Can you tell me how our Hornets basketball team got its name?

Alex

Dear Alex,

You may know that the Hornets came to us from Charlotte, N.C. The team joined the National Basketball Association as the Charlotte Hornets in 1988 and moved to New Orleans in 2002. The team originally was supposed to be called the Charlotte Spirit, but instead became the Charlotte Hornets, a name that can be traced to the Revolutionary War.

The city of Charlotte was named for Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of English King George III. Queen Charlotte was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, and the county in which Charlotte is located was named Mecklenburg County in her honor. Today, Charlotte is known as the 'Queen City."

The area that is now Charlotte was settled in 1755, and was officially incorporated as Charlotte Town in 1768. Residents hoped that naming the town in honor of the Queen would win them favor with her husband.

The citizens of Charlotte, however, would not bow down to King George III, who continued to impose unpopular laws and taxes. Naturally, the king was not pleased with the colonists' desire for independence, and British lawmakers enacted a series of laws designed to punish them. The colonists continued to resist, and the Revolutionary War began in 1775.

Five years later, on Sept. 26, 1780, Lord Gen. Charles Cornwallis led the British army in an invasion of Charlotte. British soldiers looking for food and provisions from the farms and plantations in the area were fired on by the Mecklenburgers (what the people of the county called themselves) and the troops were forced back. Cornwallis led many raids into Mecklenburg County. The resistance he met led the general to refer to the area as 'the hornets' nest of America," and Charlotte earned a lasting nickname: 'Hornets' Nest."

Hey Blake,

What can you tell me about a radio station from the late 1960s: WWOM.

Daryl Laumann

Dear Daryl,

In the mid 1960s, 'underground radio" using the FM radio band was born. Announcers were able to choose what tunes they would play, and the stations broadcast music that was rarely heard on commercial radio stations.

The stations were called 'underground" because they played longer, more controversial songs than conventional stations did. It was quite a change from the Top 40 hits that were separated by commercial jingles and silly DJ patter on AM radio.

In New Orleans, underground radio started at a station called WWOM. It was called 'Mother Radio," a free-form album/rock station for the counterculture. In the beginning, WWOM played songs nobody else was playing, and sometimes song sets might last two hours without a commercial. The DJs who worked there took names like Judas and Barabbas. Judas was John Larroquette, a New Orleans boy who went on to greater things.

For those of you who might not know or remember Larroquette, he is an actor who has appeared in numerous TV shows and some movies, but is probably best known as Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding on Night Court, a television show that started in 1984. In the early '90s he starred in TVs The John Larroquette Show, which ran for four seasons.

Hey Blake,

In 1964 my husband and I married in Baton Rouge. As a joke, I made him an Easter basket with the famous Elmer's Heavenly Hash and other Elmer's candies. I used to get a big pecan egg and put it in the center of the basket. I believe Elmer's made this particular big egg. Am I wrong? I haven't been able to find it for several years. If it exists, where can I find it? This year was my husband's 44th Easter basket.

Alice Picard Dunbar

Dear Alice,

I know Easter is a good while away, but it's never too early to start planning. And I am very happy to tell you that Elmer's does indeed make a giant pecan egg, not just the little ones. For your husband's 45th Easter basket, you will be able to get him a 14-oz. pecan egg and a 14-oz. Gold Brick egg. The Easter Bunny told me that the places to look for these traditional Easter treats are Wal-Mart and Walgreen's. But if you can't find the giant eggs in stores, you can order them from the company online (www.elmercandy.com) anytime after January 2009.

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• The Hornets may be named after a North Carolina legend, but New Orleans has wholeheartedly adopted the team and its stars, including David West and Chris Paul.