Ignite Your Faith

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The Buzzards Are Coming!

It's not quite like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano each spring, but the folks of Hinckley, Ohio, say it's quite a sight: Buzzard Day!

Yep, on Sunday, March 16, the town of Hinckley will celebrate the annual return of a big bunch o' buzzards, also known as turkey vultures. Nobody knows why the buzzards chose Hinckley, a suburb of Cleveland, as their summer fly-away home. But they've been doing it for at least 200 years. The buzzards, anywhere from 50 to a hundred of 'em, roost in Hinckley till fall, when they head south for their yearly migration.

Hinckley-ites get pretty buzzed 'bout the big bash, turning out by the thousands for a pancake breakfast and an arts & crafts show. And, of course, to check out the big birds.

"They're pretty sloppy critters," says a spokesman for the Hinckley Chamber of Commerce, speaking, I assume, about the buzzards, and not the crowds. "They don't fly in formations. They're rugged individuals."

Ugly, too. And big, with a six-foot wing span. And disgusting; they eat mostly dead stuff, like road kill and other such goodies.

Well, hey, it could be worse-like in Austin, Texas, where every March, about 1.5 million pregnant bats migrate from Mexico and hang out under the Congress Avenue Bridge.

Ugly buzzards or pregnant bats? Take your pick. Uhh, I'm headed for San Juan Capistrano.

Noodles on the March

Did you know that March is National Noodle Month?

It's true. It's also National Frozen Food Month, National Peanut Month, and, to top it all off, National Sauce Month. And that's not all. The month begins with National Pig Day on March 1. That's enough to make ya go hog wild.

Snap, Crackle, Pop and Win!

So, you think you know your breakfast cereals? Yeah, but how well do you know their mascots? (You know, like Frosted Flakes and Tony the Tiger.)

If you can identify the correct cereals from the following mascots, you could win $50 now—and $500 later!

1) Sonny the Cuckoo Bird
2) a silly rabbit
3) Mikey ("He likes it!")
4) Toucan Sam
5) a ship's captain
Contest

Da rulz: Using the hints given, name the five breakfast cereals-and spell them correctly! Send us your answers. We'll put all the correct answers in a hat, pick one out, and send $50 to the winner! All correct answers from this and future Strange But True contests will go into an even bigger hat for the $500 grand-prize drawing to be held in August 1997. Send your answer to "Cereal Contest," Campus Life, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188. Include your name, address, birthday and telephone number. Entries must be postmarked by 3/15/97. You may also enter by fax (630-260-0114). You must be 21 or under (as of 8/31/97) to play. Winners will be notified by mail. We'll print the winner's name and the correct answers in the July/August '97 issue. (CTI employees and their family members are not eligible.)

Bulletin Bloopers

So, you're sitting in church, scanning the bulletin, and you read this line:
"Don't let worry kill you-let the church help."

Oops! Yes, that line really did appear in a real church bulletin. Other notable bulletin bloopers:

— "The Odor of Worship is as follows."

— "This afternoon, there will be meetings in the south and north ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends."

— "Thursday night: Potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow."

— "Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community."

— "This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar." huh?

Copyright © 1997 by Christianity Today/CAMPUS LIFE magazine.

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