Many of you may not think of – or even be aware of – America’s lightly remembered holiday: “Flag Day”. Although Americans across the nation celebrate America’s birthday every July, a lesser-observed holiday is the “birthday” of our flag, celebrated on June 14th. The Continental Congress passed a resolution adopting the “Stars and Stripes” as the official national flag on June 14, 1777..

The resolution stated that the banner would carry thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, representing the number of original colonies that existed at the time of our independence from Great Britain. The red stripes were chosen to represent hardiness and valor; the white stripes for purity and innocence, and the blue backdrop for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

Formalization of a day specifically set aside to honor America’s ensign of freedom is credited to a Wisconsin school teacher, Mr. BJ Cigrand, who set a formal program into motion. In 1885, it was Cigrand’s desire to give homage to the flag on the 108th anniversary of its adoption. He held the first publicly-recognized formal observance at Stony Hill School, a small, one-room schoolhouse in Waubeka, Wisconsin. In June, 1886, Cigrand publicly proposed an annual observance of the birth of the flag and from the late 1880’s on, he spoke around the country on patriotism, respect for the flag, and the importance of honoring our nation’s most beloved symbol of freedom.

On June 14, 1894, a public school children’s celebration of Flag Day took place in Chicago, with over 300,000 children participating – due, in large part, to Cigrand’s speeches on patriotism and the flag. And while many others contributed to the promotion of a patriotic observance, Cigrand became president of the American Flag Day Association and, later, the National Flag Day Society. At one time he noted he had given over 2,188 patriotic speeches. BJ Cigrand is generally credited as “the Father of Flag Day” and the Chicago Tribune noted that he “almost single-handedly” established the holiday.

In June, 1776, Betsy Ross was commissioned by George Washington to sew the first official flag to replace the

many different flags flown by the fledging country. In 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day observance and has since been a predominant site for annual Flag Day celebrations. On August 3, 1949, June 14th was officially established as National Flag Day by an Act of Congress under President Harry S. Truman.

Although many of us may not have given much thought to Flag Day in the past, it just might be that June 14, 2011 is a good time to pull out “The Grand Old Flag” again and just let her wave from now through July 4th !

‘… you’re a high-flyin’ flag and forever in peace may you wave!’

FLAG DAY…THE “BIRTHDAY” OF OUR FLAG

JUNE 2011

Funny Bone

“A cheerful heart is good medicine…” Proverbs 17:22

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way

to Better Hearing…

Ahhh…the joys of being a baby-boomer! Since I, my siblings – and so many of my friends – have crested the “hill” that we are now spilling over in large numbers, I’m hearing more and more amusing anecdotes to pass along.

The other day my husband and I went out for Mexican food with friends. Sheila told us how she and her husband, Gary, have been fighting the Battle of the Bulge by eating salads for dinner. Gary has taken to the task of making the salads and has been finding ways to make them particularly enjoyable. During our festive Mexican meal, Sheila bragged on Gary’s special salads; Gary soaked up the praise until he misunderstood two words.

Having eaten a hefty burrito, Sheila remarked, “Gary and I will have to eat soup and salad all week to make up for all these calories tonight!”

Gary teasingly huffed, “Ah! The truth comes out! You just told them you like my salads!”

Sheila looked at him quizzically. “I do…” she assured him. To which Gary answered, “Then what do you mean, ‘We’ll have to eat stupid salad all week’?”

A few good chuckles later, I talked Gary into a hearing test. See you next week, Gary!

“Buddy’s Bio” Our family schedule has been extremely busy the past few weeks and I hadn’t yet had a chance to meet the new neighbors – until we had a good reason: Buddy !

Recently I have been traveling to business conventions, looking at all the new technologies for hearing aids for 2011. That leaves Mariela home alone with Luke, Daniel, and yes… Buddy.

The house next door had been up for sale for many months. Finally the house sold at rock-bottom price.

(That hurts the old equity!) I don’t know why, but for some reason, I silently sort of blamed the new buyers for the entire real estate problem. Not to say that someone else wouldn’t have bought the house for the same reduced price, but since they are the ones who bought it, it makes me feel better to blame them.

Once the purchase is made, the whole process starts with all of the construction people coming to update the home before the new residents move in. This is always a nuisance! Noise at six a.m. sharp; all of the strangers coming and going, and never sure what they’re doing here in the first place – while taking all of the parking spots in front of our house.

One of the last services to arrive was the landscapers. They ripped everything out of the large planter in front of the house. Of course, I’m away at the hearing convention, and each day Buddy would go over and dig up about half of what was planted after they had left for the day. I mean, actually unearthing the new plants from the roots – and deeper. The workers would bring more new plants and Buddy would wait until they would leave and dig them up again. I’m not real sure what he was after, but when I heard about this, I had to believe that Buddy shared my thoughts about all of this housing mess and was getting a small token of revenge on the market.

Unaware of Buddy ‘s newest escapade, I fly in from out of town midday and come home. As you know, I work every day of the week, so to be home in the middle of the week is a real treat for me. The kids are at school, the neighbors are at work. Maybe I can relax for a while. I pull my suitcase out of the car and start into the house. I hear an unfamiliar voice say those same words I have heard echoing from the past, “Is this your dog?” I turn around to see a lady holding a very dirty-pawed but happy-looking Buddy.

“Yes; that’s ‘Buddy’ “, I say. Holding Buddy out to me, she responds,

“Yes, I know his name. I’m your new neighbor, Jodi. Buddy has been

out every day getting into my planter.” Buddy shows no remorse.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize, as I take Buddy from her and introduce myself – all the while thinking, “Jodi, you have no idea what you’re up against. It’s likely you’ll see a lot of Buddy ; you might as well get used

to it.” Taking Buddy ’s cue, I’m ashamed to admit that I, too, feel no remorse. “Nice to meet you,” I pretend. I’ll warm up to them tomorrow…

JUNE...SCHOOL’S OUT! Maybe that’s why these

discombobulated definitions and measurements got past the teachers…

Megahertz: a million aches and pains

Hospital: I.V. League

Paradigms: 8 nickels

C-Ration: meal measured to feed 100

Benign: what you’ll be after eight

Balderdash: rapidly receding hairline Semicolon: half of a large intestine Megaphone: 1 million microphones

Unicycle: 365.25 days

Megacycle: 1 million bicycles

Avoidable: what a bullfighter tries to do

Microfiche: 1 millionth of a fish

Myth: a female moth

Centipede: odor from a wet diaper

Terrapin: 1 trillion pins

Eternity: last two minutes of a football game

Diagram: 2 monograms

Paradox: 2 physicians

WonTon: 2000 lbs of Chinese soup

Microscope: 1 millionth of a swig a mouthwash

Circumference of an Alaskan igloo: 1 Eskimo Pi

16.5 feet into the Twilight Zone: 1 Rod Serling

Basic Unit of Laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower

Weight an evangelist’s prayers carries with God: 1 billigram

How long you’ll be at sea to sail 220 yards, at one nautical mile per hour: Knotfurlong

Shortest pathway between two jokes: A straight line

Many of these came from our very faithful friend, Lyn Rosenfield. She often shares her sense of humor with us and we sincerely appreciate the items any of our readers pass on to us. Keep reading! Yours may show up next!

SAY SO LONG TO SOPHOMORIC SOPHISTICATION – HELLO, HIGH TECH!

Some of you have recently called our office to schedule an appointment with me, only to find out I was out traveling to different business events. Each spring, hearing instrument manufacturers – that spend millions of dollars in research, development, and testing of new products – roll out their newest technologies and designs, revealing the latest innovations in their hearing systems. After attending the recent seminars and conventions, this year is the best I have ever seen!

Some years, there may be only one specific manufacturer that has a significant breakthrough. This year, all of them have new products that are far superior to the products offered just last year! Impressively, the time required from idea conception to having a viable working product for consumer purchase has become a remarkably fast process. I don’t have the space here to go into details from each company specifically, but I will share some of the highlights:

Phonak has always been a company with a vision for wireless communication. One of my favorite Behind-the- Ear wireless systems is the “SmartLink”. This hand-held remote control is also an FM transmitter! You can position it in many different places to pick up the sounds you want to hear, i.e. next to the TV, on a speaker’s podium at a luncheon or around the neck of a tour guide – with their permission of course! This way, the sound signal is sent directly into your hearing aids. This “SmartLink” also links to your phone, so you can hear a phone conversation with both ears!

Oticon has really come a long way with providing solutions for patients to understand speech in noisy environments. With their ConnectLine hardware, you can hear your TV right in your own hearing aids, and the telephone can be heard with BlueTooth technology when you wear the “streamer” (wireless remote) around your neck. The hearing aids vary in size, color and power to fit almost any hearing loss.

ReSound announced a new system that provides a 2.4 gigahertz signal technology that can pick up a wireless signal from your television so you can hear your favorite programs and hear the conversation of someone in the room with you. The new special feature of ReSound’s product is the Remote Wireless Microphone that the speaker you want to hear can wear, transmitting their voice directly into your hearing aids!

Of course, we highlighted Audibel’s wireless Range product earlier this year, when it was introduced in January. Again, the innovative and very sophisticated technology that is being used to provide you with the best that hearing aids can offer in the 21st century makes our job more fun and exciting all the time – and more successful for you!

I will continue to highlight more exciting options from different manufacturers in next month’s issue. Can’t wait until next month? Call us today to find out how these ground-breaking technologies can improve your life.

REMEMBER TO LOOK FOR OUR “HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW” HEART.

FIND IT AND GET A PRIZE!

(MAY’S HEART ENCIRCLED LADY’S HEAD AT MOVIES)

YOU SAID IT!

Straight From Our Customer’s Heart:

‘I love these new Audibel hearing

aids. Now when I’m in my jewelry class,

I can hear the instructor. I love that I can

change the aids so I can hear the ladies

in front of me instead of the people

behind me. I can actually hear both

male and female voices. It used to be I

couldn’t hear women. Now I don’t have

to tell women to speak up and men to

slow down. Thank you all.’

Yours truly, Mildred Pendlay Dana Point

A MONTH OF CELEBRATION – CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU!

FOR EVERYONE:

BATTERY TESTER: ½ PRICE! $7.00 SAVINGS!

COUPON GOOD THRU JUNE 30, 2011

BASEBALL WORD SEARCH (Circ le the Basebal l Terms –

Any 15 Out of 18 Wins a Pr ize! )

TESTING… TESTING… Can You Hear Me Now?

When we lose our hearing sensitivity, the cilla hair cells can never be replaced to restore perfectly normal hearing. Everyone understands that part. Many of you have heard me here in the office say, “You can’t get a dollar out of 99 cents”, but the truth is, we sure want to get all of that 99 cents! That has always been a goal of mine: to provide the very best hearing humanly possible with hearing aids for every customer who comes into my office. But how do you know that we have reached the top level of performance of your hearing aids for you? Let me give you a free “H.I.N.T.” (“Hearing In Noise Test”) This is a good test for us to use after the initial fitting period to see how well you hear and understand words when there is external, interfering noise. To assure you that we have given you the most you can get from your hearing aids, we will simulate noisy environments such as restaurants, party conversation, construction work or traffic noise and test how you hear in these difficult situations. While you have lost some hearing, this test will show how much better you do hear with your aids. Take our free H.I.N.T. Call us today!

A FATHER’S LOVE… When he comes home all excited By giving all he can Fathers seldom say, “I love you”, With a poorly wrapped surprise. To make some secret dream come true ‘Though the feeling’s always there. A father says, “I love you” Or follow through a plan But somehow those three little words With his strong, helping hands - A father’s seldom-spoken love Are the hardest ones to share. With a smile when you’re in trouble - Sounds clearly through the years - And fathers say “I love you” With the way he understands. Sometimes in peals of laughter - In ways that words can’t match - He says, “I love you” haltingly Sometimes through happy tears. With tender bedtime stories - With awkward tenderness Perhaps dads have to speak their love Or a friendly game of catch! (It’s hard to help a four-year-old In a fashion all their own You can see the words "I love you" into a party dress.) Because the love that fathers feel In a father's boyish eyes, He speaks his love unselfishly, Is too big for words alone.

3

ADVANCED EAR CARE 24310 Moulton Pkwy., Ste. D Laguna Woods, CA 92637

(949) 830-5330 E-mail: sherillf@advancedear.com Website: www.advancedearcare.com

LOONEY LAW: Mtn View, CA: It is illegal to give your pet fish an aggressive name such as ‘Killer’.’Biter’ or ‘Sugar-Ray’.

‘

FUN FACT: The U.S. military used toilet tissue to camouflage their tanks in Saudi Arabia during ‘Desert Storm’.

SHORTSTOP

GLOVE

STRIKE

PINCH HIT

DUGOUT

THROW

FOUL BALL

CATCHER

RUNNER

FIELD

STADIUM

FENCE

HOME PLATE

MAJOR LEAGUE

CURVE BALL

INNING

BATTER

BUNT