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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-03-01, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012. Local family donated dog to support training program Despite the fact that we’ve been experiencing a very mild winter all of us will likely be glad to see the end of grey days. My ‘taking time to smell the roses’ for this week is realizing there is daylight when I get up and again while eating my supper. More hours of sunlight will chase away the winter blues. And,the lights are on in the greenhousesat Greyhaven Gardens, anotherencouraging sign.There are weeks when it becomes a struggle to fill this space with items you might actually find interesting. I had been mumbling to John not long ago about how I wished people would offer more suggestions for the space. Someone heard me for this week’s column contains two such items. In early November of 2011 area folk were saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Annemarie Hillis. Bob dropped by the post office recently with an interesting piece for which Annemarie will be remembered. The Hillis family dog is a GoldenRetriever whom they have bredseveral times over the years.Annemarie sold most of the pups butoccasionally donated one to the Lions Club International Companion Dog Academy. This is a long and strenuous training and not all dogs graduate. Annemarie donated a pup in 2009 at the age of 10 weeks. The family has received regular reports since then regarding the pup’s progress. Just this month Bob received notice that Tim has graduated and is a friend and companion to Hans of Mississauga. Bob remarks that Annemarie would have been very, very proud. By BRENDA RADFORD Call 523-4296 PEOPLE AROUND LONDESBORO Local dog matched Tim, right, graduated from the Lions Club International Companion Dog Academy and was matched with Hans shortly after. Tim was donated, as a pup, to the academy by Annemarie Hillis who passed away recently. (Photo submitted) Terry Fletcher confessed to the children who gathered at the front of the sanctuary on Sunday, Feb. 19 that he enjoys reading fairy tales especially ones about princes and princesses. One he read recently had to do with a magic bag. NO matter how much money the owner of the bag spent there was always more money in the bag. He queried the children what they had that they never ran out of. Smiles, of course. And when they turned around and smiled at the congregation, they found they got smiles back. He told them that a smile is a good way to make others feel happy and welcome. God gave everyone lots of smiles to share with the world. Mel Knox pleased those gathered for worship that morning with a solo, “It Is No Secret”. Mark 2: 1-12 was the basis of the message, “Hard Questions. Easy Answers”. Jesus was in Capernaum and a large group of persons had gathered in the house where He was to hear Him teach. However, also present were Jewish religious leaders there to test Him. Everyone wanted to know, “Who is this Jesus?” A paralysed man was brought to the house by friends to be healed. Their only recourse to get Jesus’ attention was to take the man to the roof, dig out the earth between two beams and lower the man on his pallet into the full room below. Jesus saw great faith in his action and immediately forgave the man’s sins. The belief at the time was that sickness and sin were linked. The religious leaders present questioned the action for, they stated, any false prophet could make the same declaration. They asserted that only God can forgive sin. Jesus revealed Himself as the son of God by ordering the paralyzed man to stand up and walk. All present were amazed. The truth revealed by this action was that Jesus can/will always love, heal, forgive and save us. Will we trust in that truth? Was the question Terry posed. One of the hymns sung during the service was “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” written by Joseph M. Scivern. At John Jewitt’s suggestions, I googled that name. Joseph Medicott Scivern was born in Dublin, Ireland. A graduate of Trinity College, Ireland, Joseph came to Canada at the age of 25. In 1845 he joined Plymouth Brethren friends in Woodstock, Ontario. He taught and preached there and in Brantford for a time. For a time Joseph settled in the Clinton area where he went frequently to preach to the men building the Grand Trunk Railway to Goderich and most likely taught school. He was living in the Port Hope area when he died. A plaque immortalizes him. The man was twice engaged to be married but lost both prospective wives tragically just prior to marriage. In 1855 Joseph learned his mother was very ill. He wrote a poem to comfort her titled “Pray Without Ceasing”. Although he wrote many other poems and hymns, this is the one for which he is remembered. The poem was set to music by one Charles Crozart Converse who renamed the poem, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. It is a favourite hymn of Christians around the world. Converse is also best remembered for the simple music for this hymn/poem. The Sunday School invites everyone to be a part of their annual skating party to be held at the Blyth Arena on Saturday, March 3 from 3 to 5 p.m. Chili will be served by the Sunday school teachers. You might consider bringing along snacks or a finger food dessert. Smiling the gift that gives back NEWS FROM LONDESBORO The Londesborough UCW held their February meeting the evening of Family Day and ‘family’ was the theme for the program and devotions led by Kim Roetcisoender and Catherine Allen. The poem, “A Family is Like”....” emphasized that families are for always, no matter what. The hymn, “Come In and Sit Down” issued an invitation to join the church family. The two scripture verses, 1Tim 5:8 and Gen. 28:14 reminded everyone to trust God as Father and tend to all their family members. The ladies were split into three teams, Adams, Sunshine and Rights, and had fun playing “Family Feud”. All players were rewarded for their efforts with fortune cookies stuffed with sayings around the family theme. Some fortunes were funny, others inspirational and thought-provoking. During the business part of the evening, the group decided to pay half the cost for any boy or girl wishing to attend a United Church camp this summer. Anyone wishing help should contact the UCW. This year is the 50th anniversary of UCW and several special gatherings were noted. One will take place in Aylmer April 15 and 16; another at the Stanley Complex in Varna on May 7. Anyone wishing to attend these events should contact president Sherry Postma for more details. Forms are posted on the bulletin board for Westminster Weekend in April and the Summer Event in July as well. A summer outing to Grand Bend was also discussed with more details to follow. The World Day of Prayer Service will be held on the group’s regular meeting night in March - Monday, March 19 beginning with dessert at 7:30 p.m. Londesborough UCW set to celebrate By Phaedra Scott, Hunter Dale and Courtney Bachert Grade 6/7 students have been exploring Canada’s links to the world. On Feb. 17, they celebrated Mexico Day and explored the traditions, industries and foods of Mexico. The students all worked together, bringing in ingredients from home to host a taco lunch for each other. The Grade 6 students have all picked a country of interest and are currently doing a Frames 4 project to present how their country interacts with Canada. Frames 4 is a computer program that allows the students to create stop animation movies with talking characters that describe their particular country. The Grade 7 students are busy completing a project on understanding population patterns and discovering what the difference is between a developed and developing country. By the end of next week, Ms Clark is hoping that the Grade 6/7 class will be summarizing superstars. They’ve been working really hard to figure out the “gist” of many articles they’ve studied online. Do you know how Valentine’s Day started. Or why the Costa Concordia cruise ship sank? Well the Grade 6/7 does. In math, the Grade 6 class has been doing an amazing job of multiplying 4-digit by 2-digit numbers using an open array. “Up, down, punch, punch, punch, product”. Be sure to ask a Grade 6 student what that means. The public speaking competitions were held last week at Blyth and Hullett Central Public Schools and the winners from both schools spoke at the Legion Branch 420 in Blyth on Saturday. Winners from the Legion level move on to the zone level at Wingham on March 3. The Blyth Public School book fair wrapped up this past week and was a success. The student and parent volunteers did a great job running the book fair and Mr. Brown wishes to thank everyone for their efforts. Enough funds were raised to purchase over $300 in new books for the library. Congratulations to Dawn as the winner of $25 in books for herself and another $25 in books for her classroom. And finally, a school trip has been organized for next week for all students from Grades 1 to 8 with tubing for the younger grades and skiing for the older students. The students had to watch safety videos at school this week and will need to take part in an assessment at the ski hill before they get to head out on the slopes themselves. Everyone’s very excited about the trip so let’s hope Mother Nature co-operates with some wintry weather until then. Continued from page 2 the community. Soup and More continues to be a fun time each Friday as good food is prepared and meals shared with conversation and new friends. Join in the fun as guest or volunteer. Link, a new venture at the United Church each Wednesday afternoon invites you to come for a break. Games, chat and refreshments will be available from 1:30 to 3 p.m. to get you out of the house and meet someone new. Join the fun. Take care of yourself. Bye now, Betty G.W. Soup and more provides fun, fellowship on Fridays Grade 6/7 class explores cultural connections Got Married... 519-523-4792 or 519-887-9114 Share your news by placing your announcement in The Citizen Call for pricing & details