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Barr's return home safely from their travels

May 25, 2022 - 00:00
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Winner number 39 of the 2nd Annual St. Joseph’s Catholic Church 52-week gun raffle was drawn Sunday, May 22. The winner of a Colt AR15, CR6920, 5.56mm Rifle is Clint Vezurk of Anderson. The next drawing is Sunday, May 29.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church annual bazaar in Stoneham will be held Memorial Day weekend, Sunday, May 29. Come out and enjoy a fantastic lunch with beef, pork and all the trimmings beginning at 11 a.m. There will be a live auction beginning at 2 p.m., a silent auction, live music and entertainment throughout the day along with activities, games and booths for children and adults.

The Knights of Columbus Council #4053 recently held their election of officers for 2022-2023. Congratulations to the following individuals: Grand Knight - Richard Hicks; Deputy Grand Knight – Raymond Miller; Chancellor – Henry Ostermann; Recorder – Rick Atkinson; Treasurer – Steve Paskett; Advocate – James Hennessy; Warden – Gerry Juelfs; Inside Guard – Dominick Adamo; Outside Guard – Blake Scholz; and 3-Year Trustee – James Moran.

Cheryl Barr has substitute taught in Anderson-Shiro for about six years. This year her husband John joined her substituting. They really enjoy our young people! They both love to travel and learn about other countries, their history and politics and how what is happening in the USA affects or is affected by what is happening in other parts of the world. They tell stories and share pictures with their students and are often asked to share more. COVID-19 cancelled several of their planned trips. They finally decided to travel again even though it was discouraged because of COVID-19. So, in Cheryl’s words, this is what happened.

“Our trip was paid for and we were ready to go the Baltic countries that border Russia and also to Poland. Then Putin attacked Ukraine and we became nervous about our trip. I monitored the Embassy websites, newspapers, and many other travel sites to stay on top of the dangers in these countries. During spring break, we learned our trip was a go and we decided we were going no matter what else happened and definitely would not cancel last minute! We began to talk to the students about Ukraine (the 5th graders are especially sharp about world events) and how the war and the destruction of crops was going to affect the USA and the rest of the world. We told them we were traveling to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and many of them felt we would not be safe and should not go.

We returned after 15 days in those beautiful countries! All were clean (no trash, not even cigarette butts), forests of pine and birch trees, rolling farmlands, historic cities, medieval, baroque and gothic churches, castles, palaces, and the effects of hundreds and thousands of years of wars and extermination of mankind. No baggy pants, jeans with holes, vivid color hair or crazy hair styles — respectful, nicely dressed and groomed, some very tall but all trim, well behaved students and friendly, patriotic adults working for a better life for their families and countries. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and the gorgeous flowers of spring!

We are not Catholic but were at noon mass on Mother’s Day, May 8, in the Chapel of Our Lady which has the Black Madonna believed to have been painted by St. Luke on a table in the house of the Holy Family and taken to Czestochowa, Poland, in 1382. We visited The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania which has over 100,000 crosses of all materials - wood, metal, plastic - hand written notes, rosary beads - visited by Pope John Paul II in 1993. Gorgeous gothic and baroque churches like The Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Vilnius, Latvia, with construction begun in 1668! The visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine begun in 1722, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, Schindler’s Factory and so much more. We felt safe everywhere - especially enjoyed meeting small numbers of soldiers in uniforms from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, Swe den, Britain, the USA and others at hotel breakfasts or occasionally while walking in public spaces. We talked to several and thanked them for serving their countries and helping to keep the world safer. Contrails were frequently in the skies! We saw no Ukrainian war protestors — only a few signs and a few Ukrainian people displaced by the war.” Since the school year is over, Cheryl wanted to let their students know they returned home safely and encourage everyone to make travel a part of their lives.

Happy Birthday to those celebrating this week: May 26 – Rodney Finch and Eva Moritz; May 27 – Rodney Sechelski and Heather Clark; May 28 – Jarrod Martin; May 29 – Kaytryn Bankston; May 30 – Alyssa Gibson, Kalee Fredwood and Sarah Burgess; and May 31 – Jaret Sechelski.

Happy Anniversary to those celebrating this week: May 27 – Tyrone and Brittany Fenner, five years; May 29 – Leonard and LaNell Szymczak, 51 years; May 29 – Randy and Cathy Cleere, 51 years; May 29 – Shane and Allison Garthoff, 18 years; May 29 – Curtis and Cydney Lemons, 12 years; May 30 – J.D. and Jillian Ruby, 7 years; May 30 – Dale and Amy Posinski, seven years; May 30 – Eddie and Sophia Prado, 19 years; and June 1 – Reese and Jamie Pistler.

If you have special news about what goes on in your family or life, let me know by calling 936-870-6842 or email me at gailmsowell@ yahoo.com.