Asheboro Courier Tribune - 12/01/2016 Page : A03

Copyright (c)2016 Gatehouse Media, Edition 12/01/2016December 1, 2016 8:27 am (GMT +5:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

CBA to holdToy Run Dec. 4

ASHEBORO — TheRandolph County Con-cerned Bikers Asso-ciation will hold a ToyRun on Sunday, Dec.4, to Mills Children’sHome, leaving from theRandolph Mall park-ing lot, on East Dixie

Drive in Asheboro.Bring an unwrapped

gift for a teenage boyor girl. Monetary dona-tions will be acceptedas well. When you do-nate a new unwrappedtoy or monetary dona-tion, you will have achance to win $300,given away by theTom McGrath’s Mo-torcycle Law Group at

the home. You must bepresent to win. T-shirtswill also be sold byRandolph County CBA.

Registration beginsat 10 a.m. Kickstands

will be up at 1:30 p.m.For more informa-

tion about the ride or ifyou are interested in achild’s wish list, contactGena at 336-963-3438.

today4 10 a.m.-2 p.m. — The Randolph County Public

Library Friends Bookshop, 226 Sunset Ave.,Asheboro, will be open. Info: 336-629-1536.

4 10 a.m.-6 p.m. — Christmas atLinbrook Hall, 5297 Snyder Country

Road, Trinity. Admission for adults,$25; for children from 2-12, $12. Info:

info@linbrookheritageestate.com or 336-861-6959.

4 3:30 p.m. — Arts and Crafts event at the AsheboroPublic Library, 201 Worth St., Asheboro. Make holidaydecorations. Free. Info: 336-318-6804.

4 3:30-4:30 p.m. — Home Sweet Home: A Ginger-bread House for the Holidays for ages Kindergarten-fifth grade at Randleman Public Library, 142 W.Academy St., Randleman, with Kimberly Titlebaum fromUNC-G’s Recipe for Success. Info: 336-498-3141.

4 4 p.m. — TeenZone Video Game Club at AsheboroPublic Library, 201 Worth St., Asheboro. Teens ages 12-18. Info: 336-318-6803.

4 6 p.m. — The Randolph County School Systempresents its annual holiday concerts at TabernacleElementary School Gym, 4901 Tabernacle School Road,Asheboro. Free and open to the public.

4 6 p.m. — Christmas Parade in downtown Robbins.

4 6-8 p.m. — The American Cancer Society Relay ForLife of Randolph County kickoff for the annual event atdi’lishi Frozen Yogurt Bar, 405 E. Dixie Drive, Asheboro.Info: www.relayforlife.org/randolphnc; or Nick McNeill,336-328-5186 or nick.mcneill@cancer.org.

4 6:30 p.m. — Randleman Christmas Parade in down-town Randleman. Tree lighting and bike giveaway imme-diately following in Commerce Square. Info: RandlemanPark and Rec Department, 336-495-7525.

4 7 p.m. — Christmas Parade, “Music Tells the Storyof Christmas,” in downtown Siler City. Info: 919-742-3333 or info@ccucc.net.

4 7 p.m. — Randolph Youth Theater Company isperforming “A Christmas Carol” at the Sunset Theatre,234 Sunset Ave., Asheboro. Tickets are $6, available atthe door or at the Randolph Arts Guild, 123 Sunset Ave.,Asheboro.

4 7:30 p.m. — The Randolph County School Systempresents its annual holiday concerts with RandlemanElementary Chorus at the Christmas Tree Lighting indowntown Randleman. Free and open to the public.

Friday, Dec. 24 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. — American Red Cross blood driveat Randolph Hospital Outpatient Center, 364 WhiteOak St., Asheboro.

4 9 a.m.-3 p.m. — Randolph County SPCA Dogwill/Catwill Thrift Store, 300 W. Bailey St., Asheboro, will beopen.

4 10 a.m.-6 p.m. — Christmas at Linbrook Hall, 5297Snyder Country Road, Trinity. Admission for adults, $25;for children from 2-12, $12. Info: info@linbrookheritag-eestate.com or 336-861-6959.

4 3-9 p.m. — Choose a Christmas tree at the Christ-mas Tree Village at Millstone Creek Orchards, 506Parks Crossroads Church Road, Ramseur. $5 per person(tree cost is extra). Free holiday movie from 6-8 p.m.Info: 336-824-5263 or info@millstonecreekorchards.com.

4 4:30-11 p.m. — Ride on the Handy Dandy Railroadat Denton FarmPark, 4259 Hand Road, Denton. Admis-sion is $13 for adults; $5 for children ages 5-11; free forchildren 4 and under. Info: 336-859-2755.

4 5-8 p.m. — Archdale Parks and Recreation’s annualCreekside Christmas at Creekside Park, 214 ParkDrive, Archdale. Admission cost is a non-perishable fooditem or an unwrapped toy.

4 5:45 p.m. — Christmas Parade in downtown Candor.

4 7 p.m. — Asheboro Christmas Parade in downtownAsheboro. Free. Info: 336-626-2626.

CALENDAR CHECKLIST

Community The Courier-Tribune

Thursday, December 1, 2016

3A

Notebook

We’ve all been there.Standing near theback of the line in thecheckout aisle you no-tice the garish coversof the tabloids. As youscan the headlines onthese ridiculous pub-lications, synapses inthe back of your mindfire up and launch anattack on all of thepreposterous claims.

“Bat Boy Found inCave” is neatly battedaway. “Fourth Duke ofLincolnshire is a 1,000Year Old Vampire” getsburied. Even the morerealistic claims aboutcelebrities’ lives youcan easily set aside asrubbish, not to men-tion the suggestionsfor weight loss andwrinkle resistance.

That tiny pinch inthe back of one’s mindwhen accosted withsuch blatant untruthsis called skepticism.It is a built-in defensemechanism againstthose ideas that couldcause us harm to in-gest. For many, thereis really no effort inwielding this neatmental defense. Whenthe salesperson comesto the door with amagically powerful newcleaner, our skepticismimmediately challengesthese claims. Skepti-cism is fed by doubt.

When confrontedwith a claim thatseems to defy what weknow about the world,skepticism asks forproof. We desire empiri-

cal evidence,as we hold themantra of “see-ing is believ-ing” at the coreof our dailyexperiences.

Of course,we are not totalskeptics inevery way. Eachof us has todeal with our own wishthinking, credulityand wonder. It is oftenhard to balance hopeand wishes againstskepticism and doubt.

One of my profes-sors used the exampleof the fruit shopper. Asyou wander throughthe produce section,you don’t just grabfruit. You pick up eachpiece, test for firmnessand color, and look forsoft or brown spots.Only when the piece offruit has satisfactorilypassed the test do youput it in the buggy.

So it should bewith everyday thingswe are exposed toon the internet, so-cial media, TV newsand other less-than-journalistic sources.

Recently, there hasbeen a revelation aboutthe amount of fakenews on social media.

Many weresurprised, buttheir shockdidn’t reachacademic andpublic librar-ians or eventraditionaljournalists.These groupshave beenwarning people

for years that you can’tbelieve everything youread on the internet.

I remember back inthe late ’90s when Ifirst got a free email ac-count to use for school,how many chain lettersI would receive fromwell-meaning familymembers and friends.Once you scrolled downfar enough, they had aseries of “little knownfacts” and conspiraciesthat the governmentdidn’t want you toknow about. I remem-ber, even then, being alittle dubious about thecontent, not to mentionsource, of those emails.What did Aunt Lillianknow about the spaceprogram anyway?

Yet, even in this agewhen each of us carriesa small piece of highlypowerful technologythat could, if used cor-rectly, help us discover

sources for some ofthe bogus news weare fed each day, in-stead we simply openour minds and acceptthose claims with-out a single qualm.

So it is that I re-mind my readers, if

you come across some-thing that even ticklesthe skeptical mecha-nism in your brain,don’t hesitate to askyour local librarian. Wecan help you source theclaims if possible anddispel the myths. Wecan also help you de-cide which news sourc-es are more reliable. Itis easy to share a memeor a link to a news blog.It is much harder tocheck the veracity ofthat meme or link be-fore we share it. Takea moment, find othercorroborating sourcesor call the library. Wecan help find the truth.

Wishing certainthings to be true is nor-mal and very human.Whether they are actu-ally true is somethingthat takes skepticismand a willingness to beproved wrong. Each ofus has hopes and de-sires, but we should al-ways carry the shield ofskepticism as we wan-der through the tabloidracks of the internet.

n Dave Bare is TeenServices, Reference Librarianfor the Randolph CountyPublic Library. Contact:dbare@randolphlibrary.org.

Bare

Carry the shield of skepticism

Magnificent Math Night

Contributed photo

Randleman Elementary School held Magnificent Math Night for approximately 225 parents on Nov. 16. Pictured arefourth grade teachers Stephanie Hopson and Rachel Beck explaining the fourth grade Common Core math elements.

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Television Guide, 5-29 • Happenings, 6-10 • Calendar, 12 • Taste, 14 • Sports, 16 • Movies, 20 • Photos, 22 • Puzzles, 24, 26 & 31 • Music, 28 & 30

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