Tomorrow, on November 29, 2008, kicking off at 10:00 a.m. and continuing on until 4:00 p.m. The Ozello Art’s Festival will be displaying art from many different local and regional artists! Among the incredible art displys, you will be sure to find plenty of food, music and entertainment!

The festival is located at 14096 West Ozello Trail in Crystal River, Citrus County, Florida, just 6.2 miles west on Ozello Trail from US Hwy 19! Parking is free and the cost to join in on the fun is only a one dollar donation! For more information please call 352-795-2879.

Celebrations of thanks date back to 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida with a group of Spanish Explorers celebrating the safe passage across the ocean. In 1621, the first ‘well known’ celebration of thanks took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with the Pilgrims celebrating a harvest of abundance. The pilgrims did not celebrate every year, only on the years that the harvest produced above and beyond.

It was not until the Revolutionary War that George Washington declared that a day of thanks, November 26th, to be a State celebrated holiday. After much persuasion from Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln declared that the American people gather together “with one heart and one voice” to observe a special day of thanksgiving, and so began the National Holiday of Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow we celebrate in a tradition, a tradition of gathering with our family and friends to flip through our mental notebooks and recognize and appreciate all of the many things that bless us in our lives each day. We at CENTURY 21 Alliance Realty want to take this time, “with one heart and one voice”, to wish you and yours many reasons to be thankful not only on Thanksgiving Day, but every day!

According to CNN Money, the new foreclosure prevention program that was designed by both the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Hope Now, will indeed rescue some of the troubled mortgage holders but not all, not by a long shot.

The new plan will begin on December 15, 2008 with lenders going through the portfolios of the borrowers that they feel qualify for the assistance. Qualifications include borrowers that are more than three months behind in their payments, can provide a ‘hardship letter’ that shows “good reason” for falling behind, does not have too much equity in their home, and of course has to have their loans either owned or backed by Fannie or Freddie.

Once the lenders have all the information that they need, they will then determine if they can help the borrower by lowering their monthly loan payment. The loan payment cannot be reduced to more than 38% of their gross income, to aid in this endeavor the banks will lower the interest rate, extend the length of the loan or defer some of the principal of the loan. Once you are approved and the homeowner has made three payments at the lower payment, the plan will then become permanent.

However, even if you don’t qualify for this plan, do some research and find any other way that your lender can help. There are programs that are available, you just have to find them, and with any luck, soon there will be many more!

With the gas prices continually dropping, this weeks lowest gas prices in the area are listed below.

Gas Stations in Citrus County

Citgo
8486 N. Carl G. Rose Hwy
Hernando, Fl. 34442
Regular $1.829 - Plus $1.949 - Premium $2.129 - Diesel $2.999

Murphy USA
2419 E. Gulf To Lake Hwy
Inverness, Fl. 34453
Regular $1.839 - Plus $1.949 - Premium $2.129 - Diesel $2.999

Racetrac
1001 NE 5th St.
Crystal River, Fl. 34429
Regular $1.919 - Plus $2.059 - Premium $2.059

Gas Stations in Hernando County

Sunoco
765 S. Broad St.
Brooksville, FL, 34601
Regular $1.899 - Plus $2.019 - Premium $2.199 - Diesel $2.799

Racetrac
9410 Cortez Blvd.
Brooksville, Fl. 34613
Regular $1.919 - Premium $2.069

Murphy USA
19365 Wiscon Rd.
Brooksville, Fl. 34601
Regular $1.849 - Diesel $2.779

Citgo
9020 Cobb Rd.
Brooksville, Fl. 34601
Regular $1.879 - Diesel $2.759

On Saturday and Sunday November 22-23, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. kicks off the 7th Annual Yankeetown Seafood Festival! The festival
will provide over 125 arts and crafts vendors, delectable seafood, and live musical entertainment!

Cutler Spur will be performing on Saturday only from 12:30p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Cutler Spur music performs a blend of old country music with a taste of southern fried rock. The Yankeetown Seafood Festival is sponsored by Inglis/Yankeetown Lions Club located at Riverside Drive in Yankeetown, Fl. For more information please feel free to call 352-219-4578.

During these upcoming winter months in Citrus and Hernando Counties, protecting our landscaping and our grass is of the most importance. In order insure that the curb appeal of our homes remains beautiful and healthy until the spring rains return a few simple steps will aid in this process.

1. Water your lawn before a hard freeze occurs. Watering adds an insulation period; a dry freeze will do a lot of damage to a lawn overnight.

2. Clean out an area in your home and bring any potted plants that you have outside inside. Any plants outside that can’t be brought into the house need to be covered up. Make certain that you use a rock or something to hold the sheets and blankets down so that they won’t blow in those winds that accompany a cold front.

3. Another idea is to get your Christmas lights up and around some of your plants! The large outside lights can add some heat to your outside plants.

Remember, during these cold months, your plants need to stay warm, just like you!

With the way that the National economy is going, cutting costs and pinching pennies for the holiday season seems to be a ‘must’ for most families these days. This Thanksgiving consider following some of these cost saving tips. Remember, cutting every little corner adds up…

1. Have the children make all the table decorations for the holidays as opposed to buying them. Hand traced turkeys, pine cones on the table and a decorative vase of ‘hand-picked’ flowers is not only less expensive but ‘cute’ to boot!

2. Coupons! Coupons! Coupons! I can’t stress enough how important coupons can be in saving money at the grocery store. If you already receive the newspaper, Sunday’s news always has coupons in the flyers. If the web is more your style, CoolSavings offers free coupons as well as many other websites.

3. Calculate what the cost will be at the grocery store for each guest that you will be having for dinner. A Thanksgiving Calculator may be of some help to you.

4. Make your shopping list and stick by it! Don’t go to the store hungry, that’s always a big no no!

5. Double check your cabinets before you hit the store you may be surprised at the things that are stashed away that you can use this year.

Come on down this Friday and Saturday night and enjoy the Citrus Stampede Rodeo! The fun begins on November 21 and continues through until November 22, 2008 at the Citrus County Fairgrounds in Inverness Fl. Gates open at 5:30 for opportunities to ride the Mechanical bull, check out the vendors and have a bite to eat before sitting down at 7:30 and enjoying the rodeo! There will be a boot scramble for the kids on both Friday and Saturday night and The Celebrity Buck Off ‘kicks’ off at 6:30 on Friday!

Adult tickets are $15 at the door or $12 in advance and children 4-11 are $5 at the door and $4 in advance. Advance tickets are only available until Thursday, November 20, 2008 at the following locations:

Crystal Dodge - State Road 44 West in Inverness
Crystal Dodge - US 19 in Homosassa
Citrus County 4-H - 3650 W. Sovereign Path in Lecanto
Citrus County Fair Office - US 41 S in Inverness
Country Feed & Supply - 7120 W Grover Cleveland Blvd. in Homosassa
Easy Livin’ Furniture - 4100 W Gulf to Lake Hwy in Lecanto
Service Master of Citrus County - 275 US 19 N in Crystal River
Southern Traditions - 4474 S Florida Ave. in Inverness
Inverness Chamber of Commerce – 401 Tompkins St. in Inverness
Feed & Western Outlet - 4434 E Arlington St. in Inverness
Homosassa Chamber of Commerce - 3495 S Suncoast Blvd. in Homosassa

For more information please feel free to call 352-564-4525.

With the gas prices continually dropping, this weeks lowest gas prices in the area are listed below.

Gas Stations in Citrus County

Cumberland
2805 N. Florida Ave.
Hernando, Fl. 34442
Regular $2.039 - Premium $2.259

Murphy USA
2419 E. Gulf To Lake Hwy
Inverness, Fl. 34453
Regular $1.969 - Plus $2.089 - Premium $2.269 - Diesel $2.919

Gas Stations in Hernando County

Sunoco
7170 Barclay Ave.
Spring Hill, FL, 34609
Regular $1.999 - Plus $2.129 - Premium $2.129 - Diesel $2.959

BP
9002 N. US Hwy 19
Brooksville, Fl. 34613
Regular $2.099 - Plus $1.699 - Diesel $3.289

7-11
6016 Spring Hill Dr.
Spring Hill, Fl. 34606
Regular $1.979 - Premium $2.259

Circle K
6227 Deltona Blvd.
Spring Hill, Fl. 34606
Regular $2.029 - Diesel $2.819

On Saturday, November 15, 2008 join us at the Free Home Buyer Fair! From 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Grace Presbyterian Church on the Corner of Spring Hill Drive and Waterfall Drive, in the back of the Church, Centrury 21 Alliance Realty will be giving away free food, free information, and free prizes valued at over $1000!

Information on being a first time buyer, tax credit information, downpayment information, credit report repair services! There will be a Mortgage Representative and Real Estate Professionals available to answer and all questions that you may have!

For more information call 352-293-2020 or email us at Homebuyerfair@gmail.com

See you there!!