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Times-Advocate, 1987-10-14, Page 14Page 12 Times -Advocate, October 14, 1987 Happy family r ni- reunion' makes Thanksgiving special p smiles as he watches his wife show his 16 -year-old sister how to make a cherry pie. "The congregation of the Pentecostal Church has been so good", Somsay said. The church, as Sponsors, are ar- ranging for rental accommodation for the newcomers. They are also supply- ing all other needs such as food, heat and utilities. Donations of furniture and clothing have come in steadily. "We are very happy with the situa- tion," Hall said. "It is people like these, with their eagerness and desire to integrate into Canadian society who have helped to make Canada the nation it is today. I am firmly con- vinced this family will be on their own in less than a year." Somsay Chansamone had special reason to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. For the first time in eight years, all members of his family were under one roof again. Somsay could look around his Centralia home and see his grandmother, his mother and father, and seven brothers and sisters, two of whom were born after he last said goodbye. (One grandmother has since gone on to Toronto to staywith Som - say's brother. Somsay joyfully greeted his tired but very happy family two weeks ago in Kitchener; the eleven had arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport after a 30 -hour flight. from Bankok, and been bussed on to Kit- chener for the reunion. Somsay and two of his brothers escaped from Communist -controlled Laos in 1979 for the relative safety of a refugee camp in Thailand. The three brothers came to Canada the following year as church -sponsored Southeast Asian refugees. Somsay, his wife Buoavanh, his little son and one brother were sponsored by the congregation of the Exeter Pentecostal Tabernacle. Somsay had approached the church a number of years ago to ask for help in bringing the rest of his family to Canada. A committee headed by Morley Hall had sent a request to the immigration ministry through World Vision. Many trips by both Somsay and committee members to the im- migration department in -Kitchener had seemed to end in futility. The committee then contacted MP Mur- ray Cardiff. Hall returned from a six-week trip out west to find a letter from Cardiff promising action soon. Half an hour later Don Rogers, pastor of Exeter Pentecostal Church, balled around to inform Hall that Somsay's family had arrived the previous week. The new immigrants had been stay- ing in a squalid, crowded refugee camp operated by the UN in Thailand since escaping from Laos two -and one half years ago on the pretext of cross- ing the border to obtain medical help for the grandmothers. Somsay' father Ngiem, 56, had been a lan- downer before the Communist take- over of Laos. The newcomers are amazed at the freedom, the equality, the amount of living space, and the abundance- of everything in their new country. Som - say has taken his mother shopping in Exeter grocery stores; she is over-. Saint,sbury By MRS. HEBER DAVIS Rev. Wheeler was in charge of Ho- ly Communion Service at St. Patrick's, Sunday morning. Mrs. Mary Kooy was pianist, Mrs. Margaret Carroll read the lessons. In talking to the children Rev. Wheeler spoke to them on Thanksgiving - on how much food and comfort we all have and on the need to share, she brought two cans of vegetables and asked the chlidren to have a box in the Sunday School and to bring some -from home and to get their parents to help fill the box for the needy. ' In her sermons she stressed the need for being thankful and of shar- ing taking her text from the Gospel for the day Matthew 22 1-14. The ladies of the congregation are asked to help clean the church and hall on Friday October 16 in the mor- ning prior to a social evening Monday October 19 in the -Parish hall when Wendy Fletcher Burlington will show slides of South America and speak to the ladies. Personals Mrs. Hugh Davis attended a Sun- day School Teachers meeting in Mit- chell recently. Miss Marylou Tindall Mississauga spent the holiday weekend with her parents Mr. and Mrs. Bob Tindall and Robt, I joined them for Saturday dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Barker spent the weekend at Manitoulin and visited Mr. and Mrs. Don Abbott. I was a dinner guest on Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Young, Richard and John and on Monday I had dinner with Mr. and Mrs, Bob MacGillivray Courtney and Katie Scarlet. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Carroll and children visited relatives in Sarnia on the weekend. • Usborne & Hibbert Mutual Fire Insurance Company Exeter, Ontario NOM 150 (Established in 1876) Provides Full Insurance Coverage for Town Dwellings as well as Farm Properties DIRECTORS 8 ADJUSTERS Jock Harrigan RR 3 tucon 227.1305 Robert Gardner RR 2 Stall° 315.2739 Lloyd Morrison RR 1 St. Marys 229.8277 Lorne Feeney RR 2 Dublin 315.2513 Jack Hodgert RR 1 Kirkton 229.6152 Joseph Cholla RR 5 Michell 3189705 AGENTS Ross Hodgert Woodhom John Moore Dublin Joseph Unioc Mitchell 229-6613 315.2512 318.9012 Head Office Exeter 235-0350 Fire extinguishers for sale of below cost to our policyholders whelmed by the amount and variety of food available. Somsay's only regret is the fact his newly arrived family cannot per- sonally yet express their gratitude for the friendship and assistance they have been given since coming to this area. Learning English is a main priority. The family are getting their infor- mal English lessons from watching TV. The school-age children are enrolled at J.A.D. McCurdy School, and the older children and Somsay's parents are taking English lessons three mornings a week at SIHDHS. As Somsay helps his family to adapt to Canadian culture, he recalls nes own introduction to electric stoves and refrigerators and flush toilets. He SHE CAN MAKE A CHERRY PIE — Sixteen -year-old Chanphong, who has only been in Canada a few weeks puts the filling in a cherry pie in the kitchen of her brother's home. FAMILY REUNION — Somsay Chansamone (bock right) smiles hap- pily as he poses with his mother and father (back left) and seven brothers and sisters who came recently from Thailand. His two grand- mothers, who were among the 11 family members emigrating from southeast Asia, were absent when this picture was taken. 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