Good Morning! It was a chilly morning here in Mt. Vernon, considering that it was 65 degrees yesterday! We focused on Zoo Day and the top ten foods to decrease stress, (which are really helpful this time of the year). Read all about that and everything else we talked about on the show below!

Morning Thing Game of the Day – Impossible Trivia
Today’s trivia was all about the humble avocado. We have come to know and love this fruit by the name ‘avocado’, but there is another name for this fruit! Our impossible trivia question today was ‘What is the other name that the avocado goes by?’ So the avocado also called the alligator pear! Horticulturists frowned upon this nomenclature because this name was misleading, ungraceful, and generally misleading. Dan doesn’t like them that much, but I still think they’re delicious no matter what you call them! You can read up on the interesting history of the avocado here.
Congratulations to our winner, Emily from Danville. She got the trivia question correct and received a $5 gift certificate to the Southside Diner in Mt. Vernon!

Visit the Zoo Day!
So today, December 27th, is Visit the Zoo Day! I know some people think that zoos are cruel prisons where countless animals are kept, bored to death, but these days, zoos are at the forefront of much of the research which goes on into animal behavior and how best to protect vulnerable animals from extinction. Many zoos have breeding programs running, where they work with other facilities around the world to increase the numbers of endangered populations. You can read more about the history of the zoo itself and visit the zoo day here. The Columbus Zoo is also all decked out in lights for their Columbus Zoo Lights event. You can read more about that event here at their website!

The Best Foods to Decrease Stress
The holidays can be a stressful time, but today we talked about the top ten foods, compiled by Food Network, to eat when you want to decrease your stress levels! You can read the whole article here on Food Network’s website!
10. Avocados and Bananas
– Loaded with potassium to keep your blood pressure low!
9. Tea
Here’s a tea tangent for you, telling you what tea you should be drinking when!
Chamomile is best when you’re stressed out, angry, or about to go to bed.
-Green tea is best when you’re tired, trying to lose weight, or feeling sick.
– Chai tea if you have a stomach ache or are feeling sluggish
– Oolong tea if you’re trying to burn fat or breaking out in acne
– Peppermint tea if you’re prone to headaches or feeling sore.
8. Swiss Chard
– High in magnesium which helps balance the body’s stress hormone, cortisol.
7. Fatty Fish such as salmon, sardines, and tuna.
– High in Omega 3’s which keep your adrenaline levels boosted
6. Whole Wheat Pretzels
-High in carbohydrates which offer an energy boost, and trigger a release of serotonin!
5. Carrots
– This is the healthy alternative to grabbing another crunchy food like potato chips!
4. Milk
3. Yogurt
– These two items are high in multiple vitamins and calcium to relieve tense muscles!
2. Nuts like pistachios, almonds and walnuts
– High in vitamins and zinc that boost your immune system
1. CHOCOLATE! AHH YAY!
– Lowers cortisol and releases mood improving serotonin.
Have a safe rest of your Christmas season!
Best wishes from Dan & Lilly on the Morning Thing!

 

 

For The Morning Thing Fave 5 this week, several hosts (and special guest co-hosts) shared their favorite Christmas songs.

Marcy Rinehart – “Labor of Love” by Jill Phillips and Andrew Peterson

Marcy’s voice file – https://soundcloud.com/wnzr/the-morning-thing-fave-5-marcys-favorite-christmas-song

Music video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIbXkofOxZM

Jenna Potts – “Little Drummer Boy” by for King & Country

Jenna’s voice file – https://soundcloud.com/wnzr/the-morning-thing-fave-5-jennas-favorite-christmas-song

Music video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2u6oV1bMz4

Kelsey Bryte – “The Christmas Shoes” by Newsong

Kelsey’s voice file – https://soundcloud.com/wnzr/mt-fave-5-kelsey-bryte-favorite-christmas-song

Music Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJcPVB-we7g

Rachel Rinehart – “Into the Silent Night” by for King & Country 

Rachel’s voice file – https://soundcloud.com/wnzr/mt-fave-5-rachel-rinehart-favorite-christmas-song

Music Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4eMaxj-TP8

Joe Rinehart – “How Many Kings” by DownHere

Joe’s voice file – https://soundcloud.com/wnzr/joe-fave-xmas-song

Music Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noz8hc8u7Xc

 

Thank you for supporting the 35th annual Food For The Hungry drive
Our current total is $228,720.73 and 28.5 truckloads of food!

Community members came together again this year to support food assistance projects and provide emergency client services through Interchurch Social Services and the Salvation Army. Volunteers staffed 25 different collection points around the county on Saturday 12/10 to collect food and money, while local media combined to produce an eight-hour live broadcast on radio, TV and the internet.

Click here to find out how these organizations were affected by the county wide food drive!

Salvation Army – Major Alice Hathorn
Salvation Army – Jerry Scott
Interchurch Executive Director – Joy Harris
Danville Interchurch – Sue Wadian
Centerburg Interchurch – Diane Bennett
Fredericktown Interchurch – Katie Frasier

Food For The Hungry also announced the awarding of eleven grants to county projects involving food assistance.  Grants of $2,000 went to the Church on the Rise food pantry and Father’s Table at Mount Vernon First Church of the Nazarene. $1,500 grants were awarded to Fredericktown United Methodist Peace Meals, the Martinsburg Activities Center, Gay Street United Methodist hot meals, the Covenant Christian Church food pantry and the Winter Sanctuary in Mount Vernon. $1,000 went to the ACTS food truck project, the Byron Saunders Foundation and the CHOMP Ministries mobile food truck, plus $500 to First Congregational Church hot meals.

We had the opportunity to talk with a few of the grant recipients. Click below to hear their thoughts on the day.

CHOMP Ministries – Joe Springer
Covenant Christian Church – Tim Overly and Pam Vanderpool
Byron Sauders Foundation – Ginny Williams

Mount Vernon Nazarene University presented the Stephen Zelkowitz Memorial Award to John Feltman, while Kenyon College honored Ted and Anne Schnormeier with the William Stroud Award for Community Service.

To hear more from the cast, crew and donors, click HERE!

Here are some exciting totals from 2016 Food for the Hungry!

– The Mount Vernon News Classified for Cans campaign collected 224 food items.

– Mount Vernon Nazarene University hosted Knox Needs – to create hunger awareness on campus and raise funds for both food and client services. $6,547 was collected to be used for purchasing food from the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.

– The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County Food for fines was another success. $90.35 in cash and 2 /12 vanloads of food was collected. Over 1,500 pounds of food was collected!!

– The Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning was a success! Over 180 runners and walkers participated, raising $904.00 and 716 food items. ·

– The Chautauqua Foodstock featuring The Eagles raised $814 and 355 food items.

– The Central Knox County Elementary school collected was hosted by Psi Iota Xi Sorority. The students collected $4,524.20 and 7,065 food items!  (That is 5.66 truckloads of food)!

– The Greater Knox County Elementary school collection involved Centerburg, Danville, East Knox, Fredericktown schools and the Knox Learning Center. This collection was hosted by Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority. The kids brought in $5,685.70 and 4,312 food items – that is 3.46 truckloads of food.

ALL Knox County High Schools collected for Food for the Hungry this year. Central Ohio Technical College coordinated their collections.
The students collected $7,154.86 and 4,303 food items. That equals 3.45 trucks!

-Danville High School

• Danville High School collections began at the end of October and continued until Dec. 6 with competition between grade levels. The Danville National Honor Society collected 597 food items and collected $434.25 showing a 138.2% growth!
• The Middle School students won after being able to can in 4 teachers!
• Extra: The Dalmations and Cruella DeVille went Trick or Treating on Oct 31st and the Can-In took place on November 16th.
• A Pizza party for the middle school students will be held December 19 courtesy of COTC.

-Mount Vernon High School

• Mount Vernon High School collection dates were Nov. 14-18 with competitions between departments.
• Staff and students collected 849 food items and $1,169.84 showing a 72.5% growth!
• The winning department was Social Studies with 132 students & staff in classes first period. They received a Tim Horton’s donut party on December 2 courtesy of COTC.
•  

-Knox County Career Center

• Knox County Career Center collection dates were Nov. 22 – Dec. 9 with competition between labs.
• Staff and students collected 1,347 food items and $2,740.92 showing a 0.3% growth!

-East Knox High School

• East Knox High School collection dates were to Nov. 14-18 then extended until December 2^nd.
• Competitions happened between grades.
• Staff and students collected 596 food items and $434.06 showing a 211.8% growth!
• Pizza party to be held December 16 courtesy of COTC

-Fredericktown High School

• Fredericktown High School collection dates were Nov. 28 – Dec. 9th
• Staff and students collected 525 food items and $1,875.79 showing a 107.8% growth!
• Extra: 294 students in Grades 9-12 were involved in collecting for FFTH this year

– Centerburg High School

• Centerburg High School collection dates were Dec. 6- Dec. 13^th with competitions between the first period classes
  Staff and students collected 389 food items and $500.00 showing a 27.7% growth!
• Extra: the class that brings in the most will get donuts, provided by Student Council.

– The Knox County Career Center was VERY involved with this year’s Food For The Hungry.

• The Online Auction of certificates for goods and services brought in $384.00
• The LIVE Auction brought in $4,755! This auction included 6 baskets from the Career Center featuring gift certificates for goods and services at Career Center labs. We also auctioned off an OSU basket filled with goodies for Buckeye fans for $225.00. The basket was donated by the OSU Alumni Club of Knox County.
• The auction also included massage certificate packets from Top Notch Massage Therapy which brought in $500!

-The Snowflake Gala/dinner/auction at Kenyon College was a huge success. In the 6th year of the event, their net proceeds collected $60,000!
-Kenyon’s collection at the Empty Bowls event brought in $2,550.
-The President’s Community Holiday Reception collected $574.00 in cash donations and at least 10 boxes of canned goods and staples.
So Kenyon’s contribution to Food for the Hungry was $63,124!!
– Kenyon presented the William A. Stroud Award for community service to Ted and Anne Schnormeier.

 

– The Fredericktown Christmas Walk and auction brought in a total of $4,432.82!

• Fredericktown’s grand total with collections on 12/10 was $12,012 and 3 truckloads of food.

– The Danville silent auction of Christmas wreaths and other decorations brought in $725.00!

• Danville collections on 12/10 brought in $2,843.50 and 3 truckloads.
• Danville’s grand total with collections on 12/10 was $3,568.50 and 3 truckloads of food.

– The Centerburg silent auction of wreaths brought in $175.00

• Centerburg collections on 12/10 brought in $1,248.20 and 244 items.
• Centerburg high school collected 389 food items and $500.00
• Centerburg elementary collected 1,372 items.
• Centerburg’s grand total was $1,923.20 and 2,005 items (1.06 truckloads of food).

– The annual shopping cart derby during the live broadcast was a HUGE success bringing in $1,005 and 1,387 food items (1.11 truckloads)! All 4 teams participated in the Food for the Hungry GAMES!

• Time Warner Cable collected $275.00 and 874 food items
• The Mount Vernon News team collected $700.00 and 181 food items and won Food
  Bank Check-Out.
• The WMVO/WQIO team collected $30.00 and 12 food items and won the Build a Meal Challenge.
• The WNZR team collected 320 food items and won the Shopping Cart Relay.

– Food for the Hungry continues through December 31^st with the Festival of Trees at the Floral Valley Community Center in Apple Valley.

*You can see pictures and videos of the broadcast HERE. Thank you to our photographers Bethany Waal, Gerod Harder, Jacob Newton, Lisa Mazzari and Chelsea Mazzari.
*You can also see an amazing video recap of the day at HERE. Thanks to I-Conn Video’s Jacob Newton for sharing their editing talents with us! We also thank Bruce McPherson, Dean Abbott and Gerod Harder for providing footage for this video.*