For those that did not receive the email I sent out May 1 concerning the HistoryBuff.com grant proposal, I offer a synopsis of that email. (About fifty of them bounced back to me due to being "Over Quota.")

Pepsi has a program that offers grants. Usually, when a foundation offers grants, the Board of Directors meet and evaluate the grant proposals and then select the ones they want to support. The Pepsi grant approvals ARE NOT selected by a Board of Directors. Instead, the grant proposals that receive the most votes are awarded the funds.

HistoryBuff.com has a grant proposal in the running. I am attempting to receive funding to compile and publish an extensive database of historical data for use on HistoryBuff.com. When the visitor enters a month and year, the results will be:

• A listing of newspaper headlines for each day of that month, if significant
• Prices for various commodities - a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, a gallon of gas, etc.
• Average cost of a new automobile
• Average price of a home - standardized to number of rooms, square feet, etc.
• Average income for various occupations - carpenter, teacher, store clerk, etc.
• Top television shows - or radio shows pre-1948
• Movie release dates and primary stars
• Top songs for that month

• 1) Own or have access to a laptop/notebook computer

• 2) Able to provide their own transportation to a larger library or state archives in their area

• 3) Experience in using microfilm.

Twenty-four hours after I sent out my email notice requesting votes, the HistoryBuff.com grant proposal was ranked in 311th place out of 1,343 proposals. Nearly a week later, it was ranked number 132. Then the momentum lost ground. It is now ranked at 199th.

I have been asked by a few people that if they register to vote on the Pepsi Web site, will they start receiving more SPAM email? The answer is NO! I first registered to vote on the Pepsi Web site three months ago and have only received two emails from Pepsi, or its affiliates, and both were updates for my grant proposal. (Thank you for submitting a grant proposal and Your grant proposal was accepted for voting.)

Please vote for the HistoryBuff.com grant proposal as often as you can. Teachers, if you have a computer lab connected to the Internet in your school, please help by voting as often as you can. The direct URL to vote is: http://www.refresheverything.com/historybuff

Thanks in advance.

Rick Brown

One-hundred-fifty years ago, this area was the home of a Native American tribe - insert a tribe name per your location. One year, the chief’s son went on his quest to become a man. Usually, the person going on the quest was at least 16 years of age, however, the chief’s son, Prancing Deer, was only 13 when he went on his journey to become a man. The quest was to be sent out alone with only a knife and survive for 30 days. Sure enough, on the thirtieth day, Prancing Deer returned home unharmed. The chief was so proud of his son that he had signs placed all over the valley so that others would know about his son’s achievement. This tribe had no written language. Rather, they used symbols or drawings for signs. Today, one-hundred-fifty years later, these signs can still be seen along highways. Click here to see the sign.

One-hundred-fifty years ago, this area was the home of a Native American tribe - insert a tribe name per your location. When a male Native American turned sixteen years of age, he was required to go on a quest . The test was that he was given a knife, but no other weapons, and had to survive all alone for thirty days and if he returned home unharmed and on time, he became a man. Falling Rock accepted the challenge and left on his quest. Thirty days passed, then thirty-five days, but Falling Rock had not returned. The chief sent out his warriors to try and find Falling Rock. They searched for a full two months but could not find him and finally gave up searching. Falling Rock’s father became highly depressed but did not want to give up searching for his son. Everywhere he went, he left signs for others to see and help find Falling Rock. Today, one-hundred-fifty years later, these signs can still be seen along highways. Click here to see the sign.

NOTE: A right click of your mouse button will enable you to download the sign to your computer. Then you can print them out for use in repeating the above two stories. Alternately, when traveling in an area that has these signs along the highway, start telling the stories.

My bank called me the next day and advised I had overdrawn on my bank account. Imagine my shock when I was told of some transactions of well over $2,500 that I did not make; An HDTV from a store in Oklahoma; Three packages were sent from Fort Worth, Texas by FedEx to a Bahamas address; and an iPod was puchased from a store in California. My bankcard had never left my possession. She closed that debit card account once and for all and issued me a new card. I asked her how someone could have used my debit card to make purchases when it never left my possession?

She then told me about a new method that thieves use to obtain debit//bank card information. They purposely wait in line behind some checking out and use their cell phone camera to take a picture of the credit/debit card. This way, they have the name of the cardholder, numbers and expiration date. Literally within an hour they post on a specific underground Web site that they have credit card information to sell. The same credit card info is sold to lots of different people. These people then make purchases over the telephone using your card information. Once they can no longer use the card, they move on to another stolen card. After hearing this it was then that I recalled while waiting in line to check out, I heard a "ping" and turned around. A female of about 20 years of age had her cell phone in hand and quickly told me "I'm sorry. I pushed the wrong button." Oh well... yeah, yeah!

Now, the tip. When you are waiting in line to check out, keep your debit/credit card face down and hand it to the cashier the same way. Then tell him/her about why you are handing it to them face down and advise them to return it to you face down also.

If you desire to make a one-time donation through PayPal, utilize the link below. The dollar amount donated is up to you.

Help Support HistoryBuff.com

Another method to make a donation is a paid subscription for the HistoryBuff.com newsletter. If you feel the newsletter is worth $1, per issue, you may want to pay for a subscription. A paid subscription is totally optional. You'll never miss that $1 each month and it will greatly help to keep HistoryBuff.com online and free. Doug Owens and Susan Freedman-Varbero signed up for a one-year paid subscription from the April issue.

Subscribe to the HistoryBuff.com Newsletter - $1 Per month (Optional)

If you prefer NOT to use a credit card or PayPal, a check or money order can be mailed to: Rick Brown, HistoryBuff.com, 6031 Winterset Drive, Lansing, MI 48911. Make check or money order payable to HistoryBuff.com. Thank you.