Monday afternoon Gary and I went to Ava to visit his mother, Maxine Turner and Vicki Goodman. While we were there Vicki’s granddaughter, Ashli Womack and her daughter, Kaidon Stout came.

Sympathy to the families of Audrey Hadeen and Pauline Ellison.

Saturday afternoon I went to my niece’s home, Dara and Ernest Strong. Already there were Ella Faye Mitchell and Roy Strong and his wife. Right after I got home T.J. came in from Portland, Oregon. On Sunday afternoon T.J. took me to Springfield for a late Mother’s Day dinner. On the way back home we stopped and visited with Maxine Turner and David and Vicki Goodman. Then we stopped in on Paul and Honie Johnson. Honie came on down to visit with T.J. longer before he was to leave the next day.

Bill Satterfield had his granddaughter, Zoe Shull visiting a few days.

It has been reported that “cicadas” are in the Eastern states, and we had better be prepared with “earplugs” if they moved in our direction.

It has been interesting to watch the purple martins arrive, though other birds took over the martins “house” – they somehow made them “move over” to share the spaces. I have wished to have a new house ready for them. They take care of mosquitoes and other insects. They have been her a few weeks now and are nesting.

My granddaughter, Dana, helped me with some trimming shrubs Saturday afternoon and we have more yard work to do when she comes back this week.

A Saturday dinner at Vaught’s was enjoyed by families of Theodosia and Robert Burns Lodge who joined the widos of Master Masons, as they were honored for Mother’s Day.

Congratulations to my daughter, Kristin Luebbert, of Lindsborg, KS. as she graduated May 10^th from Hutchison, Kansas Nursing School.

Kathy Woolery spent Mother’s Day with her parents, Pete and Imogene Mitchell at Udall.

Granddaughter, Dan, and husband, Chet, came back Tuesday and did more yard work.

Karen Davis and I were in Mountain Home, AR. For my doctor’s appointments and shopping.

Jayden Miller had his 9^th birthday Sunday, May 12^th.

Dorothy Davis celebrated a birthday May 15^th and haer daughter-in-law has a May 18^th birthday in Lawrence, Kansas.

Mark Miller spent the Mother’s Day weekend at his mothers at Tecumseh. He keeps busy on his job.

Jerry Miller has a doctor appointment Tuesday and plans to visit Lozelle Pitchford at River Lodge Assisted Living in Mountain Home.

Maxine Smith, Edith McKinnon and her friend met Sunday at Vaught’s for Mother’s Day dinner.

Dale and Jackie Evans’ grandson, Robert Evans, is a patient in Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. Best wishes for his recoveryfrom leukemia.

Paralee Rea has a sore right hand as she fell and a large splinter of wood had to be removed at Urgent Care facility in Gainesville Saturday. She was putting flag holders at graves in the Oakland, Arkansas Cemetery.

Mearl and Beulah Satterfield attended decoration services at Hart and Isabella Cemeteries Sunday.

“It doesn’t do any good to sit up and take notice if you keep on sitting.”

After the service we had another excellent lunch followed by a vestry meeting in which we discussed improvements to the Parish Hall to be done by Eric Fancher and repairs to the fence by Joe Criswell.

Sunday evening I attended a concert given at the Methodist Church by Austin Giorgianni and other young people to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. I am constantly amazed by the musical talent exhibited by many young people in our community.

For information on St. Francis Church go to our website at stfrancisavamo.org.

Sister Tillie Fowler brought the special and did a very good job of singing it.

Brother Roberts brought the morning message from Matthew 25: 14-30, “Do Business ’til I Come.” He brought the evening message from Hab. 2:1, “God’s Timing.”

On Saturday evening , a BBQ and all the trimmings was  enjoyed at Joe and Wilma Hamby’s house , for celebration of David Hamby’s senior graduation. David will be leaving for the Army on June 11, 2013 and so several friends, neighbors and relatives were there to help celebrate. Those attending the party were Joe and Wilma Hamby, Darla Scheiling, Caleb and Kristen Bryon, David Hamby, Megan Barnes, Mike, Stacie, Mahala, Miley, and Lucas Hamby, Gene and Dorothy Myers, Bob and Gaye Lee, Frank and Mary Williams, Reeca and Rhonda Slayden, David Slayden and two children, Toby and Jacinda Sheppard, Alexis Swearengin, Kendra Walker, Joyce and Albert Erickson, Mike and Toni Predmore and Margaret Rosseau.

Delmar and I went to supper one evening with Beth Stafford and Johnathon Snelson. We visited with them for awhile at their house,

On Saturday morning, I attended a memorial for Kathryn Haden Hamilton, at the old Walnut Grove Church. They had several songs and memories shared then the ladies spread a wonderful lunch for everyone.

Delmar says his garden is needing tilling already. We have been looking for a place close into Ava to move to. We need to be closer in as our age is growing.

One day I took Bevy Moore and Caydee Burton to Springfield then on our way home we stopped at Seymour so Caydee could play at Jump Around. While there, my sister, Helen Cook, came over and visited with us.

I want to wish my Aunt Violet Morris a belated 92^nd Birthday, Happy Birthday Aunt Violet.

Until next week, don’t hide your talents that God gave you. He expects us to invest for Him.

Music of the Ozarks was provided by Junior Marriott.

Co-president Terri Hall thanked everybody for attending and called the business meeting to order. The minutes of the previous meeting and the current treasurer’s report were handed out and were accepted as presented. Terri Hall reported that she had attended the International Foods tasting event held April 16. She said that the “Frontier Girls’ had done a good job with this event.

Marie Bristol, Ruth Evans, and Betty Moore helped Special Needs students with the MAP testing. They said that it was a rewarding experience. Terri thanked Ruth for making the phone calls necessary. Volunteer help was also given for the Elementary Book Fair.

Ida Mae Huse gave her Legislative report saying that the petitions that the hoped for increase in funding for home delivery of meals did not pass, but $570,000 had been approved by the General Assembly subject now to the governor’s signature.

The scholarship committee had not met. No changes would be made to the application process for the 2013 year, but Norma Stillings moved to increase the membership dues from $10 to $20 a year in order to provide funding for two $200 scholarships each year. Norma also moved to move the deadline to submit a scholarship application from September to April for the 2014 scholarship year so that the scholarship awards could be given in May 2014 at the Award Assembly at the close of the year. The actual money grant would be made at the time the student gave proof of enrollment in college.

The next regular meeting of the Douglas and Ozark Counties RTA will be August 13, but plan meetings for the Region 10 meeting will be held June 11and July 9 at 2:00 PM at the home of Betty Moore.

Kelly and DeAnn Thompson, Kailey and Kyle went to Illinois last weekend to see Kelly’s folks.

Norma Cross and I went to Claremore, Oklahoma Sunday afternoon. We went to watch our great niece graduate Monday night from Claremore High School. We spent time with Sue Johnson and Georgia Sanders and our brother, Pete Jenkins and Sandra came over from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Georgia got sick Tuesday morning and had to spend the night in the hospital. She got to come home after her blood pressure came down.

I was sorry to hear about Audrey Hadeen passing away last week and her husband passed away the next week.

Kinsey Thompson played ball in the rain last week. It was kinda hard to find a time to play last week when it wasn’t raining.

Thursday Ervin and Lodean Schultz, Sue Brown and Dianne Brown drove to Ava to do some shopping and ate Chinese.

One day Ervin built Sue some laying nests for her chickens. They sure look nice.

Saturday Sue went to Silver Dollar City with her son and family, Rod, Lisa and Kayli and a friend of Kayli’s, Lizzie Fleming. They had a great time. They were celebrating Sue’s birthday, Number 72. They also saw Lisa’s sister and husband, Dottie and Wayne Cantrell down there. They all had a nice visit with them.

Pastor David Welsh used Revelations chapter 2 and other scriptures for his sermon on repent. There were 78 in attendance at service Sunday. We were glad to see some back after being out with sickness. Both Larry and Lynn Clayton are down at this time.

Susie Adams sang a beautiful song for service.

We all gathered in the dining hall for lunch after service. The men cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. It was our regular birthday and anniversary dinner.

Pastor David used Matthew 23 and other scriptures for evening service.

II Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

We send get-well wishes to all the sick, the ones in the hospitals and the nursing homes. Our sympathy to all who have lost loved ones. May God bless you in your time of sorrow. Our thoughts are with you.

On Thursday last week we had our monthly dinner here at Red Bud with eleven residents plus one guest attending. This was the smallest amount of people for our dinners that I can remember.

This news from the desk of Fae Pruett. Visitors of Fae have been Lois Graham, Evelyn Witchey and Wanda Hutchinson.

Sunday Fae went to Mountain Grove Cemetery with Dale Thomas and Howard to decorate the graves of loved ones.

No other news turned in this week. I “Norma” attended the Memorial on Saturday for Audrey Hadeen. Then on Sunday attended a baby shower for Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Watkins in Springfield, the son of Arlen (Bud) and Peggy Watkins. I went with Bud and family to Springfield, On Saturday afternoon visiting Norma was Peggy Greene.

Have a good week and stay healthy and happy. Jesus loves you.

The Church service at Red Bank began with hymns led by Jake Hampton.  Jerry Huff gave everyone a big welcome and introduced the Sunday school lesson taken from Proverbs 6:6-35 called, “Becoming a Person Others Need.” This lesson mentioned three character traits we should develop in order to make a difference in our relationship with family and friends.  They are diligence, integrity and purity.  We should, perhaps, ask ourselves which one is missing in our own life that would make all the difference in the lives of others we know and love.

Brother Les preached from I Corinthians: 9, for the morning sermon, that might be entitled, “Those that Serve. Each of us need to be aware of what God wants us to accomplish while we exist here on this earth.  For Paul it was preaching His Word.  In order to be effective in serving the Lord, Paul related in verse 27 that he needed to keep himself under the subjection of God’s Word so that he would not find himself being more in need than they that he preached to.

We received word Monday that Gary’s cousin, Robert Adams, had passed away.  His mother was Willene Adams who also passed away recently.  Robert’s funeral will be held at the Clinkingbeard Funeral Home on Wednesday, May 22 at 2:00 p.m.  A time of visitation is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. that same day before the funeral service.

Gary and I visited with Maxine Lirley on Friday afternoon.  When we arrived, we found that Maxine was on her way out the door to take in some sunshine.  We all decided to find refuge under some shade in order to visit for a while.  The little visitor’s park in front of the Healthcare Center was the perfect place we needed.  It even had built in cement benches to sit on.  We had a great time visiting together.

I started to step out my back door yesterday and was greeted by five little kittens.  It seems that the momma cat had brought them to me to feed so she could wean them easier.   They were busy crunching on some of the cat food that I put out for my other cats each morning.  They were so cute, but now I’ll have to be careful and not accidentally trip over them when I go out the door.

The tornado storms in Texas and in Oklahoma came within a few miles from some of our children’s homes.  Mitzi, our daughter, said, “Mom, It was like God placed a bubble over our family.  The storm   came near, but didn’t touch us.” That has happened many times for them.  Our son and his family were preparing to get into their shelter because the storm was headed right for their house, but then it stopped and hit else where.  We Praise the Lord for his care over them. There are many kinds of storms that may affect each of us, greatly, sometime in our lives.   But, when they do, we can depend on our Lord and Savior to bring us through them all.  Our prayers go up for the families that were so greatly affected by these storms; especially for those who lost loved ones.

That’s all the news for now.  Take care and enjoy the sunshine.

We can see out the back window that Jewell Johnson’s  sons, Larry and Lowell, and other members of the family are there to support her every day.

Norma Stillings finished a really busy week. Tuesday, she and Douglas County CHART/ Interagency Council president, Nina Carter, participated in a radio interview with Art Corum to talk about what CHART does. Norma also attended the Retired Teachers meeting at the Senior Citizens lunch, visited at Ava Place, and attended a Hospice Volunteer meeting that day. She worked in the garden Wednesday morning and did some CHART business in the afternoon. She attended the Volunteer appreciation event at Heart of the Ozarks, Thursday morning, and visited with residents there afterward.

Friday, Norma drove to Joplin with Support the Handicapped Board president, Rosie Harris, to visit with Jhan Hurn President/CEO of Community Support Services of Missouri to discuss how targeted case management has worked for them. Norma and Rosie drove through some of the residential areas where the May 25 storm of 2011 had hit. There are nice houses, but there is still a barren look about the area. There are no mature trees and some of the lots are still rough.

Saturday, Norma, played the piano at Heart of the Ozarks Healthcare Center and then  attended the Mother/Daughter Banquet at Bethany Baptist Church at noon. Sandra Rogers was the speaker for that event.

Monday afternoon we were hearing the weather forecasters and newsmen talking about the tornado threat and damage in Oklahoma, Kansas, and even into Missouri. They mentioned a school, that  75 children and staff might be trapped in a collapsed school building. Later the news reports changed somewhat, but it was very bad. I hope that Ava Schools never have such an event. I can remember when storm season would come and we tried to think of any safe place to go with the students. We really did not have too many safe places then. Thankfully we did not have a tornado hit us.

My little brother, Johnny Nichols and his wife, Diana have been visiting from Goodland, Kansas. Johnny grew up in this neighborhood and he always enjoys coming home to see several of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. It sure was nice to spend sometime with them and we had several visits together. We sure miss him around here and wish we saw him more often. It was also nice to have lunch at the home of his son and our nephew, Allen Nichols. I appreciated our daughter, Janice Morris for taking me there. Johnny and I both hated to miss the Ava Alumni Banquet.

I appreciate the prayers in the loss of Junior’s cousin, Emily Campbell. Many of you will remember her from the Chadwick and Garrison communities. She was the daughter of Henry and Alma Billingsley. She had such a nice service in Ozark and it was nice to see so many members of the family there. She was loved by so many people.

For you readers who are fans of the Webster County Opry, you will remember Johanna Peck. She was a longtime backup singer and never missed a performance while her health permitted. She passed away this past week and was buried in Alabama. She was such a special person and she loved to come to Olga and visit Kindall Store. I remember her coming out here when the Opry performed at the store a couple of times in the past. She was raised in Holland and had such a neat accent.

Speaking of Kindall Store, while visiting there this week, I had such a nice visit with Sharon Shannon and Charley Brindley. Charley has just written a new book and he is such a great writer. Also, I noticed that the beautiful azalea bushes that Sarah Inman planted near the porch of the store (facing Olga Road) are in full bloom and they look beautiful. Corda Kindall would have loved to have seen their pink blossoms. Additionally, Sharon has now been published in New Zealand. Last year, their new born Highland calf was attacked by a mountain lion and they did a lot of work with her.  She wrote about the whole story, and the editor of the Highland Cattle Newsletter in New Zealand picked up on it and published it over there. When the calf was attacked it was the talk of the whole neighborhood. She reports the little calf is now 10 months old, still a bit wobbly in her back end, but running and skipping and jumping through the field, fat and sassy as can be. She is such a great writer and I think she would make a great correspondent for this weekly report. Hint, hint!

We have had several new additions to our family. Congratulations to grandson Patrick Morris in the arrival of a new son, Matthew Morris. Also, Nicholas and Sarah Inman have a new son to welcome home. Jackson Carter-Wayne Inman arrived on May Day. They are both growing and are adorable. I was able to spend quiet a bit of time with Jackson at the 5th birthday party of his older sister Reagan recently. It is so much fun to watch your family grow. Seems like we were traveling all these old roads with our kids, just the other day! Memories, memories!!

There is always something going on in this area. We hope to see you out this way in the near future and God Bless you all.