What's New This Week? We have a winner! If you recall we've been running a little contest over the past two weeks to guess how many "S's" there were in the recipe for August 23rd's newsletter. The answer was 24 and there were quite an number of you that got it right. As promised this came down to a drawing. We wrote the names on little pieces of paper, put them in a box and Ken's brother Ron drew out the winner.
     And the winner is..... XXXXXXXXX. She will get to choose from either a RunnerDuck coffee mug or T-shirt from the RunnerDuck Goodies Store. We had fun with this little contest and will have more in the near future. Thanks to everyone that entered!

     It's time to play a little bit. We like multimedia of all types, music, video, graphics, etc. This week's site offers all of these and allows you to interact with them. They have a video section where you can create your own on-line video. The beat sensor is kind of fun to play with where you can change the backgrounds and add and remove different dancers. The most outrageous area is Karaoke. You can record your own rendition of many different songs and put them on-line for all to hear. You can also just listen to what other people have created. I'd warn you though that not all singers are created equal. It makes for a great laugh to hear what some people think a song should sound like.
     Have fun with this site. It's sort of like a playground for multimedia. While you are there check out the way that the characters eyes follows you mouse around, weird. Just go to www.oddcast.com and enjoy.

Sea Wreath

     After your summer trips and vacations you've probably collected shells at the beach and other goodies. Rather than just throw them into a shoebox how about displaying them for all to see.

CAUTION: Be careful with the hot melt glue gun or get your parents help.

Here's what you'll need:

A small grapevine wreath, you can get them at craft stores.
Raffia
Seashells or other small collectables. Hot melt glue

Wrap the grapevine wreath with the raffia. If you wrap it unevenly it adds interest to your project.
Glue or tie the ends of the raffia.
As a nice addition you can take a permanent marker pen and write the date inside a shell to remind you what year you collected all the neat stuff.
Glue your seashells or other small collectables to the wreath.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

Remember we have all of our past kids projects archived on our web site at www.runnerduck.com/kids_corner.htm.

      As long as we are on the subject of wreaths here's a great book for your collection. For young and old hobbyists alike, wreath making is a lovely intergenerational activity. The homemade wreaths and garlands inspired by this charming instructional will add gracious notes of welcome to any setting. It is spiral-bound with 300 color illustrations.
      You can get the Wreaths and Garlands for only $16.99 at the RunnerDuck Toy Store.

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The Tempos News and CD of the Week

     Welcome back Bob! As you may recall a few months ago Bob Ludwig, one of our trombone players had quadruple bypass surgery. He played a performance Sunday for the first time since that surgery and it sure was great to have him back. The band had a great time at the dance as usual. One of the fun things about the Tempos is all the banter that goes on during our performance. No stuffed shirts here!
     Don't forget that The Tempos big swing band is available for hire. If you have a special event that could use the wonderful music of a classic big band be sure to contact The Tempos at thetempos@runnerduck.com.

      Ken played a lot of rock and roll in the late 60's and one of the groups that was around then was Fleetwood Mac. I hadn't realized that they recorded as many albums as they did. They have a six CD box set of all the Blue Horizon recordings from 1967 through 1969. If you are a Fleetwood Mac fan you've got to get "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969"
      You can get "Fleetwood Mac - The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" this week for only $35.99. That's $3.99 off the regular price only at www.runnerduckmusic.bcentral-vstore.com

Click HERE for "Fleetwood Mac - The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" our featured CD of the week.

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JOKE OF THE WEEK

A guy stopped at a local gas station and, after filling his tank, he paid the bill and bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and watched a couple of men working along the roadside.
One man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. The other man came along behind him and filled in the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was 25 feet behind filling in the hole.
The men worked right past the guy with the soft drink and went on down the road. "I can't stand this," said the man tossing the can into a trash container and heading down the road toward the men.
"Hold it, hold it," he said to the men. "Can you tell me what's going on here with all this digging and refilling?"
"Well, we work for the government and we're just doing our job," one of the men said.
"But one of you is digging a hole and the other fills it up. You're not accomplishing anything. Aren't you wasting the taxpayers' money?"
"You don't understand, mister," one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping his brow. "Normally there's three of us: me, Elmer and Leroy. I dig the hole, Elmer sticks in the tree and Leroy, here, puts the dirt back. Elmer's job's been cut... so now it's just me an' Leroy"

We can thank Gordy H. for that fine review of hard workers.

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The RunnerDuck Goodies Store

     Check out our cool polo shirt at the RunnerDuck Goodies Store. There are lots of other neat RunnerDuck items also.

   THIS WEEKS FREE RECIPE

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

• 3/4 Cup Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Cup Shortening
• 6 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1/2 Cup Hot Water
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
• 1 Package Chocolate Chips coarsely rolled
• 1 Cup Quick Oats
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Mix shortening, Sugar and Eggs until fluffy.
Add dry ingredients and lastly Hot Water, Nuts, Chocolate and Vanilla.
Drop by teaspoons.
She didn't say it but I'd suggest dropping on wax paper and refrigerate.
These are really great!

Remember, if you have a recipe you'd like to share please send it to marilyn@runnerduck.com.

     Every month we post a new recipe on our web page. Be sure and check out our September recipe at the RunnerDuck Kitchen Store. We'd be happy to post your favorite recipe there or in our newsletter and give you credit. Just drop a line to marilyn@runnerduck.com

      Are your kids off to college and living in a house or apartment? Do they have a clue as to what to do in the kitchen? Well this cookbook might just be the lifesaver they've been looking for.
     For kids living on their own for the very first time, or kids on their own just for dinner, the kitchen looms at worst like a shark-infested lagoon, at best like a science lab they never took in school. There's food in there, but then what? It'll have to be cooked...or at least peeled. Probably both. "Clueless in the Kitchen": a Cookbook for Teens and Other Beginners, takes absolutely for granted that the kitchen is uncharted territory for most kids. In this funny and slightly off-the-wall book, Evelyn Raab, Today's Parent magazine's "Cooking with Kids" columnist (and the mother of two teens) leads culinary neophytes through the entire gamut of kitchen experience -- from cleaning a stove to outfitting a first kitchen (cheaply), from boiling an egg to planning an entire meal.
      You can find "Clueless in the Kitchen" at the RunnerDuck Cookbook Store this week for $1.46 off the regular price, great savings!

The RunnerDuck web site is hosted by

Child's Growth Picture Stick

     Now that our grandson is growing it's fun to measure his height to see how fast he is growing. This growth picture stick not only tracks his growth but provides a space for pictures so you can see what he looked like at a certain height.

Click on the picture for a bigger view

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/4" X 3" X 48" Poplar or other nice finish wood.
• 1/4" X 6" X 48" Poplar or other nice finish wood.
• Glue
• Paint

Cut the 3" wide piece of Poplar to two strips 1" wide and 1/2" wide, both 4' long.
You can make any kind of top for your project to make it look nicer. We chose, what else, a runner duck head from a previous project. You can get the pattern from our Wooden Runner Duck project web page.
Make the top so it takes up 4 1/2" at the top.
Cut the 1/2" and 1" pieces to match the length of the sides.
Cut the left over pieces to go in between the two sides.
Paint the sides. We chose white paint but they need to be painted so that the marking pen used for the ruler doesn’t bleed all over the place.
Using a marking pen, like a Sharppie, to lay out your ruler. We assumed that our project will hang 2 feet above the ground so our first one foot marker says 3 FT.
Glue the sides, top and bottom pieces onto the board.

Add a hanger to the back and you are ready to start tracking your little tike's growth.

     We are always looking for new projects to feature in our newsletter. If you have a project that you would like to share please drop us a line and we'll help get it published in the RunnerDuck review. We are looking for woodworking, gardening, crafts and kids projects so send us your thoughts at projects@runnerduck.com.

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CONSERVATION TIP

      Do you take your kids to school? That probably means that you also pick them up. A lot of times you have to wait a while before the kids finally make their way to your car. During this time turn the engine off. Not only will it save you gas but it will reduce the emissions dumped into the environment. If every parent in the country would do this can you imagine what a difference it would make?

If you have a conservation tip please send it to conservation@runnerduck.com and we'll post it in our newsletter.

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Until Next Time...

      Now the recovery begins. I'll be taking it easy and typing with one hand. If the typos increase just bear with me things will get back to normal soon.

     If you want to talk about something just drop us a line any time, we like to talk about most anything. We are always looking for content for our newsletter so if you have something to add we'd love to publish it. Assuming it meets our strict family oriented requirements!

     If you forward these newsletters to your friends just drop us a line and we'll do it for you. Just send us their email address and we'll do the rest. Remember, we never share our email list with anyone, period! Just drop me a line or go to our registration page and sign up your friend.

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The DuckMaster

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