories. WLNS had a 5 rating (5 percent of TV homes) at noon. None of the other stations have news then; none of their noon shows did better than a 1. In addition, WLNS squeaked out a 4-3 victory at 5 p.m.

The rest of the book, however, was all WILX. In the mornings, WILX won 2-1 at 5 a.m. and 6-3 at 6 a.m. "That's the fastest-growing news time everywhere," King said. His station also won at 6 p.m., 10-9.

At 11 p.m., usually a deadlock, it won 9-5. Others remained far behind. WLAJ had only a 1 at 6 p.m. and at 11 p.m.; WSYM (Fox) had a 2 at 5:30 p.m. and a 3 at 10 p.m.

Those numbers arrive in a market where WLNS once seemed to be a permanent habit. "There's a new habit," said Kevin Ragan, the WILX news director. He argues that WILX has made consistent improvements. "I think we've found the right balance between giving people what they want to know and what they need to know." Woodstock disputes that, particularly for the 11 p.m. news.

"We have three to four times more new news at 11 o'clock than they do," he said. "We're doing all the right things. After the Potterville derailment, we so outclassed them it was amazing." That crisis, however, came after the ratings period had ended. There won't be another major Nielsen peri- see Ratings Page3D Get crafty Check out these Web sites for free craft ideas. I www.makingfriends.com: A good place to start The site continuously tries to get you to buy supplies, but there are suggestions on how to do various crafts without spending anything.

If you must shop, consider checking prices at local craft stores. I www.allcrafts.net: Lots of free craft ideas sorted by category. Instructions are easy to follow. I www.crafterscommunity. net: Long list of free crafts complete with patterns and a special section for kids crafts.

violent past. Thanks to a sample from Queen's "Under Pressure," his song "Ice, Ice Baby" became a 1990 megahit. With his Gumby-like fade, billowing, sparkly outfits and one of the cheesiest videos of all time, Vanilla Ice's star quickly plummeted, and the public has been mostly disinterested since. Perhaps it's for sheer novelty that he's performing at 8 p.m. today at the Majestic Theatre, 4120 Woodward Ave.

in Detroit. Admission is TBA. Info: 484-5656. well. Mix the ingredients in the bowl.

Add water' until the desired consistency is reached. Additional water may be necessary. Knead the dough until soft. Model as with any dough or clay. Store in the air-tight container.

Fruit pizza What you'll need: 20-ounce package of sliceable, refrigerated sugar cookie dough 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened Vi cup sugar 2 (11-ounce) cans of mandarin orange segments, drained 1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained 1 2 bananas, sliced interesting things they see along the way buildings, squirrels, odd neighbors. Back home, have them work together to paint a wall mural. see Crafts Page 3D ML From "The Quotable "One can become a cook, but one is born a roaster of meat." Anthelme Brillat-Savarin Tradition keeps graduates coming back Kathleen Lavey klaveylsj.com 377-1251 mi In 1967, President Johnson nominated Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Compiled by Sarah Schmid.

To submit information, fax it to 377-1298 or e-mail itto sschmidlsj.com. his mother spent an hour watching her guests nibbling around the edges of Justin's graduation cake, fearful of cutting into the picture. She finally plunged a knife into the cake's center and started serving slices of her son's photo. "Let them eat cake," someone said. That is a moment to remember, right there.

And that friend of mine who was so perplexed by the custom? He fell right into step with us, and hosted parties for his own kids, too. Let them eat cake, indeed. Kathleen Lavey's column appears on Thursdays. Red and blue helium balloons decorating my cousin's yard popped, one by one, in the heat. Adults sought shelter from the sun under awnings set up on the perfectly manicured lawn.

In the garage, ice-cold drinks came out of plastic coolers, and fried chicken, goulash and all kinds of sides loaded folding tables. Kids played. Adults talked. Cameras captured the scene. As one of the newest graduates of Livonia's Franklin High School, my cousin's son, Justin, was the man of the hour.

Visitors regaled him with cards and gifts. A collection of photos from his baby days there (all the usual family suspects, plus friends from school), what we ate (ham, of course) and what was discussed (my future at the University of Michigan, and my already beginning career at newspapers). A beach towel I got as a gift then is my favorite dust rag 24 years later, and I still have a delicate sterling silver Cross pen that I use a few times a year to sign important documents and write personal letters. I hope Justin is lucky enough to wind up with a pen and a dust rag and enough fond memories to make him enjoy celebrating the graduates of the future. At his party Sunday, p.m.

event to a 3 p.m.-to-6 p.m. event in another town. Like Memorial Day and that first trip Up North, a graduation party is one of the surest signs of summer. A friend of mine who moved here years ago from parts farther west marveled for years about the tradition of the graduation open house. Each June, he'd say things like, "You know, they don't do this everywhere." He'd ask, "How did this get started?" Like everyone else around here, I have been going to graduation parties ever since I can remember.

I had one of my own. I couldn't begin to tell you what day it was, but I can tell you who was to his basketball days was on display. A picture of him in his dark blue cap and gown graced the center of his red-white-and-blue cake. Justin's party was just one of thousands that cram Michigan each June, one of hundreds I've attended, one of five scheduled so far this year, the second for our family in as many days. That beats other years, when I've found myself hustling from a 1 p.m.-to-5 Find just the event or attraction you're looking for at www.lsj.com.

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