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TODAY’S WORD is chatelain. Example: When Mindy moved into her son and daughter-in-law’s fancy house, she took charge of the cooking, helped with the chores and children, spruced up the gardens and evolved into its proud chatelain.

TUESDAY’S WORD was abandon. It means complete lack of inhibition or restraint. Example: When no one was looking, Kelly ate tons of desserts off the buffet table with wild abandon.

Sew a cloth around a steel wood pad to make a pincushion that keeps your pins sharp.

Keep the drawstring of pants or a hood from sliding out one end by stitching the middle of it in place. Be sure to even up the lengths of the drawstring on each side first, then sew it at its middle position into its channel.

Keep a magnet in your sewing basket to easily catch and pick up wayward pins and needles.

To help make even stitches while sewing by hand, make marking lines on your thumb at the area it would be holding the fabric (if you sew with your right hand, mark your left thumb) to use as a guide.

To keep a button in its place, put a dab of clear nail polish on the threads that hold it in. That’s an especially good practice for new clothes from the store. Haven’t you noticed in recent years the buttons come off more than they used to?

To use a sewing machine to sew a material that isn’t smooth, such as terrycloth, lay a strip of plastic over it to help prevent the needle from snagging.

We’re coming on prom season, and the first local prom of spring will be on March 3.

That’s the Second Annual Prom Night, a free event for adults with disabilities. Attendees will get royal treatment, including finger foods, drinks, the red carpet, music and dancing, swag bags, pictures and crowns. It will be held from 6-8 p.m. March 3 at the Virginia Museum of Natural History.

Sponsors and donors include the VMNH, Molina Healthcare, Jones & DeShon Orthodontists, Infinity Acres, Wright Funeral Home, DJ Smiley, Dawson Photography, Martinsville Rotary Club, Fidelity Bank, Hugo’s, Jerry’s Pizza, YMCA and Beta Clubs. To join in the fun as a guest or volunteer, visit www.infinityacres.org.

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA ANSWER: The iconic AOL greeting “You’ve got mail”, which marked many people’s first experiences with email, was voiced by Elwood Edwards. He is a voice actor, and his wife worked for the online service Q-Link. She overheard its CEO saying he’d like to add a voice to AOL’s user interface, and she spoke up to say that her husband was a voice actor and offered up his services. In the couple’s living room, Edwards, now 73, recorded “Welcome,” “You’ve got mail,” “You’ve got pictures,” “File’s done” and “Goodbye” on a cassette deck — and the rest is history.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Susan Bennett’s name may not be known by everyone, but her voice is recognized by a great many, in what capacity?

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Make this a keepsake: This honor roll also is in the printed version of the Martinsville Bulletin.

Mandi and Travis Hundley met under tragic circumstances in which no one would expect a romantic outcome.

Make this a keepsake: This honor roll also is in the printed version of the Martinsville Bulletin.

Make this a keepsake: This honor roll also is published in the print edition of the Martinsville Bulletin.

1923: snow cleared on road from Fieldale to Rocky Mount; 1948: schools close but Greyhound buses resume after heavy snow; 1973, Charlotte Huds…

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