15 July 26

Today we are meeting with pastors Eric Espada and Bruce Nettleton to plan the memorial service for our Mom Wilma Wollenweber. She died on 15 June. The service will be on Saturday, 25 July, at 11 a.m., at Richmond First United Methodist Church. My tie for today is one that Mom and Dad brought back from Zambia in 2000, when they were on a yearlong mission adventure with Wesleyan World Missions. The tie's label says it is from "Zambia - The REAL Africa."

23 March 25

The special reason to wear this Zambia animals tie is simply that granddaughter Evelyn saw it in my closet and wanted me to show it off! The tie clip features a pink elephant, a treasure from Mary Lou Stephens.

18 July 22

Celebrating National Zookeeper Week! I do not know any zookeepers personally, but when we visited the Cincinnati Zoo a few weeks ago, Evelyn wanted to be sure to see some of them! My tie shows some animals from Zambia -- lions, elephants, secretary birds and nyala (spiral-horned antelope) -- that show up in zoos around the world.

9 April 21

 JUMBO! On this date is 1882, an African elephant named Jumbo arrived in New York for exhibition in the United States. One result was that the word "jumbo" entered our vocabulary! My tie shows animals native to Zambia, including elephants.

3-4 October 19

Friday, 4 October -- a no-tie day for me -- is World Animal Day. So I'm celebrating today (Thursday) with a tie featuring animals from sub-Saharan Africa (specifically Zambia). It originally belonged to Robert Wollenweber. The alligator came to my office from Florida.

4 September 18

Today is National Wildlife Day! It's not clear which nation is involved, so I've chosen one of my ties whose images celebrate wild life in Zambia -- lions, secretary birds, elephants and lechwe. You can also celebrate National Wildlife Day on 22 February. It's been associated with 4 September since the death in 2006 of zoologist/environmentalist/TV-personality Steve Irwin (1962-2006).

19 July 17

To help celebrate National Zoo Keeper Week, I'm wearing animals from Zambia . . . the "REAL AFRICA," according to the label on the tie. I am happy knowing that most zoo keepers in 2017 are focusing on insuring the animals' survival and welfare, not exhibiting them for entertainment.

28 November 16

Saturday (26 November) marked the 300th anniversary of the first lion being exhibited in America. Tomorrow marks the birthday of writer C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), whose wonderful lion character Aslan plays the major role in the "Chronicles of Narnia." My tie features a lion and other animals from Zambia, the "REAL AFRICA" according to the label. Beth's parents gave me another tie with the same design in different colors (orange, yellow, gray and charcoal) in 2000, and now this one has come to me from the Robert F. Wollenweber collection. (Mentioning Aslan creates an Advent connection, because it was Aslan's "advent" into Narnia that created much of the plot for "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe," including a Father Christmas celebration.)