Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Digest

Your news

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 24, 2007

Clubs and Organizations

Brooksville Elks Lodge 2582 sponsored its annual Hoop Shoot Dec. 9. The event was at the Jerome Brown Community Center. Girls and boys ages 8 to 13 were eligible to compete.

The event was coordinated by Elks member Gordon Fleming with subordinate lodge director Bill Pastore. Paul Stark, exalted ruler and leading knight, registered the participants.

Other Elk members present included Robert Fleming, Maureen Risley, Sylvia Stark, Clem Merola, Joe Scibelli, Bill Foster and Charlie Misiak.

Local winners included Ryan Keith in the boys 12-13 age group; Victor Davila in the boys 10-11 age group; Kendall Worden in the girls 10-11 age group, and Joy Jackson in the girls 8-9 age group.

* * *

Sheriff Richard Nugent presents the Hernando County Sheriff's Office third quarter 2006 employee awards during a recent ceremony.

The employee of the third quarter was Vickie Deso. Deputy of the third quarter was Ignacio Velez.

Certificates of commendation were presented to Stacy Rodriguez. Certificates of appreciation were presented to Jamie Shreiber and Pauline Harris.

Gerard Schneider was presented with a ribbon of commendation; and Life Saving medals were presented to Wayne Peterson and Kenneth Keeney.

Frank Lowry was presented with a Longevity award for 15 years of service. Longevity awards for 20 years of service were presented to Michael Owens and Richard Johnson.

* * *

On Dec. 5, Richard Boothby, secretary of the Kiwanis Club of Spring Hill, visited the Brookridge Clubhouse and presented a check for $500 to representatives of Helping Hands.

Mary Sweeney and Joan Beals accepted the check on behalf of the organization. Helping Hands sews and crochets items for patients served by hospices, the Linus Project, veterans hospitals, nursing homes and the local children's shelter. Donations help the organization purchase supplies.

Helping Hands recently sent 50 fleece blankets to the Linus Project, which donates handmade blankets for needy and traumatized children. In addition, the group sent 28 blankets to the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa.

Helping Hands meets from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Thursdays at the Brookridge Clubhouse. For information about the Linus Project, contact Judy Fielding at (727) 866-8973. For information about the Kiwanis Club of Spring Hill, call Beverly Reso at 683-7668.

Veterans

U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite delivered personal computers she donated to the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa for the hospital's new Internet Cafe for injured service members and other patients.

The cafe, which opened in November, is modeled after the concept of a commercial coffee shop and is designed to be a place of rest, relaxation and entertainment for recuperating veterans.

Through donations by community organizations and a staff of volunteers, the cafe will offer flavored coffees and cappuccinos, smoothies, milkshakes and hot cocoa, popcorn, hot dogs and other treats, all at no cost to patients or families.

Donated computers will help patients and their families connect with loved ones via e-mail and also will include computer games. Recreational therapists will host special events at the cafe each week designed to capture the interest of veterans, particularly those who are very young.

The idea for the cafe was inspired by a young Marine severely wounded in Iraq who recuperated at the Tampa hospital and whose mental outlook and rehabilitation improved dramatically as a result of having access to a computer.

Notes of Thanks

Daystar Life Center would like to thank the community of Hernando County for its support throughout the year and especially during this past holiday season. Your support has been more than generous in helping us to help the needy of Hernando County.

A.D. Eichers, director DayStar Life Center

* * *

I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the people of Hernando County. On the night of Jan. 12, my husband, Ed Quinn, went missing from my home. My husband suffers from advanced Alzheimer's disease.

We called 911 and the response of the Sheriff's Office was wonderful. They announced a Code Red alert on the telephones, they dispatched helicopters and K-9 dogs to search for Ed, and they kept in touch with me throughout the search.

I also wish to thank the many neighbors, friends and strangers who became involved in the search. And those who telephoned to lend their support physically and spiritually.

My husband was found about 1 a.m. The sheriff's office called an ambulance and they checked him out. He was confused, cold, tired and hungry, but okay.

We live in a wonderful and caring county and thank you to the Sheriff's Office for bringing my husband home safely to me.

Roseanne Quinn, Spring Hill

We need your news!

[Last modified January 23, 2007, 21:58:01]