The 36th Photo Contest was won by SARAH BLOW with her photo entitled "Beautiful Sky Before Sun Set".

The 37th Photo Contest was won by MS BARBARA DELGIUDICE with her photo entitled
"Bald Eagle On Top Of Mom's Fir Tree"

The 38th Photo Contest was won by MS LYDIA FOKINA with her photo entitled "Sleeping On Duty!!!"

Congratulations to all our winners...you have taken some great pictures! Make sure to visit The Best Picture forum and vote for your favorite photos please.

Canada Day - July 1st
Canada Day celebrates the events that occurred on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act created the Canadian federal government. The BNA Act proclaimed "one Dominion under the name of Canada," hence the original title of the holiday, "Dominion Day." Dominion Day was officially renamed "Canada Day" by an Act of Parliament on October 27, 1982. This change reflected the policy of successive governments to down play Canada's colonial origins

Independence Day - July 4th
On July 4, 1776, the United States claimed it's independence from England and Democracy was born. Each year on July 4th, also known as Independence Day, Americans celebrate their independence with picnics, barbecues, fireworks and family gatherings.

There are many other countries that will be celebrating their own "Independence Day" throughout the month of July. Just to name a couple of countries that will be celebrating this month, Colombia, Liberia, Rwanda, and Peru. We wish everyone a Happy Independence Day!

Tanabata - July 7th
July 7th is called Tanabata in Japan. It's a Japanese tradition wherein people write their wishes on tanzaku paper (colorful, small strips of paper) and hang them on bamboo branches. People also hang many kinds of paper decorations on bamboo branches and place them outside their houses.

Many cities and towns hold festivals and have Tanabata displays decorating the main streets. In some regions, people light lanterns and float them on the river, or float bamboo leaves on the river.

World Population Day - July 11th
For the past 13 years, countries around the world have been observing World Population Day on 11 July to raise public awareness and draw policy makers' attention to population issues such as poverty, reproductive health, education, and HIV/AIDS.

OBon - Starts July 13th

Obon is an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one's ancestors. It is believed that each year during obon, the ancestors' spirits return to this world in order to visit their relatives.

Traditionally, lanterns are hang in front of houses to guide the ancestors' spirits, obon dances (bon odori) are performed, graves are visited and food offerings are made at house altars and temples. At the end of Obon, floating lanterns are put into rivers, lakes and seas in order to guide the spirits back into their world. The customs followed vary strongly from region to region.

THE BEST FORUM AWARD WINNERS

The Newsletter has added a new feature to our Newsletter. We are listing all of the winners of the The Best Forum Award here. This forum was created by Bogdan Fiedur to give recognition to some of the best forums created in the Community. Each month a new forum is judged and voted upon by a panel of judges, and the winner gets $200!

That is really awesome, and very generous of Bogdan to do! So get going on writing some truly great forums and you may be one of the next lucky winners!

WINNER OF THE July 2008 AWARD

The forum "Encourage My Soul" by Thomas Richmond won the award for July.

Congratulations to Thomas for having the winning forum! Job well done!