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COO-UIHG Serves 4
Potato· Omelet
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.• 4-5 ~tatoes cubed • 7 eggs ' .• sak, pepper, parsley 'and parmeian 'cheese to taste FrY ~tatoesln oil until soft. Beat eggs and mix with sak, pepper, parsley, cheesund potatoes! Mek butter on fry pan to prevent sticking. Frymlxture until eggs are done, carefully ffipplng omelet halfway'through.
Wanted: friendly 'faces If you have ever thought about becoming a volunteer, talk to Lillian LaFrance. As the new director of community vofunteers at Our Lady's Haven, Fairhaven, Ms. LaFrance can match volunteers with a wide variety of experiences at the nursing home. "My job is to help staff work, more effectively ~nd efficiently by· , ·identifying the resources they need, , ,', such as people, things orservices. I find outwhal I can do to help and try to get it done;" said Ms. LaFrance. Currently M s LaFrance is coor. of the staff with dinating the,needs .J obs that volunteers might, do to help them. Resident i'nput is impor-. tant also, she says. "Finding out . what residents want or need preserves their quality of life. We; must make sure residents are taken care of and happy." Ms. LaFrance'plans to recruit volunteers from all members of' the community including schoois,· parishes, service organizations and clubs. "It's like planting a seed and letting other people's minds run wild with what they can do," said Ms. LaFrance. . "Anyone is a target in terms of potential volunteers," said Ms. LaFrance. "We have no limits on whom we serve or who can vol unteer."
All new volunteers will be paired with a staff mentor, receive orientation and training sessions, and participate in.an award and recognition ,program. Perhaps most rewarding is the joy volunteers can bring to residents.' ",Volunteers can see immediate results fffiffi'lheir actions. Even a short time' spent with a volunteer reading" writing letters, playing games or just talking can brighten a resident's day," she said. . Volunteers are needed· in a var~ iety of positions throughout 'the home from' performing clerical duties and assisting in the reception area; to' mending residents' clothes or maintaining bulletin boards. Ms, LaFrance encourages. anyone who would like to share interests, talents or time to contact her at 999-4561 to discuss volunteer opportunities, Ms. LaFrance holds an associate's degree in journalism from Bristol Community College and a bachelor's degree in English from the· University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has also attended various profe~sional development seminars on customer service, human resources management and quality. previously, s,he was the director of development at the, Zeiterion Theatre, New Bedford.
LILLIAN LaFRAN CE is the new director of community' volunteers at Our Lady's Haven, Fairhaven.
A BUST of B.B. King looks on as sculptor Ed Dwight works on a piece resembling jazz great Louis Armstrong. The Denver artist was commissioned to create a·black Madonna ~tat~e for a new chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine .of the Immaculate Conception In Washington. (CNS/ As~er photo) . '
Artist to s,cqlpt ,MadQn1la 'DENVER (CNS) - Sculptor Ed Dwight's newest ,project may be a departure from his ongoing work to im'mortalize the country's jazz greats, but it fits right in with the Denver artist's Catholic faith. The 62-year-old African-American artist has been commissioned to create the sculpture and basrelief that will grace the new Mother , of Africa chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. In an interview at his 27,000square-foot studio in Denver, he said that when he toured the shrine in Washington recently, he was amazed to find so many different images of the Blessed Mother, from the abstract to the traditional, in wood, steel and other mediums. "Every possible depiction of the Madonna is there," he said, talk, ing as he fine-tuned a bust of Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong. A largerthan-life image of B.B. King looked on from the sculptor's cluttered workbench. One corner of Dwight's massive st'udio is peopled with the jazz figures he has completed over the years and that have been exhibited around the country. One of those exhibits brought him to the attention of someone who encouraged him to compete for the shrine commission. He was picked from among other artists late last year. The decisi.on to erect the chapel was announced in January 1995. Sponsored by the African-American bishops and the national Black Catholic Congress, the .chapel is scheduled to be completed in late summer. The image of a black Jesus is a familiar one in the black community, Dwight said, so "it shouldn't be a surprise to, anyone (to see Mary) depicted in that sense." . But he said the challenge for
him in creating a black Madonna is not to depict the Blessed Mother "as somebody blackjust for black's sake," but to capture Mary's role as "an intermediary." Even the style of her clothing is a concern, he said, noting that his first model looked too European because her robes had too many folds. "I grew up with the European white model of the Madonna," he said, and experienced the church "as a quiet respit~ where you'd answer the priest and go home." But today's church, Dwight added, is incorporating more and more of black Catholics' culture and realizes they are "bringing a new form of energy" to the church. , Growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he attended Catholic schools and was an altar boy for 12 years. Dwight said his mother had always wanted him to be a priest. "She decided the smartest way for her to get a chair in heaven was if I ,were a priest," he said. "Unbeknownst to me she was talking to the Franciscans." But at that time "they weren't taking black folks," he added. His sister was the first black w9man to join the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. Dwight has completed his model for the chapel's bas-relief. It is a history of African-Americans Starting at the viewer's right, it shows an image of slave traders capturing African villagers. Next is a scene of slaves on the auction. block., Then slaves are shown escaping on the underground railroad, followed by images of the civil rights' movement. The reliefs last image is of the contemporary African-American family. At the top, gazing down, is the Holy Spirit symbolized as a dove. "I sometimes wonder. where the Holy Spirit was" while blacks
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endured such hardship:;, Dwight remarked. Dwight's original design included a sign fo'r the auction block that said: "Negroes for sale." However,. he said, he was asked to eliminate it for fear it would offend people. Some in the black community "say black people don't want to be reminded of the days of slavery," Dwight said, but he thinks such historical details have their place - to educate. Many white Americans "have no idea what the black community is about," h(: added. , For example, he said, the Holocaust Museum in Washington is not a pleasant reminder of Jews' fate in World War II. "I visited the Holocaust Museum, and was overcome by emotion," Dwight said. An educational experience like that "certainly breeds understanding."
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PROVINCETOWN The fourth annual Wellness Fair will be held at the Provincetown Town Hall March 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There 'will be free blood pressure readings and hearing, cholesterol and sugar tests. Call 487-7080. Bereavement support group will begin a series of eight weekly sessions starting in April or May. Call Hospice of Cape Cod at 362-1103 or (800) 642-2423 for information. DENNIS Singer and entertainer Ron Jenner will performat the senior center on April 4 at I:30 p.m. A Women's Health Fair will be held on March 28 at the sl:nior cen'ter from' 1:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is free and sponsored by the Visiting Nurse Association. Call Martha irroutman at 394-2230. ext. 278, for more information.