Holiday Crafts for Kids!

Button ornaments, recycled ribbon garlands, and sugar cookie hands are just some of the fun craft ideas for you and your kids to do this holiday season!

Check here for instructions on these and more projects:
http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/holiday-crafts-for-kids

Holiday Greetings Recording session

Team Osan,




An Army and Air Force Hometown News Service holiday greetings team will

setup here Oct 14-15 from 0800 to 1700 behind Turumi Lodge at the Lodge

pavilion.



The team will record individual 10 to 20-second greetings for the

holiday season aimed at family and friends back home. Anyone with a

family tie within the U.S. and its territories are eligible.



There are a few guidelines to make sure greetings are seen by family and

friends during the holidays:



1. Service members need to wear their duty uniform



2. Family members need to be with their sponsor, unless their sponsor is

deployed. If that is the case, the family member should mention that

fact in her or his greeting.



3. Family information is vital. Names of family members, their

relationship to you, their street address, city, state and ZIP Code, as

well as phone number needs to be included. Stations often let family

members know when the video will be aired, and in some cases, will

interview the family for

extended coverage. If you have family in a different area, you can fill

out a second card and send a greeting to that area as well.



4. Try to break away during off-peak times during the day to conduct

your interview. The team will normally be in an area throughout the day,

so try to avoid the "rush" times of lunch and after work.



5. When in front of the camera, reading a script is not necessary, but

it may be helpful to take a moment to plan out what you'd like to say.

The main points to get across include your name, your family members'

names, where you are stationed and who you'd like to send the greeting

to:



"I'm Staff Sergeant John Williams with my wife Kathy and sons Kevin and

David stationed at Osan AB, Republic of Korea. We'd like to say seasons'

greetings to our family and friends in St. Louis. Hi Mom, Hi Dad. We

love you, miss you and hope to see you soon."



The video and audio greetings are packaged according to geographic

areas, normally by state. In large states like California, Texas,

Florida and New York, stations will get greetings based upon region.

Stations normally air the greetings throughout the holiday season, from

Thanksgiving through New Year's.



Each greeting will normally play more than once throughout the holidays,

and usually on more than one station.



All servicemembers, their families and DOD civilians who will be outside

of the U.S. during the holiday season are encouraged to participate.



Reminders will be sent out as the event draws closer, but mark your

calendars now. For more information, please contact TSgt Stacy Foster or

Capt Matthew Stines at 784-4044.



V/R



Capt Stines



//SIGNED//

MATTHEW STINES, Capt, USAF

Chief, Public Affairs

51st Fighter Wing

DSN: 315-784-4044 COMM: 031-661-4044

COMM (From U.S.): 011-82-31-661-4044

Matthew.Stines@osan.af.mil

http://www.osan.af.mil/

Eco-friendly holiday ideas!

I just read that Americans spend more on trash bags than 90 other countries spend on everything. I knew it was bad, but that's pretty shocking. If you've spent even three days in Korea, it's obvious that garbage and recycling is taken much more seriously here, and I understand that the situation is similar in the rest of the world, where resources are scarcer than we have enjoyed for decades in the US.

But the times, they are a-changing. Our landfills are filling up, our air and water are dirty.There are even contaminants in breastmilk! In the Pacific Northwest, the Orcas are starving to death because there aren't enough salmon to feed them. The list of environmental damage goes on, and on, and on, and it's all a direct result of overconsumption and the manufacturing, packaging, shipping and other activities that support it.

That's all pretty dreary, I know, but there are plenty of steps we can take. With Christmas coming up, I am already dreading the hefty bags full of wrapping paper, excessive packaging (oh, how I hate those wire ties that fasten toys to layers and layers of cardboard and plastic!), shopping bags, and boxes.

Here are some ideas to reduce the Christmas impact on the environment:

1. Consider environmentally friendly gifts: reusable grocery bags (Envirosax makes some really cute ones!), reusable BPA-free water bottles or sippy cups, battery-free toys made from recycled materials (Sprig, many more), or wind-up flashlights and radios.

2. Request, and give, gifts to charities like World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org/), Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/) or 'adopt' a penguin, snow leopard or other endangered animal at World Wildlife (http://www.worldwildlife.org/) in lieu of a traditional gift. I have plenty of people on my list that don't need another scarf, pocketknife, toy or pair of gloves, and even kids can appreciate helping animals, or sending a seed kit or a flock of chickens to a family in Africa. You can even send a backpack of school supplies to an American kid in need.

3. Use environmentally friendly wrapping (use foil and then save it for use in the kitchen, or use kids artwork, or the comics from the Sunday paper). Try incorporating the wrapping into the present by wrapping a hat and gloves in a scarf, tucking some little girl's jewelry into a purse, or wrapping baby's presents in a super soft blanket tied with a ribbon. The possibilities are endless!

Add your own ideas in the comments, or send a post to osanparents@gmail.com!

Anna, Guest Blogger

Oh, NOOOOO! It's holiday shopping time!

It might seem pretty early, but if you're internet shopping at Osan, you better get clicking. Items shipped parcel post routinely take 6-8 weeks, and could take longer in the holiday rush. Bigger items, especially, can be slow, and you don't want to have to try to explain why Santa didn't make it this year! Likewise, if you're sending Korean goodies back home to the states, ship them as soon as possible; you won't be sorry!

Do check out the BX before you start shopping online, to make sure they don't have what you want. If you see something you want, snap it up because it won't be there long. The same goes for Christmas decorations and other items.

If you're having trouble, here are some ideas that might help. Try buying smaller items, or items with less packaging to cut down on the size of the box. Priority mail will get here much faster, but there is a size and/or weight limit on the box. Click here to see eco-friendly toys from Amazon. These toys often have less packaging, and Amazon does a great job shipping here in a timely manner. The OSC has a list of companies that ship APO here; just scroll down to the section called 'Internet Shopping'. You can also get an account at APObox or Ship it APO. They will provide a U.S. street address for shipping, then forward your purchases to your APO box for a reasonable fee.

And, if you're looking for other alternatives to the usual toy orgy, click here for some other ideas.