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AUGUST 19, 2020
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
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VOL XXX • NO 27
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Girl Scout Creates Community Garden In Parkesburg Kacie’s Cause Support Group Offered By Francine Fulton
Shelby Kreger (far right, seated), with help from her family, friends and fellow Girl Scouts, created a community garden in Parkesburg as a Girl Scout Gold Award project.
Parkesburg-area residents now have a community garden where they can pick fresh produce, including tomatoes, herbs, peas, beans, cucumbers, radishes and zucchini, thanks to Shelby Kreger, who created four raised bed gardens located in a park off North Culvert Street and Rockland Avenue. Shelby, a member of Coatesville Troop 41365, completed the project as one of the criteria for earning a Girl Scout Gold Award. “The new borough manager suggested doing the project,” she explained. “They gave me the location because it was an empty abandoned park in Parkesburg. There is not even an actual (GPS) address for it. The Parks and Rec (Department) has been trying to revamp the area and do some new things, and the community garden idea (came up).”
Hospice Labor Day Auction To Be Held Virtually By Francine Fulton
OCC
Traditionally, Hospice & Community Care (HCC) holds its annual Labor Day Auction at the Solanco Fairgrounds in Quarryville, and the event features nearly 10,000 items on the auction block and a variety of food selections sold on-site. Nearly 3,500 people attend the two-day event annually. This year, however, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the event has been scaled down and will be held virtually from Tuesday, Sept. 1, through Tuesday, Sept. 15.
“This is our 26th year, and we’ve held it in different places over the years because it has grown exponentially,” said Coco Minardi, donor relations manager. “The first auction we had was in an outdoor area at a fire company. We made $1,800. Last year we raised $877,000. It is the backbone of our fundraising operation here at hospice.” Items featured at the auction are donated by the community. “Typically, we will start collecting auction items the day after the auction for the following year,” Minardi explained. “We have a wonderful generous sponsor who has a warehouse See Hospice pg 2
A variety of items, including quilts, jewelry and sports memorabilia, will be offered as part of a Hospice & Community Care virtual auction to be held from Sept. 1 through 15.
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The raised beds were made from cinder or concrete blocks, which Shelby and her fellow Scouts painted and sealed with a nontoxic sealant that is eco-friendly and designed to help prevent extreme weathering. “We picked up the blocks and moved them ourselves to the Pomeroy Fire Station,” Shelby explained. “There were 144 blocks in total. We painted them at the fire station, and we moved all 144 blocks up to the garden location. Some days we were at the fire station for five hours painting. We would get pizza donated.” After the labor-intensive process of painting the blocks one by one, the blocks were used to form the raised beds, which were eventually lined with newspaper and then filled with soil. The holes in the cinder blocks were also filled with soil to allow room for growing even more plants. “I had team members help me, which is part of the requirement of the Gold Award,” Shelby pointed out. See Community Garden pg 5
By Francine Fulton
Meetings of Kacie’s Cause, which is a support group for family and friends of those battling addiction, are being offered on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. at the outdoor gazebo at the Schneider Parish Center, 2995 Cemetery Road, Parkesburg. The meetings were formerly held in the chapel at The Parkesburg POINT, but those meetings were suspended on March 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic. “All group meetings were suspended; however, (Kacie’s Cause) founder Andy Rumford offered to arrange Zoom meetings for those in need of support or in-person meetings for the See Kacie’s Cause pg 4
MOPC Welcomes New Pastor Theological Seminary and followed that up with a Doctor of Ministry from Lancaster Theological Seminary. He also completed a 10-month clinical pastoral class at a hospital in Lancaster. The program taught him how to be present and supportive and a listener while helping people get through difficult experiences, he said. “When I became a solo pastor, it gave me a lot of confidence to know what to do … follow people’s feelings (and) try to affirm them where they were,” Barlow said. Providing pastoral care for members facing challenges in their health and living is one of three ways in which Barlow hopes to serve MOPC and its community. The other two are preaching the Gospel and teaching God’s Word along with supporting and encouraging the ministries of church members. See New Pastor pg 4
By Dayna M. Reidenouer
After a two-year search, Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church (MOPC), 1199 Valley Road, Quarryville, has called a pastor. The Rev. Dr. John Barlow officially began serving in his new role on Aug. 1. Barlow has nearly three decades of serving small Presbyterian churches as solo pastor, and he has been part of the pastoral staffs at several larger churches in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. “I love being a solo pastor. You do everything,” Barlow remarked, listing responsibilities such as preaching sermons and visiting ill parishioners in the hospital. Barlow grew up in upstate New York, near Schenectady, and attended Gordon College as an undergraduate. He earned a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell
The Rev. Dr. John Barlow is the new pastor at Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church.
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