Dinwiddie Loses 900 Jobs as Southside Virginia Training Center (1st of 4) CLOSES

Boydton Loses Jobs Due to Prisons Closing [salvation through incarceration]

Galax Sees Job Growth [31] Due to Vaughan-Bassett Furniture

Lynchburg based Tessy Plastics Expanding

Look for our hashtag on Twitter. #wherearethejobsSOVA

Professional camcorder is now available to make professional video footage available!  We are a growing thing, and we are just getting started!

Smile on southside!

You grateful founder and editor,

Dawn Dickson Van Ness

Friend of The Virginia Reel Sends Picture of Their Chili - Bistro Confetti Style!

Thanks Beau for letting us know how well the chili was!  The guacamole was a nice touch!

Dawn Dickson Van Ness is a graduate of Longwood University and Virginia Commonwealth University.  She holds a BA in English and a MS in Mass Communications, Multimedia Journalism.  Born in Virginia, she moved to southside Virginia officially in 2006 and currently lives and loves in Blackstone, Virginia.

The Virginia Reel is an online magazine she originally founded as a place to put her graduate work, however she was  always inspired to do more.

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Websites

http://www.dawnvanness.me

http://www.shylightmedia.com

http://dawnvanness.wordpress.com/

Articles

http://www.thevirginiareel.com/2011/12/18/the-property-1985/

Her previous experience includes internships at Longwood University, Wildlife Alliance, and Potomac Conservancy. Her skills include public relations, writing and editing organizational publications and websites, and contributing to social networking efforts.

Websites

Blog: www.dailypearlva.blogspot.com

Articles

http://www.thevirginiareel.com/2012/01/14/zoos-and-tiger-conservation/

Stalking Tiger. Free graphic from cksinfo.com

Ask a child to describe a tiger and they will explain what they’ve seen in movies, on television, or in a zoo; however, tigers are so much more than that. Nowadays, the only way most people experience a tiger’s presence is to visit a zoo, like the Metro Richmond Zoo in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Zoos play such an important role in the lives of children and the animals they care for; zoos give children the opportunity to see rare and endangered species up close while, at the same time, their wild counterparts may be experiencing declining populations.

Zoos benefit the animals within by educating the public on what obstacles animals in the wild face on a daily basis.

Tiger Facts

Tigers are one of the largest and most majestic species of big cats ever to roam the earth, yet their populations continue to decline at a rapid rate. Currently, the World Wildlife Fund estimates that the tiger’s overall population has dropped more than 95% since the start of the 20^th century.

There is no way to know exact numbers, but WWF estimates that population numbers are down from 100,000 to currently as few as 3,200 individual tigers worldwide. Patrick J. Kiger explores this issue in his National Geographic article, “Tigers in Crisis,” and comments that as recently as 70 years ago there were nine different subspecies of tigers roaming the territory stretching from eastern Turkey to Siberia. Today, however, three of those varieties—the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers—are extinct, and the remaining six—Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, South China, and Sumatran—are in very serious trouble.

Tigers are in danger of extinction due to the illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from illegal logging and commercial plantations, small diversity of prey due to overhunting, and human-tiger conflicts brought on by human encroachment.

The illegal wildlife trade buys and sells tiger pelts and bones for trophies and medicinal use. Mike and Peggy Briggs, coauthors of Wild Cats, provide details about how “tiger meat, said to taste of veal, is eaten in Malaya to ‘cure’ debility of the spleen or stomach. Elsewhere in Asia eating tiger parts is supposed to impart the creature’s courage and treat a multiplicity of ills. In Taiwan tiger ‘wine’ is made from the bones” (2011). Tigers now persist in less than 7% of their historic range. Wild Cats goes on to explain that “the most recent estimates mean there are more tigers in zoos and circuses around the world than there are in the wild” (2011).

Current Tiger Population

Much of the current tiger population is held in captivity in an effort to protect future numbers. Zoos and captivity programs allow scientists to do vital research concerning a tiger’s health, behavior, habits, and genetics. The research done in zoos directly helps scientists in the field track and observe tigers in the wild, better enabling a tiger conservation plan. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is “a non-profit 501c(3) organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation” and these AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums become leaders in the protection of endangered species. AZA established the Species Survival Plan Program (SSP) twenty years ago which includes “a long-term plan involving conservation breeding, habitat preservation, public education, field conservation, and supportive research to ensure survival for many of the planet’s threatened and endangered species.”

There are currently 116 SSPs working on behalf of 172 species.

The AZA Tiger SSP Tiger Conservation Campaign describes just how powerful a force zoos can be for tiger conservation. Tigers are one of the most popular zoo animals visitors come to see each year; this grants them the ultimate opportunity to engage people and raise both tiger awareness and funding for the cause. Zoos have various ways visitors can help tigers in the wild on their daily visit; for example, give a donation at a tiger-themed coin wishing well or in donation boxes located at gift shops or food concession stands.

It only takes one trip to the zoo, one afternoon may be enough to create the next animal ambassador; all it takes is the desire to see change and to educate those around you in the hopes that you inspire that change. Take a visit to your local zoo, the Metro Richmond Zoo, and see what efforts you can do to save tigers in the wild.

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Websites I referenced/quoted or thought would interest readers:

Yummy comes in many forms, but my favorite winter treat is my hot-hot cocoa.  Adding a little extra heat, I put a dash of red pepper to liven up one steamy cup.

Hot Hot Cocoa, Photo by Dawn Dickson Van Ness

Sensational Hot Hot Cocoa

• One coffee mug of milk heated for 1 min 30 seconds
• Two spoon fulls of Hershey’s cocoa powder, classic
• One spoon full of sugar
• Half a cap full of vanilla extract
• One dash of red pepper            ….or more if you dare…

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Stir and top with whip cream. Garnish with a dusting of cocoa, red pepper, or cinnamon.  Enjoy the extra warmth!

Articles

Bistro Confetti Chili

Website

Serendipity and Sweetness

By Angie Sklute, Restaurateur

People always ask me the secret ingredient in my Bistro Confetti Chili.  When I was the chef at our restaurant, we would serve the chili in our signature deep, yellow bowls.  A new diner would take a spoonful and have this pensive look on his face, as if trying to determine the extra pop that made our chili “the best in town.”

Obviously, yellow corn is not something usually found in Southern chili, but that is how my Southern self has made chili since I can remember dicing veggies and browning meat.  However, corn is NOT my secret ingredient.  It is the very versatile and highly common CINNAMON!  I prefer to use Saigon or Vietnamese cinnamon for a gourmet touch.

Bistro Confetti Chili, Photo By Angie Sklute

There is something that makes certain savory foods sparkle when a dash or two of cinnamon is added.  And WOW does this chili sparkle!!!  I still get requests from friends and family to make this for gatherings.  So try something new and add a dash of glitz to your next pot of chili!!

Bistro Confetti Chili

2 lbs lean ground beef
1 lb pork sausage
2 onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves or 1 TBS of minced garlic
2 (16 oz) cans red kidney beans with liquid
1 (16 oz) can black beans with liquid
2 (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with liquid
2 cups fresh or frozen yellow corn
2 small cans of tomato paste
4 TBS chili powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground Indian cumin

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Brown all the meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat until meat crumbles and is no longer pink.  Drain on paper towels.  In a 5 or 6 quart Dutch oven (preferably enamel coated cast iron), sautée onions, green pepper and garlic until tender.  Transfer meat mixture to pot.  Add all the beans, tomatoes, corn and tomato paste.  Turn heat to high and stir until well mixed and almost boiling.  Add all spices and continue stirring.  Cover with lid and simmer on low for 2-3 hours.  Serve with sour cream and sharp cheddar cheese.

**this recipe makes a HUGE amount!  It is perfect for sharing with friends and neighbors or freezing in quart Mason jars for a quick meal later**

The property was timbered, and so the landscape was twisted, but there were areas, like the top of the tallest hill and then the low wetlands where scraggly pines and deciduous trees and shrubs, hollies and dogwoods, found and provided refuge.  Walking around with my dad was the first time I saw a persimmon tree.  The fruit looked to be both a sick tomato and a glowing glob of sunset.

The first days I spent on the property in Mecklenburg , Virginia were spent following new trails made by my dad with a machete and playing with my best friend in a fresh creek bed, a creek bed made by torrent rains draining down three hills directed by the tilt of the land, rocks, and fallen trees.

Moss and ferns were set to grow, and would soften everything, as would the slow decay of fallen trees, but while my best friend and I explored, we saw how the rain ripped through, how the trees crashed down, and how the rocks refused to roll.  Two girls, nearly ten, we jumped from ledge to ledge, stepped from rock to rock, climbed on small, bent saplings and swung on vines.  We were permitted to be a bit wild and unsupervised, and under the blue sky with the fat, white summer clouds, my first experience of the land and the area was its nature, its openness, and its unpolished potential.