We really enjoy our volunteer work. Lyn has been involved with The Lord’s Pantry at Anna’s House for several years and is a member of the choir at St. Jude Church. She and her friends have several scheduled meals each month.
I also have a few things on my plate each week. Stuart, our therapy dog, and I visit either ManorCare Health Services or Madison Health Care Center and a couple of schools in Beech Grove, where students enjoy reading to him. I also have several breakfast gatherings with former co-workers and classmates, and there are a couple of lunch engagements each month. On occasion I have to finish my breakfast with the guys in time so I’m not late for my lunch date.
Last Wednesday was one of those days. I had a 9 a.m. breakfast appointment at the Hotcakes Emporium Pancake House & Restaurant on Bluff Road with several of the guys who I graduated with at Southport. Joyce, our favorite waitress, once again took great care of us. Attendance was up a little this month. We have several guys who claim they move a bit farther south during the winter and can’t attend.
Danny Woerner is one of our regular attendees during warm weather. This time he brought Ed Tenholder, a former classmate. I know that decades have passed since we graduated, but I didn’t recognize anything about this fellow. Later, he told us a story about competing on the wrestling team and being in a weight class under 100 pounds. Ed said he needed to lose 2 pounds to be in that division, but when he tried dropping weight a growth spurt was triggered.
I remember him being about 5 feet 2 inches in high school, but he seems to be over 6 feet now. Ed said he remembers his father grumbling about having to purchase him new pants about every time he turned around for a while. It was great to see him again.
I scampered home from breakfast, picked up Stuart and headed to Hornet Park Elementary for a reading program. The next day we went to South Grove Elementary for the same program. Sometimes I read a few of “Stuart’s articles” that have been published in The Southsider Voice. These visits are enjoyed by everyone involved.
On Saturday we will be at the Southport Spring Festival, where Stuart will serve as master of ceremonies for the pet parade. He will arrive in a convertible at noon with a police escort and will be accompanied by two princesses: Elizabeth Karushis, a seventh-grader grader at Southport Middle School, and Naomi Johnson, a third-grader at Mary Bryan Elementary.
We are looking forward to the festival. I hope I get to ride in the convertible with them.