Traditional Egg Hunt a success
by Maralyn Fink
On Saturday I attended the Easter Egg Hunt at the City Park. The day was sunny but cool.
There was a great turnout, and the kids were excited to let the fun begin. Baskets in hand they awaited the signal from the Police Dept and the hunt was on !
The Easter Bunny was on hand to add to the fun for all.
Tri-County Office On Aging to host 5K Run For The Ages
The Tri-County Office on Aging (TCOA) is hosting the 6TH annual 5K Walk/Run/Wheel event beginning at 9 am on May 18, 2019 at Hawk Island Park in Lansing. For 45 years, Tri-County Office on Aging has continued to provide services and supports to empower older adults and persons with disabilities. Proceeds from the event benefit programs such as Meals on Wheels and other in-home services that support independent living.
This scenic, chip-timed event is an all ages, all abilities, family-friendly activity. Registration through April 30 is only $25 per person ($30 beginning May 1,) and includes a long sleeve t-shirt. Ages 12 and under free, with t-shirt purchase available. Visit https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/Lansing/RunfortheAges to register online, or to download a registration form.
Pre-race packet pick up is available at TCOA (5303 S. Cedar St, Bldg 1, Lansing) on Thursday, May 16, 10:00a-1:00p and again Friday, May 17, 10:00a-1:00p, and at Playmakers in Okemos on Friday, May 17 from 4:00p-6:00p. Onsite registration will be available at the event beginning at 8:15 a.m.
For more information, please contact Race Director Kate Long at 517-887-1348. For more information about TCOA programs and services, or to learn about volunteer or donation opportunities, please visit the agency’s website at www.tcoa.org or call 517-887-1440.
Cardinal Health Foundation and local Kroger store co-host Take-Back Events April 27
The Cardinal Health Foundation and Kroger will host drug take-back events at more than 200 local pharmacy locations across the country from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, 2019 as part of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The event provides a safe, convenient and anonymous way for customers to dispose of unused or expired prescriptions drugs.
Participating locations include 900 S US 27, St Johns, MI 48879. Local law enforcement officers will be onsite to help participants securely dispose of their medications. Kroger pharmacy associates will offer free DisposeRx® at-home medication disposal packets and will share educational resources from Generation Rx, the prevention education program created by the Cardinal Health Foundation and The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy.
Generation Rx has four critically important medication safety principles:
· Only use prescription medications as directed by a health professional.
· Never share your prescription medications with others or use someone else’s prescription medications.
· Always store your medications securely to prevent others from taking them, and properly dispose of medications that you no longer need.
· Be a good example to those around you by modeling these safe medication-taking practices and discussing the dangers of misusing prescription drugs with your family, friends, colleagues, students, or patients.
“The April 27 take-back event, which provides a safe and convenient way for our customers to dispose of their unused or expired medications, is just one step of our comprehensive commitment to help the communities we call home combat the opioid epidemic,” said Ban George, The Kroger Co. of Michigan Health and Wellness Merchandiser. “We offer naloxone, the life-saving medication to help rapidly reverse opioid overdose, and we provide free DisposeRx® for customers of qualifying medications to keep unused drugs from being used improperly.”
Special Opportunity for Landowners in the Maple River Watershed to improve river quality
Putting conservation on the ground is not a brand-new idea to many landowners in Clinton County. Over the last several years increasing program dollars have resulted in thousands of acres enrolled in conservation programs. Practices range from cover crops to filter strips, and pollinator habitat to farmstead improvements.
Now through May 17, 2019, a special pool of funding is available to landowners in the Maple River watershed. The Michigan State University Institute of Water Research (MSU IWR) has partnered with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to launch a Regional Conservation Partnership Program that supplies special financial assistance to landowners in the Maple River watershed to improve water quality and ground water recharge that controls the temperature of the streams.
Conservation activities covered in this program include: crop rotation for conservation, putting in permanent grasses, irrigation and drainage water management, planting filter strips on ditch sides and grassed waterways in fields, restoring riparian forest buffers between crop fields and surface water, converting to no-till or reduced till, installing water control structures to existing tile, and updating sprinkler systems to be more water efficient. In addition, this program also offers financial assistance for Conservation Activity Plans to be written for Irrigation Water and Drainage Water management. These inventory your farm’s current usage and capacity while considering upgrades and your farm goals for the future.
These programs are voluntary and confidential. The Clinton Conservation District office works with the USDA-NRCS to administer Farm Bill Programs and make them available for landowners, no matter your acreage. The first step for any landowner is to contact the Clinton Conservation District and fill out an application. Then, District and NRCS staff work first-hand with you on your farm to create a conservation plan and determine the best fit in available programs. For more information, contact Clinton Conservation District at (989) 224-3720 ext. 3 or visit www.clintonconservation.org.
A Look Back – 1973 Winner!
by Barry Clark Bauer
John Stevens, 7520 N. Williams Rd, St. Johns, receives congratulations from Rick Snyder of Kurt’s Appliances as he is awarded an RCA portable television he won during Kurt’s Appliances recent anniversary sale and drawings.
Ethel Flegler: most senior member of St. Peter Lutheran Church- Riley
There’s no way of knowing how many times Ethel Flegler has crossed the doorway at St. Peter Lutheran Church- Riley, since her birth nearly 98 years ago on Nov. 21, 1921. Thousands? Tens of thousands of times worshiping with members, friends and relatives. Those numbers are increasing as the congregation celebrates its 150th Anniversary throughout 2019.
Much has changed at the site on Church Road in Riley Township southwest of St. Johns since the church was formally organized in 1869, but as Ethel says, one thing is a constant. “The word of God remains the same and is always here – ‘My strength cometh from the Lord.'”
Ethel and group of ladies:
A group of ladies with ties back to the first members of St. Peter posed for a group photo in 2004 as part of a St. Peter Confirmation Reunion by Decades. Back: (l-r), Florence Hopp, Ethel Flegler; front (l-r), Bertha Vance, Ivah Kleuckling, Illah Martens, Lona Silm, Edna Flegler.
Ethel recalls many events and memories as a life-long, three-generation member of the church that’s located about two miles west of her home on Church Road – and about the same distance from her childhood home with her parents, William and Elsie (Sehlke) Horman, on Forest Hill Road. As a young girl, she attended “German School” religious classes that were held in the parsonage of the church, and also Pratt Road School which was the closest public schoolhouse to her family’s house. In either case, it was about a two-mile walk – unless you cut through wooded trails located off the roadway.
“I remember sometimes we thought a wolf was following us,” Ethel recalls with a smile – although she wasn’t smiling at the time. “It was a little scary for us kids.”
As she grew older, Ethel was confirmed in 1935 and was involved in church and social events of the St. Peter Young Peoples Society that had been formed in 1931. She and St. Peter member Earl Flegler were married in 1942, and another generation of St. Peter members followed: Barry, William (Bill), Brenda, Earlene (Schaub) Flegler and Earl Jr. Although Earl Sr. passed away Oct. 24, 1984, a total of 13 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren insure the continuance of future generations. “I love them all,” Ethel says, looking at family photos that have a prominent place in her home.
Ethel was active in the St. Peter Ladies Aid Society and the Lutheran Womens Missionary League, and supported St. Peter School which all the Flegler children attended. Her service to others extended beyond the volunteer work at the school and church organizations: 25 years as a project leader for Clinton County 4-H via Charlie’s Gang; 12 years with Clinton County Hospice; Riley Township Clerk; and more. One of her favorite volunteer projects was M.O.S.T mission trips to Mexico, Brazil and countries in Central America. She recalls a special trip to Guatemala that a granddaughter, Katina Schaub, was part of – resulting in meeting her “husband-to-be” Todd Gibson.
In addition to her active participation in church and volunteer agencies, Ethel retired in 1989 from the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources after 17 years, and still is an enthusiastic promoter of the outdoors and hunting. A turkey hunt was on the agenda last week where she expected to find success with her son, Earl, in bagging a bird from a blind on his property. It’s that type of involvement with family in all aspects of her life that shines most brightly in Ethel’s twinkling eyes. “Lots and lots of blessings on our family,” she says in a soft voice that resonates with her own, special version of the Golden Rule. “Be you to others kind and true, as you’d have others be to you.”
That’s certainly a maxim worth living. A gift of sorts from a wise and lovely lady on the 150 anniversary of her church home here on earth – and her heavenly home above.
St. Peter hosts a special worship service April 28 that Ethel will attend. Pastor David Speerbrecker, a former St. Peter member whose family roots run deep, will preach on “Heritage Sunday.” The service includes songs by St. Peter School students, and slideshow of St. Peter History from its beginning to 1940. A potluck lunch in the St. Peter Fellowship Center follows the 10 a.m. service; church memorabilia will be on display and the slideshow will be repeated.
St. Peter is located at 8990 Church Road, St. Johns. Information is available at the church website, http://www.stpeterriley.org/
Maralyn’s Pet Corner – 10 Facts About Ticks
courtesy of Hanie Elfenbein, DVM, PhD
Sure, we all know ticks are a nuisance, but do you really know what they are and what they can do? Here are 10 facts about ticks that you probably didn’t know.
1. Ticks have four life stages: egg, larva (infant), nymph (immature) and adult (mature). All stages except the egg need to feed on a host, or else the tick will die. At each stage, most ticks die before they are able to find a host.
2. Ticks are arachnids. This means that they are more closely related to spiders and scorpions than insects. At the larva stage, ticks only have six legs, but they have eight at the nymph and adult stages.
3. It can take up to three years for a tick to mature to the adult stage and reproduce.
4. Ticks may appear as small dark specks on your pet’s fur (larva stage). These can be hard to find, which is a good reason to provide your pet with prescription flea and tick prevention.
5. Ticks feed on the blood of their hosts—humans, birds, reptiles, and wild and domestic mammals. Many tick species prefer to feed on different hosts at different life stages, though some (like the Brown Dog Tick) may feed on one host species.
6. There almost 900 tick species. Ninety of these are found in the continental United States, many of which are capable of transmitting diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Alpha-gal. Transmitted by the Lone Star tick, Alpha-gal causes an allergy to red meat in humans but does not cause illness in dogs or cats.
7. Tick infestations are more common in dogs than cats. They are also easier to prevent since there are more FDA-approved products to kill ticks on dogs than on cats. Some tick-prevention products are not safe to use around cats, so be sure to discuss the best preventative with your veterinarian.
8. Ticks are not born with disease agents. They acquire them during feeding and pass them along to other animals during subsequent feedings. Many diseases are only transmitted after many hours of feeding. Most tick prevention takes advantage of that time lapse and kills the tick faster than the tick can transmit disease.
9. Pets (and humans) may contract multiple diseases from a single tick bite. These diseases can be very serious and even fatal. The tick that your dog carries into the house can bite you and spread disease.
10. Never remove a tick with your bare hand, and never twist to remove it. Instead, use tweezers or special tick-removal instruments, such as TickEase tweezers, to grasp the tick close to the skin and pull it out gently. It is important not to leave the head embedded in the skin.