Top Stories for Tuesday August 3, 2010

In Praise of Sign Language: Sharing a Window Into the World of Deaf Education with Stephanie Boat
By Cookie Steponaitis
    It took only a fraction of a moment. Stephanie Boat’s hands moved quickly and her face was alive with expression and meaning. Pausing, the 20 year old college junior grinned and asked, “Did you get that?” In translation, the sign language had read, “Train gone, sorry, or the American sign language meaning, “Too bad, you missed it, and I’m not repeating it.” Three simple signs, and raised eyebrows to delineate the topic of the sentence, and a facial expression to convey the too bad meaning.  American Sign Language is the visual expression of a language that most Americans barely know of and fewer still learn.  [ more ]

Chain Saw Sculpture Demonstration at the Henry Sheldon Museum

   On Saturday, August 7 from 10 am – 2 pm, stop by the Sheldon Museum to watch Marvin Chamberlin turn logs into sculptures using only a chainsaw.  He will be carving outside in the side yard at the Sheldon, rain or shine.  Chamberlain, of Marvin's Carvins in Richmond, has been carving wood since childhood, an affinity which sometimes caused his father a great deal of consternation, for example, when the object of Marvin's whittling was a farm tool handle!  [ more ]