Nov. 22 - 28, 2018
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‘Ironman’ keeps up the fight Johnny Van Kemp was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at age 8. While he battles the disease for the third time in six years, he and his family endure the heartache and express their will to be ‘normal’ by PATTI STOKES
Courtesy photo
Johnny Van Kemp, 14, stands a few months ago with a sign that has often been displayed throughout the northwest community to show support for him and his family as they continue their six-year battle with leukemia.
SUMMERFIELD – In 2012 Johnny Van Kemp, then a second-grader, wrote on a Caring Bridge site his father had set up about how he had recently been
diagnosed with leukemia. He described how he had been having “weird pains in his legs and hadn’t been feeling well for some time.” The family’s doctor did some tests and then recommended Johnny go to Brenner Children’s Hospital for more tests. There, Johnny underwent a bone marrow procedure and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. “We will never forget that moment when the doctor told us this awful news,” Johnny wrote six years ago when he was 8 years old. “But we immediately started focusing and praying to God to get me better!”
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IN THIS ISSUE Town to fund waterlines.................3
Readers give thanks for this year’s blessings Compiled by ANNETTE JOYCE It’s Thanksgiving, and a time to reflect over the past year and all our many blessings. It’s a time to especially seek the positive in the world and be thankful for all the things that are right in our lives. As we do each year at this time, we asked our readers to share some of those things with us and here’s some of what they shared… “I find myself counting my blessings
not by materials things, but by the people I hold dear in my life. My family has always been first in my life and Thanksgiving brings fond memories of my parents. “Being the youngest of three girls, I was the one who loved to cook, so I spent much of the day in the kitchen with my mother. The smells of the traditional food we were cooking, the sounds of family and the background hum of the Thanksgiving parade on TV are treasured holiday memories. “Our family has grown, and I now
have two grandbabies and I want them to remember Thanksgiving just like I do!”
Summerfield Town Council ..........6
Bobbie Gardner, Stokesdale
Tree Lighting Photos .....................12
“My mom, Charlotta Selders, went to be with Jesus on Oct. 13. She was 95 and lived an extremely healthy life. I am very thankful for the three weeks that we were given to be a part of her home-going journey. “God was in every detail and moment of this sacred time. He provided
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‘Walking miracle’ .........................10
Student profiles .............................14 Community Calendar.................16 Grins & Gripes ...............................17 Classifieds .....................................19 Index of Advertisers .................... 23