Northern Notes: Generosity brightens holidays

Stephanie Beach: Northern Notes

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Stephanie Beach
Shortly before Christmas, students from Immaculate Conception Elementary School, pictured, and Holy Angels Preschool and Elementary School delivered toys to Santa and the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department. As a reward for their generosity, the students were treated to a screening of Frank Capra's holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life" at the State Theatre. St. Francis High School students then loaded the presents onto a fire truck for distribution through Toys for Tots. Special to the Record-Eagle

January 8, 2012

By Stephanie Beach, sbeach@record-eagle.com ---- The Record Eagle Tue Jan 31, 2012, 02:51 PM EST

Ruth Blick, director

of marketing and

communications for

Goodwill Industries, wrote

on behalf of the Goodwill Inn

to thank the community for

making the CherryT Ball Drop

such an amazing New Year’s

Eve celebration with donations

that totaled 12,000 pounds of

food for the food pantry.

“We will ensure that it

becomes meals on the tables

where it is needed most in the

coming winter months. Goodwill

cannot begin to adequately

thank the CherryT Ball Drop

committee, sponsors and volunteers

for all their support and

hard work,” Ruth wrote. “This

is such a wonderful event and

opportunity to not only celebrate

the New Year but our

incredible community!”

■

Undergoing radiation for

cancer during the holiday season

can be depressing, but the

entire staff at the Biederman

Radiation Center in Traverse

City went out of their way with

compassion, kindness, skill

and joyful attitudes to brighten

the holidays for cancer patients

undergoing treatment.

“I don’t think you could find

any place in Traverse City

as decorated for Christmas,”

a Lake Ann patient wrote on

behalf of all the patients being

treated at the Biederman Center.

“Kathy Priest is the Christmas

spirit who is in charge of

the decorating and Christmas

poinsettias. The radiologists,

with the help of Home Depot,

gave every patient a poinsettia

plant to take home. Not

only did they lift our spirits

while we were there, they even

gave us some Christmas spirit

for our homes. It was such a

kind, loving gesture that really

touched our hearts.”

■

Sometimes a warm heart just

isn’t enough, even at the holidays.

That’s when an efficient,

safe furnace can make the

difference.

When Ruth Johnson’s carbon

monoxide detector went off

and wouldn’t stop, she called

Bob’s Heating and Cooling in

Traverse City. Patrick McAllister

from “Team Bob” came

out, checked on things and

told Ruth she needed a new

furnace.

“I think he could tell by her

face that she couldn’t afford

it,” Ruth’s daughter Margy

(Johnson) Glazier said.

Patrick and another man

then went down, took another

look and came up and told

Ruth that they were going to

put in a new furnace for nothing.

“I was skeptical and called

them,” Margy said. “They did

mean it would be free including

new duct work. What a

blessing (because) she did not

have the money at all.”

■

In the Christmas Day Northern

Notes column, Lauma

Lockwood wrote that her goal

of collecting 100 bags of pet

food through her “Helping

Needy Families Celebrate

Thanksgiving With Their Pets”

pet food drive was exceeded by

53 bags through the generosity of caring pet lovers in the

community.

Lauma recently wrote

with an inspiring postscript

to the story. Her donation

deadline had passed, with

the money spent on a final

order at Hillside Feed &

Supply, when she received

a list from the Baby Pantry

that included 38 requests

from needy families.

“Well, my till was empty,”

Lauma wrote. “The

very next day, I received

an envelope in the mail

postmarked Jacksonville,

Fla. It came from an old

friend, a pet lover, who had

heard about my Thanksgiving

project ... The enclosed

check more than covered

the emergency need and all

the Baby Pantry requested

were thankfully filled.

Amazing! ... We can always

count how many stones we

have thrown into the lake,

but we should never attempt

to predict how many

ripples they will generate.”

Stephanie Beach can be

reached at sbeach@recordeagle.

com.