Nurse Honor Guard formed
by Maralyn Woodbury
The National Honor guard recognizes and pays homage to men and women who have dedicated their professional lives to the medical field. The Nurse Honor Guard has been established to honor these individuals upon their death. The guards’ presence helps shine a light on the professionals dedication to their chosen profession and helps ease the mourners grief during their time of loss.
Our local Honor Guard was formed and consists of 6 local nurses, dressed in full white attire with cap and cape. The Nurses are: Maralyn Woodbury LPN, Chris Leavitt RN, Janet Pline RN, Denise Plowman RN, Marge Minarik RN and Doris Jablowski RN.
The nurses who are members of the Honor Guard consider it both an honor and a privilege to participate in final services for their fellow health care workers.
It is a very emotional service at times because nursing is more than a job, it is a calling. These compassionate individuals have dedicated their lives to caring for the sick at the most vulnerable points in their lives.
The Honor Guard’s special recognition is performed in several ways using the “Nightingale Tribute”. The tribute gets it’s name from Florence Nightingale, who was the founder of modern nursing. The tribute is a short ceremony that is performed by nurse colleagues during the deceased nurse’s funeral service or visitation.
Tribute begins with the lighting of the Nightingale lamp. The lamp is a symbol of all Florence Nightingale stood for: comfort and kindness, gentleness and courage, and an unwavering devotion to duty. Following the lighting, a reading of the poem “She Was There” by Duane Jaeger, RN . A white rose is then placed in with the deceased to symbolize our honor and appreciation for being our nursing colleague. A framed copy is then presented to the family. And as the Honor Guard pass by the deceased one last time, The Lamp is extinguished.
The free service will be available in St Johns, Fowler, Pewamo, Westphalia, Ovid, Elsie and Maple Rapids.
Brochures are available at the funeral homes. This is just a small way of saying thank you to someone who has dedicated their life to helping others, and hope many people will find comfort in the small ceremony.
We would like to thank the families for allowing the Nurse Honor Guard to be a part of the service with our final farewell tribute.
To request a service, contact Maralyn at 989-224-7963 or Denise at 989-593-3460 or your local Funeral Home.
Three to participate in Inauguration Parade in Washington D.C.
Three members from the Clinton County Sheriff’s Mounted Division were invited to be part of a group of 23 riders and their horses from across Michigan as part of the Michigan Mounted Police Drill Team that will represent the state in the 58th presidential Inauguration parade for President-elect Donald Trump January 20th in Washington D.C.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office Mounted members participating in this year’s event are Neil White, Birt Cooper, and Marty Bontrager. Mounted Deputies White and Cooper are making their second trip with the Team for an inaugural parade as they participated in the 2013 presidential inauguration parade with the Michigan Mounted Police Drill Team
Each Mounted member participating is responsible for paying their own way to Washington D.C., the cost for each member that includes transportation for their horse is about $2,000.
Michigan’s Mounted Police Drill Team represented the state in the 2009 and 2013 presidential inaugural parades for President Barack Obama.
Join the Mint Festival Committee
The 2017 St. Johns Mint Festival will be here before you know it. It is scheduled for August 11-13. One of the very popular events of the festival over the last several years has been Kids World. That is where children can come & play games for just .25 and win prizes.
The Committee is in need of 2-3 people to co-chair this popular event. Your involvement would mean
– attending a meeting once a month on the 4th Tuesday at 5:30 pm,
– plan the games that will be played,
– set up the location in Peck Hall on the County Fairgrounds,
– get volunteers for the festival weekend,
– oversee the activities throughout the weekend and then
– clean up the Kids World area at the end of the festival.
The Committee also needs a person to co-chair Ice Cream. Again it involves attending the monthly meeting, getting volunteers, setting up the Ice Cream booth, overseeing the weekend and then clean up of the Ice Cream booth at the end.
If you would be interested in volunteering for either of these activities, please give the Mint Festival office a call at 989-224-7248.
Board Elections for the Friends of the FMCIS Trail
The Friends of the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail will be holding elections at their annual membership meeting on Wednesday March 8, 2017 to fill vacancies for three directors, whose terms will expire in March of 2017. Each of the vacancies is for three year term positions in Clinton, Ionia and Shiawassee counties.
Individuals interested in running for these positions must reside in one of these three counties and if elected, would represent their respective county at monthly meetings.
If you are interested in running for one of these positions, please e-mail us at cistrail@gmail.com no later than Friday, February 3, 2017. Please include background information on any past experience that would relate to trail board activities.
The Friends Group is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to promote the use and enjoyment of a safe, multi-use trail for non-motorized recreation along the Fred Meijer CIS Trail between Ionia and Owosso, Michigan.
An invitation to join The Mint Country Garden Club
The Mint Country Garden Club invites men and women to join if you enjoy gardening or are interested in starting a garden.
Meetings are held at 7:15 pm on the first Thursday of each month from February through November at the Clinton Commons Community Center, 1105 S. Scott Rd, St. Johns.
Speakers from MSU, County Extension Offices, local professional gardeners, and members of the garden club provide information at each meeting. Previous topics included perennials, annuals, trees, weeds, insects and wildlife.
The garden club has a number of community projects including Hazel I Findlay Courtyard Gardens, Mt. Rest Cemetery Flowerbeds, 4-H Fair, and Habitat for Humanity.
For more information or if you are interested in joining, please call 989-224-9206 or email MintCountryGardenClub@gmail.com.
Winter Outdoor Activities at City Park
During the winter months, weather permitting, there is an unsupervised sledding hill open to the public during daylight hours. The hill is located at the main City Park, 805 W. Park St., St. Johns. The hill is at the far northwest
corner of the park.
There is ice skating and ice hockey available at the ice rink, weather permitting.
– The ice skating hours are Monday—Friday, 6:00—8:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 1:00—6:00 p.m.
– The ice hockey hours are Monday—Friday, 5:00—6:00 p.m. and 8:00—10:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 8:00 a.m.—noon.
– Open skating and hockey are allowed at the City Park ice rink at any time except those times that are posted exclusively for skating or hockey.
For more information please visit the parks and recreation department at www.cityofsaintjohnsmi.com/Departments/ParksandRecreation.aspx.