From Dr. Seuss to Weather Investigators:  Rivermont Summer Enrichment Camp Has It All!               

Rivermont Collegiate's Summer Enrichment Camp is now accepting registrations! Classes are open to the entire Quad City community and are only $80 each.  Over 85 week-long classes are offered beginning June 10 for preschool through high school.  Students have the option of attending morning, afternoon, or the entire day.

Rivermont Summer Camp is a fantastic opportunity for local students to spend their summer doing everything from exploring computer programming to creating unique artwork to experimenting with science.  Popular classes include Robotics, Anatomy Academy, Olympic Sports, Spy Camp, Dr. Seuss, Harry Potter-ology, Young Actors' Studio, Web Design, and Photography.  Don't delay - classes will fill up!

Classes will be held on the Rivermont campus, located directly off 18th Street behind K&K Hardware in Bettendorf.  The entire catalog may be viewed online at www.RivermontCollegiate.org or contact Linda Paget at (563) 359-1366 for more information.
Supporters Call Agreement "A New National Model"

WHAT: Clergy and grassroots leaders from across the state of Illinois will gather at the new Mississippi River Bridge in prayer for fair and equal opportunities for minorities in the construction trades, and in celebration of the passing of the statewide Project Labor Agreement. The group will be joined by Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) officials, including Secretary Ann Schneider.

WHO: Clergy, low-wage workers, and leaders from Gamaliel: United Congregations of Metro East (UCM), Faith Coalition for the Common Good (FCCG) in Springfield, Quad Cities Interfaith (QCI), and Gamaliel of Metro Chicago; along with St. Louis affiliates Metropolitan Congregations United.

Others scheduled to be in attendance include IDOT Secretary Ann Schneider, ESL Mayor Alvin Parks, and Washington Park Mayor James Jones.

WHERE:1st Street and Exchange Avenue - East St. Louis, Illinois

WHEN: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 1:00pm
DETAILS: An agreement between the Labor Unions and IDOT, the statewide Project Labor Agreement (PLA) lays out the baseline goals for state-funded roads and bridge projects. Grassroots leaders from Gamaliel of Illinois have served as the voice of the community throughout the drafting process of the PLA to ensure that it would benefit low income and minority citizens across the state. With the looming sequester, the community leaders are calling for a prioritization of transportation funding.

This event is a part of Gamaliel's National campaign, "Fire of Faith: Rekindling Our Congregations, Rekindling Our Economy, Rekindling Our Democracy" which seeks to move 1 million people nationwide into living wage jobs by 2015.

Leading up to the press conference, members of the local affiliate, United Congregations of Metro East, will host a bus tour of the East St. Louis community and the local constructions sites along with Secretary Ann Schneider and other IDOT officials. They will meet at Good Shepherd of Faith UCC (1514 Kansas Ave. ESL) at 10:00am.

###

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement today marking the tenth anniversary of the Iraq War.  Loebsack is the only member from the Iowa delegation to serve on the Armed Services Committee and has traveled to Iraq three times.  During his visits, Loebsack met with troops and commanders on the ground and brought a touch of home to the troops by presenting them with care packages made by Iowa students.

"As we reflect on the tenth anniversary of the Iraq War we thank the men and women who served for their bravery and selflessness.  We must also remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country and honor their memory. We must pay tribute to the families of the more than one million troops who served in Iraq.  Though the war has ended, we still have a great responsibility here at home.  We must ensure that our servicemembers, who served with such dedication and honor, receive nothing but the best medical care and support, and that those looking for civilian jobs are able to find them."

"After ten years, 4,475 lives lost, more than 32,000 injured and more than a trillion dollars spent, there are many lessons that we as a nation must take away from the war.  But none is as important as making sure our troops have the tools necessary to stay safe on the battlefield and those who have returned have access to the services they need when they come home.  As a member of the Armed Services Committee and a military parent, I work every day to ensure our men and women who volunteer to defend our country are taken care of, whether here at home or when they are overseas."

###

Spiral Dynamics is a theory of human development introduced in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. The book was based on the theory of psychology professor Clare W. Graves.

Spiral Dynamics argues that human nature is not fixed: humans are able, when forced by life conditions, to adapt to their environment by constructing new, more complex, conceptual models of the world that allow them to handle the new problems.Each new model transcends and includes all previous models. According to Beck and Cowan, these conceptual models are organized around so-called Memes: systems of core values or collective intelligences, applicable to both individuals and entire cultures.

Independent Scholar Michael Grady will describe how he has interpreted the Spiral in his own life development, while inviting co-learners to share their own viewpoints.

Independent Scholars Evenings. 7.00 p.m.
Thursday.
1530 Fifth Avenue. Moline. Illinois 309-762-9202 or 762-8547
Doors open at 6.30 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
Dress code: business casual.
Elevators are located through the 16th Street entrance. Please call. The doors are closed after 7.00 p.m. for security reasons.
The Institute for Cultural and Healing Traditions, LTD is a 501(c)3 at State and Federal level organization under US laws since 1996.
Please visit www.qcinstitute.org to see our archives.

Please visit the Phoenix Art Gallery, specializing in American Midwest Art.
Current show is the Art of  BILL MARSOUN in the Phoenix,  Photography by
DARREN MILLER in the Dragon and the mixed media of AMBER WILLIAMS at the Artisan Adventure, Gauche, oils and photography by ANNA  ENGELBRECHT at The Artisan Adventure,  The jewelry of  KIRAN YARLA and ELSA ROMERO is available at The Artisan Adventure.

The galleries will be open at 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. on Thursday March 21st. 2013

The Institute for Cultural and Healing Traditions, LTD is a 501(c)3 at State and

Federal level organization under US laws since 1996. Please visit www.qcinstitute.org to see our archives.

Contributions may be sent  to:
The Institute for Cultural and Healing Traditions, Ltd.
1530 Fifth. Avenue. Moline. IL 61265

Today, millions of Americans are suffering hardship due to the toughest economic downturn since the Great Depression 80 years ago. Unemployment remains critically high, near 8 percent, even though companies and the stock market are doing very well.

But the challenges Americans on Main Street continue to face pale in comparison to those endured by Daniel Milstein, who immigrated to the United States as a teenager from Kiev, Ukraine, during the last days of the USSR's control of the Eastern Bloc.

"Everything was different; the food, the clothing and even the new English alphabet I was to learn, which has 26 letters instead of the 33 that I was used to," says Milstein, author of "17 Cents and a Dream," (www.danmilstein.com). "My family was allowed to leave with only one suitcase and $75 each - plus I had 17 cents for the postage necessary to send a letter to my friend in Ukraine."

Impoverished, confused, feeling like an outsider and unable to speak English, Milstein did what he knew best - hard work. He would start by studying relentlessly and picking up every shift he could at the local McDonalds. Eventually, he received his bachelor's degree with Cum Laude honors in business management and Honorary Doctorate Degree from Cleary University. Dan Milstein became the founder and CEO of Gold Star Financial, the 42nd largest residential lender in the country.

Milstein and his company have continued to thrive throughout the recession, thanks in part to the lessons he learned as an immigrant. He offers these tips for making yourself recession-proof:

• Land of opportunity: Despite his disadvantage, Milstein was able to see the positives and the opportunities -- he was, after all, in America, where individual effort and initiative could be rewarded. Americans have the freedom to pursue a gamut of jobs; accepting those that require little skill may not pay well, but as long as you continue to educate yourself, they can be viewed as a steppingstone.

• Good, old-fashioned hard work: Like many of America's previous generations, including those from the Great Depression, nothing was given to Milstein, who sometimes worked from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. at McDonalds as a teenager. Even though he's on top of his company, "I still work harder than anyone else," he says. He also makes sure he knows each of his employees and clients, and that they're happy.

• Understanding the culture of your environment: Even while in Kiev, Milstein and his family were outsiders because of their Jewish heritage. There, he had to understand the culture and adapt, just as he did when he came to the United States. It can be challenging to recognize when cultural tendencies that you've grown up with clash with those in an adopted culture, but Milstein paid attention. When he realized that his brusque, Soviet way of doing business was turning off his U.S. customers, he worked on being warmer, friendlier, and a better listener.

• Listen to your elders: Milstein's mother taught him to always work five times harder than everyone else because "being Jewish, it will always be an uphill battle." His grandfather told him to guard his name and his reputation - "the only things you have in this world" and that he could become whatever he wanted, provided he was willing to work for it. As an adult, built found a mentor in an older business woman. One of the most valuable lessons she taught him was to "slow down and chew my food" - to take the time to enjoy life.

"Certain things can be taken away from you in your life - the recession has proved this true for many people," Milstein says. "But there are also characteristics and personality traits that can be yours, unbroken by other people or shifting circumstances, for the rest of your life."

About Daniel Milstein

Daniel Milstein came to the United States with a handful of change as a teenager and eventually founded Gold Star Financial, which in 2009 was listed as one of Inc. Magazine's 500 Fastest Growing Companies. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Milstein endured an oppressive government in the U.S.S.R., religious persecution and life-and-death situations, including living in the fallout of Chernobyl, the deadliest nuclear meltdown in human history. He worked his way from scrubbing toilets at a McDonald's restaurant to running one of the fastest growing financial firms in the United States.

'A Strong State Based Health Insurance Marketplace Levels the Playing Field for Small Businesses'
(Springfield) - State Senator Dave Koehler and other Senators, along with members of the Campaign for Better Health Care's Small Business Health Care Consortium including Springfield small business owner Mark Burris, President Larry Ivory of the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce, and Linda Forman for the National Association of Women Business Owners Chicago convened today in Springfield to address the need for a state based health insurance marketplace in Illinois that offers strong protections for small businesses and consumers and accountability of the insurance industry, and expressed their support for Senate Bill 34 (SB34.)
Mark Burris of Springfield, the owner of MCCE Investments and owner of seven Subway Sandwich franchises, said "Small businesses need a level playing field and there must be checks and balances with the insurance companies."
Burris continued, " Financing of the health insurance exchange under SB34, Amendment 1 is through assessments of the insurers, as it should be.  The insurance industry will benefit from the tax dollars used to create the infrastructure of the how the exchange is set up.  It is only appropriate that they finance the day to day operations of the insurance health marketplace when an estimated one million new insurance customers will be purchasing private health insurance."
SB34 establishes a robust, pro-consumer and pro-small business health insurance marketplace in Illinois. The health insurance marketplace will be the one-stop insurance shop for more than a million Illinoisans. SB34 ensures that the marketplace is governed by a diverse board that represents women, small businesses, communities of color, labor, public health, people with disabilities, and consumers, and provides for accountability of the insurance industry selling plans on the new marketplace.

Speaking on behalf of the National Association of Women Business Owners Chicago (NAWBO Chicago), Linda Forman said, "The Small Business Health Care Consortium and NAWBO agree that who sits on the insurance exchange governing board is very important.  We believe that a statewide governing board will be better able to understand the needs of women and the diversity of backgrounds and geography of small businesses throughout this state if the governing board is composed of the types of people who will be using the health insurance exchange marketplace."
On November 16, 2012, the State of Illinois filed a "blueprint" with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  It stated that beginning January 1, 2014, Illinois would embark on a State-Federal Partnership Marketplace (exchange), and then a State Marketplace beginning on January 1, 2015.  For Illinois to embark on a State Marketplace the Illinois General Assembly must enact legislation establishing a state Governing Board, and the financing of the operations of a State Marketplace.  SB34 would fulfill this requirement and would establish an effective, fair, balanced and accountable marketplace.
"Having insurance companies go through a certification process that is open to the public and small businesses, in which they can be held more accountable for their accessibility to services, quality and most of all the prices that they charge, is long overdue," said Larry Ivory, President of the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce, an SBHCC member.  "Small businesses owners want a health insurance exchange marketplace that will be able to contain costs and be easier to understand."
ADDENDA
View statements (PDF) from:
# # #
About the Small Business Health Care Consortium
As a project of the Campaign for Better Health Care, we are a tax-exempt, non-partisan coalition of small businesses that serves to educate about the impact of health reform, encourage small business friendly legislation and regulation and enable the collective voice of small businesses to have a direct impact on controlling health care costs in Illinois.  www.cbhconline.org/smallbusiness

About Campaign for Better Health Care
We believe that accessible, affordable, quality health care is a basic human right for all people.  The Campaign for Better Health Care is the state's largest coalition representing over 300 diverse organizations, organizing to help create and advocate for an accessible, quality health care system for all.  For more information, visit www.cbhconline.org.
Campaign for Better Health Care

CHICAGO - As part of his commitment to creating jobs and driving Illinois' economy forward, Governor Quinn today launched the Illinois Creative Economy Initiative. The initiative will explore innovative strategies to grow the $2.7 billion creative economy in Illinois, which employs thousands of people and is a key driver of tourism to our state. The governor made today's announcement at the Illinois Arts Alliance's "Make Art Work" forum, where he highlighted the significant positive impact the arts have on Illinois' economy.

"Culture means business in Illinois," Governor Quinn said. "This initiative will strengthen our creative economy in Illinois, which will create more economic growth and make Illinois an even more vibrant place to live and raise a family."

The Creative Economy Initiative will be led by Ra Joy, who will work to bring all stakeholders together to identify and deploy strategies to boost a variety of arts and strengthen their role in the state's economy. Joy has served as executive director of the Illinois Arts Alliance since 2007, and has been an advocate, community organizer and coalition builder for various arts causes for more than 15 years. He also serves on the Chicago Cultural Advisory Council.

According to the Illinois Arts Alliance, the arts contribute at least $2.75 billion annually to our economy, creating more than $300 million in state and local tax revenue and supporting 78,000 full-time equivalent jobs for artists, managers, marketers, designers, carpenters and other related professions. In addition to their direct positive impact, studies show that the arts are a magnet for business and attract companies that want to lure high-skilled employees by locating in places that offer strong cultural amenities like museums, theaters, dance companies and orchestras. Those institutions are also a strong driver of tourism, with cultural tourists spending an average of two and a half times more on event-related expenses than local residents. Illinois hosted a record 93.3 million out-of-state visitors in 2011, a 10 percent increase from 2010.

Governor Quinn long supported the creative economy in Illinois and was awarded the 2012 Public Leadership in the Arts Award from Americans for the Arts. Throughout his career in public service, he has worked to ensure that all Illinois residents have meaningful opportunities to experience and participate in the arts. He has also kept Illinois at the cutting edge of the creative economy by supporting strategic incentives like the Illinois Film Tax Credit and the Live Theater Tax Credit.

Additionally, through his Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program, Governor Quinn has delivered vital funding for numerous arts projects around the state. Projects funded by the program include new performing arts centers at Western Illinois University and Rock Valley College as well as Chicago's Black Ensemble Theater and Cinespace Studios, which has been home to many Illinois-based productions including Chicago Fire and the upcoming feature film Divergent, which alone is expected to bring 1,000 jobs and $30 million in local spending.

For more information about the Creative Economy Initiative, visit CreativeEconomy.illinois.gov.

###

Meet the new Davenport Public Library Director, Mr. KennethWayne Thompson, on Thursday, April 11, 2013 from 4 - 6:30 p.m. at the Fairmount Branch Library (3000 N. Fairmount Street).  This reception is open to the general public and gives residents a chance to meet the newest leader in the Quad Cities.  Please join the staff, library board, and FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library in welcoming Mr. KennethWayne Thompson to our community!  Light refreshments will be served.  KennethWayne starts as library director on Monday, April 8.

For more information contact Steve Hart, PR & Marketing Coordinator at (563) 328-6833.

The 2009 International Blues Challenge winner J.P Soars will be playing a show sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society on Wednesday, March 27th at Martini's On The Rock, 4619 34th Street, Rock Island IL. Showtime is 7:00; admission is $10, $8 for MVBS members.

J.P. Soars and his band The Red Hots not only won the International Blues Challenge in'09, but that same year J.P. got the coveted Albert King Award for "Most Promising Guitarist". Since then the raves have continued to roll in with Mr. Soars garnering a Blues Music Award nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Artist of 2012, based mostly on his new release, More Bees With Honey.

And if you'd like a little taste of this year's upcoming MVBS Fest 2013, make an effort to come to Martini's and give a listen to this guitarist extraordinaire, who will be teamed with slide guitarist Damon Fowler and pianist Victor Wainwright in an all-star band called Southern Hospitality who will headline the Tent Stage on Thursday July 4th at 10:00 p.m.

And if that still isn't enough to entice you, come see J.P. play his homemade, 2-string cigar box guitar for some very old-time blues.

jp soars 2.jpg

The 32nd Annual Quad Cities Holocaust Remembrance, known as Yom HaShoah, will be held
Sunday, April 7, at 7 p.m. at Temple Emanuel, 1115 Mississippi Avenue in Davenport. The speaker
for this year's community-wide commemoration, Joe Koek, was born in 1930 in The Hague, Holland.
Joe, his parents and two sisters were hidden by the Dutch resistance in a secret apartment, until his parents were arrested and sent to Auschwitz. Fearing the parents might be tortured to give up the children's location, the underground separated them, sending Joe to a farm in a hamlet known as Zevenhuizen.

Joe changed his name and lived as a Protestant, the teenager posing as the farm couple's "distant
cousin visiting from Amsterdam." In the fall of 1944, Joe broke his leg and was sent to a hospital, where he was recovering when the Nazis - now being pushed east by advancing U.S. and British forces - liquidated the town.

Thanks to Joe's "lucky break," he was saved from the liquidation and later moved twice, landing
finally in Oosterzee, where he lived until liberation. After the war, Joe spent six years at a Jewish
orphanage, where he was reunited with his sisters. Today, one of Joe's sisters lives in Amsterdam and the other in Chicago, not far from Joe. Both of their parents were killed in Auschwitz.

In conjunction with this year's Remembrance, the Yom HaShoah Committee is again partnering
with the Geifman Endowment in Holocaust Studies at Augustana College to present a public lecture by
Joe Koek on Monday, April 8, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Augustana's Wallenberg Hall, located in the
Denkmann Memorial Building, 3520 7th Avenue in Rock Island. Whereas during the Yom HaShoah
Memorial Mr. Koek will share a message of remembrance and hope, in the Geifman Lecture he will
present a more complete account of his experiences during the Holocaust.

Also during this year's Remembrance, the Yom HaShoah Committee of the Quad Cities will present
its Richard A. Swanson Hope for Humanity Award to Ida Kramer, former executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities and longtime Holocaust educator. The Hope for Humanity Award has only been presented six times in the 32-year history of the Remembrance, most recently in 2008 to Alan Egly, executive director of the Doris and Victor Day and Rauch Family Foundations.

GENERAL BACKGROUND
(The following background information was compiled from a variety of sources, including Every Person's Guide to Judaism by Stephen J. Einstein and Lydia Kukoff, 1989, UAHC Press, New York.)

ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST:
Prior to World War II, approximately 8.7 million Jews lived in Europe. By war's end, some six million of them had been systematically murdered by Nazi Germany and its allies.

A crime of such horrendous proportions could not have been perpetrated in a vacuum. Centuries of anti-Jewish teachings - either promulgated or countenanced by churches and states - created fertile ground for the seed of Nazi hatred to flourish. The people of Europe had been conditioned to despise Jews and see them as something less than human. Thus, many could rationalize the elimination of the Jews not as murder, but as the removal of an unwelcome element of their society.

Millions of people from many ethnic backgrounds were killed in Nazi extermination camps, but Adolf Hitler ordered that ferocious intensity be brought to bear in reaching his goal of destroying the Jewish people. In his terminology, it was the "final solution to the Jewish problem." The murder of six million Jews, including one and a half million children, has branded the names of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Majdanek and many more camps into the memories of the generation that witnessed the Holocaust and those who have learned of it since.

ABOUT YOM HASHOAH:
Yom HaShoah, or "Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust," occurs every year in communities around the world. While it is primarily observed by Jews, it is by no means an exclusive commemoration, as witnessed by the community-wide event held here in the Quad Cities.

We remember the Holocaust not simply because it is a Jewish tragedy. We talk about it because we
believe the world must not be allowed to forget that twelve million innocent human beings, six million of them Jews, were murdered by the Nazis. Yom HaShoah seeks to ensure that a crime of such proportions will never be allowed to happen again. We keep the memory of the Holocaust alive to guard against the wanton destruction of any people.

In the Quad Cities, Yom HaShoah has been observed annually since 1982. The committee which organizes the observance was initially formed by representatives of the Quad Cities' Jewish and Christian communities, and has maintained ecumenism in its membership and mission ever since. Sponsors of the 2010 Yom HaShoah service include the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, Temple Emanuel, Tri-City Jewish Center, Churches United, Augustana College and St. Ambrose University. It is believe to be the oldest continuing interfaith Yom HaShoah commemoration.

All persons of faith are encouraged to attend.

Media: For more information, please contact Allan Ross at 309.793.1300, or Kai Swanson at 309.794.7419.

Pages