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UNION NEWS
July 29, 2004
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL:
The Union Baptist Church held their vacation bible school program from the 19th to 23rd of July. This year the theme was “Jesus Helps You Power-up”. The children enjoyed learning some valuable bible lessons in which they will carry through life. They also put on a play the evening of July 23rd at the Union Baptist church where they portrayed a scene of Jesus wiping the disciples’ feet. Elizabeth Reed taught the class and Jesse Hickey played Jesus, the disciples were played by Allison Hickey, Taylor Obermeyer, & Autumn Porter. The children also enjoyed a picnic at the ballpark pavilion & hayrack ride throughout the village courtesy of Jim Burbee on the last day. Many thanks to Karen Fritschle, Elizabeth Reed, Delores Prater, & Phyllis Burbee for teaching the classes. Also, Ruth Lindsey, Helen Wolfe & Esther Kendall for providing the snacks everyday & taking care of the picnic preparations.
EXPERIENCE AT DUFF’S FRIENDSHIP VILLA:
Last October, a friend of mine that works at Duffs, contacted me about bringing my dogs in to visit with their Halloween outfits on (she saw their pictures thanks to the Plattsmouth Journal). Of course, the proud “dogmom” that I am, I immediately agreed. Any time I can show off my dogs, I take it since all my dogs are rescues that have not had the best treatment from people. I use them to show people that a dog doesn’t have to be purebred to be good family pets and they are worth saving. We have a 70+ pound Chow/Shar Pei mix (she’s lost 20 lbs going to the villa) that scares people just because of her size & the fact that Chows (like some other breeds) have a bad reputation. Everyone that knows her felt she would be the best one because she loves everyone, looks like a teddy bear & she is hardy enough to handle being pulled or leaned on. Well, they were right, Boo loves it & wants to go all the time. Trixie is also leery of people. She did not like being held, very nervous, jumped at every noise & got carsick. Since we have been going to Duffs, she no longer gets carsick, wants up on certain people’s laps & is less jumpy. She has even started to kiss and “sit pretty” for attention rather than food. Even the workers at Duffs have noticed a big change in her. Raggedy Ann is another story. My husband found her at a local carwash starved, filthy & afraid of anything that looks like a stick such as canes, walkers etc. She is not the kind of dog that likes to be handled, especially her ears, yipes very easily, is a barker and she is deathly afraid of men. Raggedy still has some work left, but she has really benefited from our visits and since she is only 15 lbs. freely jumps up into laps and acts as a clown & has adjusted very well to the walkers, canes & odd noises. And finally, Angel is a young toy poodle. She wasn’t quite a year old when we started going but of course like any poodle, she loves the attention
Once I took “my girls” & saw what a difference it made in them & the residents in just the first visit, I arranged with the home to take them on a regular basis, twice a month. Each of the residents has their favorite just like the dogs do and they look forward to our visits. How good it has been for everyone involved to have a regular visit! Some residents there don’t have visitors or family close by so for them it’s even more important. It never fails to impress me that a couple hours a month can make such a difference. There are some residents that don’t talk to people or get out of their rooms. We’ve seen the change in these people; they talk freely to the dogs, & have stopped just laying in bed all the time. Eventually, we hope to get some of these people out of their rooms. I’ve come to believe if anyone can get them to socialize more, my girls can. If you have a couple hours a month that you can spare and you have a sweet natured pet, you should try it. A scared pet can really benefit from socializing with a variety of people; you just need to be attuned to your pet so that you can tell when they’ve had enough.
ITEMS OF INTEREST:
The village has received 2000 blue spruce & lilac bush seedlings (1 ft) to transplant from an anonymous donor. It is recommended that they be planted in pots until next spring to give them a chance to root better & less stress when replanting. Anyone that is interested in replacing trees that have been lost to storm damage, please contact Deb @ 263-3175; Roger @263-2180; or the village office @263-3865.
COMMUNITY PICNIC:
Don’t forget the picnic is scheduled for the last Saturday in August. Dunking booth, games, raffles, auction, good food & catching up with your neighbors. Plan on attending this annual event.
The teachers & students enjoy a picnic on the last day of vacation bible school.
Back row: Lacy Hickey, Phyllis Burbee, Elizabeth Reed & Delores Prater.
Front row: Karen Fritschle, Autumn Porter & Rev. David Hall
Students after acting out a scene where Jesus washed the disciples feet.
Teacher Elizabeth Reed, Allison Hickey, Taylor Obermeyer, Jesse Hickey (as Jesus) & Autumn Porter.
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