Final Public Meetings for the Mud Island Land Use Study; O Foods Contest

From the RDC website, information about the final public meeting on the important Mud Island Land Use Study:

Final public meetings for the Mud Island Land Use Study - September 29th and October 1st.
Input from hundreds of citizens have guided architectural consultants Looney Ricks Kiss in developing three potential scenarios for future improvements of Mud Island River Park (MIRP). Next week, LRK will present these scenarios for a final round of public input.

Come participate in the last round of public meetings - September 29th at the Botanic Gardens and October 1st at MIRP Harbor Landing - to share your thoughts on the progress made to date on the Mud Island Land Use Plan.

An online survey will be posted in early October providing yet another opportunity for input on the final scenarios. Sign up for the RDC e-newsletter so we can let you know when the survey is live.

Upcoming meetings
Tuesday, 9/29, 5:45 - 7:30 pm - Memphis Botanic Gardens, 750 Cherry Road
Thursday, 10/1, 5:45 - 7:30 pm - Mud Island River Park Harbor Landing, 101 Island Drive (gate security will give directions)

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Before September gets away, I was reminded by Michelle of Bleeding Espresso that this month is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and of the 2nd Annual O Foods Contest to raise money and awareness. Here are all the details:

CONTEST RULES
O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.

There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:

ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

PRIZES for recipe posts:

1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;

2nd: Signed copy of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (winner chosen by Sara);

3rd: Signed copy of Vino Italiano: The Regional Italian Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich (winner chosen by Michelle).

OR

TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Awareness posts PRIZE:
One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.
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From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.

The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).

There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.

In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.

When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at our page through FirstGiving!

Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.