Watch the St. Johns Peppermint Parade
Visit the first ever Holiday Market
by Maralyn Fink
My daughter and I attended the Craft Shopping on Main Street On Saturday. It was a cold day but a fun day.
We had lunch at Main Street Cafe beforehand, so we were set to go.
A nice selection of items was on hand, and it was nice to see the people shopping. This was the first time this event was held.
More downtown festivities
Christmas lights are popping up around town
by Maralyn Fink
On Friday night my daughter and I decided to drive around town to see the Christmas decorations from the comfort of our heated car.
Many houses are decorated so that was fun also. Thanks to everyone who decorated and will look forward to that again next year.
Congratulations everyone. Good job!
Remember When – Festival of Lights and Santa Parade in 2019
Candy Explosion! Don’t miss the new Gingerbread Village on Friday evening, December 6. The life-size Gingerbread house will be bursting with sweet treats provided by Cedar Creek Hospital of St. Johns.
There will be lots of new excitement in the works, along with all the past favorites including:
Lighted Putt Putt Mini Golf, Candy Explosion, Ginger Bread House, Horse Drawn Wagon Rides, Tunnel of Lights, Vivid Holograms, Train Rides on the SJ Express Train, Rides on the lighted “Rails to Trails,” Jolly and Holly the talking trees, Live Nativity, Sawdust Santa making wooden toys with kids, Santa’s Workshop, Storytelling with Santa at the Library, Kids crafts, creating stockings and cookie making, Face painting, 4H bake sale, Scavenger Hunt, Scenic wagon rides around decorated homes, Snoopy House and Charlie Brown, Bonfire and marshmallow roasting, “Whoville Hair” updos, Train Depot Tours and Voting for best decorated home.
The Santa Parade will line up at 5:00 p.m. behind courthouse. It will culminate in the annual Lighting of the Christmas Tree at the foot of Clinton Avenue.
Letters – Thank you, blood donors
On Monday, December 6 the Red Cross held a blood drive at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1108 N. US 27 in St Johns.
Suxty-six Donors were present and 60 units of blood were collected. This is done every other month and the next one will be held in the same location on February 7, 2022.
A big thank you to Jane Sira who co-ordinates the Blood Drive for St. Johns.
Thank you Donors, Volunteers and all who came out to give. Also thanks for all the food donated for the canteen.
We look forward to seeing you on February 7.
Maralyn Fink
Blood Drive Volunteer
Maralyn’s Pet Corner – Why Do Cats Have Whiskers?
Straight or curly, long or short, whiskers are a notable part of the feline face. Most would agree that a cat without whiskers would be a strange sight indeed, but it may surprise you how important these seemingly superficial structures are to your cat!
A cat’s whiskers are integral to how they interact with their environment, and they serve a variety of functions. Let’s take a look at why cats have whiskers and how they use them.
What Do Cat Whiskers Do?
Cat whiskers do some pretty amazing things. Here are some of the ways cats use their whiskers.
Sense of Touch
The main function of cat whiskers is the sense of touch. The follicles that these hairs grow from are surrounded by sensory cells. These cells transmit tactile information that’s similar to the signals our fingertips send to our brains.
The sensory cells are stimulated by the smallest vibrations in the hair, allowing cats to feel not only solid objects that they brush against but even to notice air currents from movement nearby.
This helps our mostly farsighted felines to:
– Better evaluate their environment up close
– Avoid threats to their eyes and face, like branches and insects
– Hunt better at night
– Be able to judge whether they can fit through small spaces
Sense of Orientation
Some whisker follicle cells also have proprioceptive ability, meaning that the way gravity pulls on the hair will tell a cat how they are oriented in relation to the ground. That’s very important for an animal who is always supposed to land on their feet.
Communication
Finally, there is evidence to suggest that cat whiskers may be involved in communicating with other cats and even observant owners. Tiny muscles around the base of the whiskers allow stressed cats to point their whiskers toward potential threats and relax them when they are content. A cat who doesn’t feel well may pull their whiskers back against their face in a grimace.
How Many Whiskers Do Cats Have?
Though it may be hard to tell with some cats, whiskers are very regularly spaced and grow in very specific locations. The most prominent whiskers, those on the upper lip, are in ordered rows of 4-5 with the shorter whiskers in front and longer whiskers in back.
Most cats have around 12 whiskers on each upper lip, 3 over each eye, and a few shorter ones on their chin. If you look carefully, you will notice that most cats also have a few whiskers on the back of their wrists.
Can Cats Injure Their Whiskers?
Though cat whiskers transmit sensory information, the hair itself is made of keratin, just like the hairs on your head, and they do not have feeling.
That said, each cat whisker follicle can be associated with as many as 100-200 neurons, and overstimulation of the whisker, or “whisker fatigue,” is a real issue. Whisker fatigue is usually caused by chronic, recurrent pressure on the whisker and firing of the neurons in a way that overstimulates your cat. It is often associated with inappropriately sized food and water dishes.
If you notice that your cat dislikes eating from their food bowl or seems distressed until they scoop it out onto the floor, mention this to your veterinarian. Your cat may benefit from some shallower dishes to protect their sensitive whiskers.
Diseases that can affect the haircoat, such as infection, mange, and vasculitis, can also affect cat whisker follicles and make them fall out or delay their growth.
In addition, some medications, like chemotherapy drugs, can make a cat lose their whiskers. As always, be sure to ask your veterinarian if you have concerns about the health of these important structures.
What Happens If You Cut Cat Whiskers?
Since the nerves are associated with the follicle and not the hair itself, cutting a cat’s whiskers is not painful in and of itself, but you should not do this. Even indoor kitties rely on the sensory input from their whiskers, and a sudden change in the information they can get from their environment can be very stressful and confusing.
Do Cat Whiskers Grow Back?
If your cat does break their whiskers, or they have to be trimmed for medical reasons, as long as the follicle does not suffer any damage, these hairs will grow back. In fact, normal cat whiskers are occasionally shed just like other hairs, though never more than 1-2 at a time.
It can take between 6 weeks and 3 months for a cat’s facial whisker to grow back to the appropriate length to be functional. It is very normal with some coat colors for white whiskers to grow back as black, or vice versa. The color change will not affect their function.