Traverse City Record-Eagle

Stephanie Beach: Northern Notes

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February 5, 2012

Northern People: Hay in Texas in nick of time

By Stephanie Beach, sbeach@record-eagle.com ----

Hay donated by Dick Olds of Olds' Paradise Farms in Kingsley arrived at Rick Petersen's farm in the northeast Texas town of Wills Point in the nick of time.

Drought has caused high hay prices, and Petersen had already been forced to reduce his cattle herd. His plight was reported in the Jan. 9 Record-Eagle, along with plans by the local Disabled American Veterans Chapter to send hay to Petersen to help him make it through the winter. When the hay arrived, Petersen, a Vietnam-era veteran, was down to one bale. He now has enough hay to last him into the summer when, hopefully, Texas will have a crop of its own.

Jack Pickard, service officer for Chapter 38 of the Disabled American Veterans, wrote to thank his fellow members for their support and the following for their donations that made the trip to deliver the hay possible:

Mathews Affordable Builders, Kelly's Trailer Sales, Jonathan Reed, Bruce Rogers, Dennis Roe, Rodney and Judith Long, Merrill and Beverly Almquist, Donald and Margaret Wright, Gallager's Centennial Farms, Mary Smith, Katrina Walter, Carolyn Bumgardner, Jo Lynn Davis, Brett Bell, Timothy B. Keenan, Veterans for Peace, Cherryland VFW Post 2780, Patrick Dean, Joel Casler, David Taylor, A. Johnston, Mary Ann T. Galic, Wayne Miller and an anonymous donor.

"The State Commander of the Disabled American Veterans in Texas was surprised (to learn) that the people of the Grand Traverse area care enough to help a needy veteran in Texas and sends a big thank-you," Pickard wrote.

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Paul Dimon, of Traverse City, wrote to say thank you to the kind gentleman who generously gave him $20 at the Glen's Market on Christmas Eve.

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Tina M. Parker would like to thank the Good Samaritan who turned in her wallet at the Walgreen's on South Airport Road, with all the cards and cash still inside.

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Remember when the roads were a glare of ice on Nov. 17? Driving was treacherous, and that is probably an understatement.

Angela Merriman's son had just asked her why she was driving so slowly, and she had just explained that she was seeing lots of vehicles sliding, which meant the roads were slippery. That's when Merriman's car slid into some black ice, throwing the vehicle into a spin. The tires went over into the ditch, and the car rolled over and into an electric pole. Merriman was just trying to figure out what had happened, while the children she was transporting were crying and glass was everywhere. That's when two men appeared out of nowhere. They helped Merriman out, then her 9-year-old son, her best friend Tracey Webster's 9-year-old and then Merriman's 5-year-old, which was a little harder since his door was against the pole. Miraculously, nobody was hurt.

"These wonderful men got other stuff out of the way so they could crawl in and get my baby out," Merriman wrote. "One got away before I could get his name. Tim stayed with me and the kids, refusing to leave until either the police arrived or I agreed to go home. A very kind lady, Michelle, stopped just past us, asked if we were all right and asked if she could keep the kids in her car to stay warm while we waited for the police to arrive.

"These people were absolutely fantastic! They made a very traumatic experience more tolerable simply by being good people," Merriman wrote. "I and my best friend Tracey want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being there for us in our time of need. You are truly wonderful people, and we hope God blesses you as your presence on that awful day blessed us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

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The Friendly Garden Club of Traverse City would like to thank all the newspapers, publications, sponsors, video productions and radio/TV stations for promoting and supporting the club's annual garden walk in July 2011.

Because of the success of the walk, the club was able to award grants to the following organizations: Habitat for Humanity, the Botanic Society of NW Michigan, the TBA Horticulture Department, SEEDS, the Boardman River Conservancy, House of Hope, Green Lake Township, Westwood Elementary School, NWC Foundation (Storm Water Management) and the TBA Student Greenhouse.

In addition, the Grand Traverse Area Children's Garden Scholarship Fund received money from The Friendly Garden Club Endowment.

Jill Stiltner, publicity chair for the garden club, wrote that the Garden Walk is the club's main fundraiser and finances the grants and club projects.

Stephanie Beach can be reached at sbeach@record-eagle.com.

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