Hello, Everyone.  Be sure to be careful now that school is back in session.  The children will be out at bus stops and crossing roads.

Congratulations to St. Vincent Hospitals’ Auxiliary scholarship award winners for 2011.  They are Jacqueline Bui, Brittany Calhoun, Anna Powell, Tyler Hamby and Phillip Rose.  Each receives a $3,000 scholarship.  Each year the Auxiliary awards scholarships to students who plan to enter the medical field.  The Auxiliary uses the monies made from its sales events during the year.

Seddon Baptist Church was filled to overflowing last Sunday evening with presentation of the singing group, “The Old Paths.”  It was an old time meeting event with many old time favorite songs.  This group is a favorite with the community.  It was the singer’s third time to visit the church.  The church choir opened the meeting with a number of the old great old time songs.

New Hope Baptist Church held a revival this week with the Evangelist Bobby L. Palmare.  The Guiding Light Freewill Baptist Church will hold a Friend and Family Day with  a singing Saturday, August 13th at 5:00 PM.  It will be a covered dish supper so come bring a dish and eat with them.  The church is located on North Florida Road.

Birthday wishes go out to:  Delores Porter, Angela Price, Anna Trawick, Kristina Alexander, Jill Etheredge, Sug Martin, Debbie Crain, Trey Helms, Shirley Lonergan, Joanna Hagan, Collin Wansart and James Wansart.

Get well wishes to Greg Turly, who was injured in a motorcycle accident over the weekend and is at home recuperating.

Pell City High School Class of 1976 will hold their 35-year reunion on August 13th at 6:30 PM at Sammie’s Touch and Go.  The cost will be $35.00 per person and will be casual dress. If you are a member of that class, come out and enjoy fellowshipping with classmates that you may not have seen for a while.

Please buy “Made in the USA” whenever you can. Per ABC News, the United States has fewer manufacturing jobs now than we did in 1941, the same year as the attack on Pearl Harbor, but if every American spent just $3.33 on U.S.-made goods, it would create almost 10,000 new jobs in this country.  Let’s pull together and try our best to spend the $3.33 needed to help our country.  Let me know if you have a resource for “Made in America” items locally and I will share them in my column so we can do our part.  Also let me know if you tried to find some and found it difficult.

Did you know that during this month:

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Admiral Farragut led his fleet to victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay.

In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Dakota Territory.  Legends says that he died holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights, now known as Dead Man’s Hand.

66 years ago in 1945 during WWII, the US dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe, age 36, was found dead of a probable suicide from an overdose of sleeping pills.

WWII Facts:  It is a popular misconception among Americans that the US voluntarily entered WWII, at least against the Germans.  In fact, the US didn’t.  The US entered the general war a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  But the US entered against Japan and did not declare war on Germany.  However, a few days after Pearl Harbor, Hitler declared war on the US, thereby putting an end to the US dilemma.  After a meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt, it was agreed that the British and Americans would have a “Germany first” policy.  Whether the Americans would have declared war on Germany had not Hitler mad the decision for them is one of the great-unanswered questions of history.

Tip:  You can reset your mood to “happy” just by reading the newspaper.  Consumer Reports states that people who read the newspaper report higher levels of happiness, while people who watched lots of television had lower levels of happiness.

A quote by Punky Brewster:  “I’m not sure what I want to be when I grow up.  But I do know this.  Whatever you do, you should be yourself.  So that’s what I’m gonna be when I grow up: me.”

Remember:  Storms make oaks take roots.  Proverbs

The Pell City High School graduating class of 45 & 46 will celebrate their 65th  anniversary, on August 20th.  They are to meet at the Pell City Steak House at 11:00 AM for their special event.

Call me at 338-7746 with summer news and gatherings.  I’d love to hear from you.  Have a blessed week.