Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, November 14,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 7A
For the Dawson County News
Paula Fendley, Patricia Sayers, Pat Justice, Des Martin and Tracy Cloud help
sort food items at Ric-Rack food bank and thrift store in downtown
Dawsonville during one of their "25 Acts of Service" Nov. 7.
Georgia Mountains Hospice
gives back with acts of service
From staff reports
In honor of Georgia Mountains
Hospice 25th anniversary, the organiza
tion has been giving back to the commu
nity and on Nov. 7 they completed
another act of service in their 25 Acts of
Service mission by volunteering with
Ric-Rack food bank and thrift store in
Dawsonville.
“We are honored and blessed to have
been serving the patients and families of
these north Georgia counties during the
most difficult time in their lives,” wrote
Executive Director Gina Pendley in a
press release. “We understand that we
would not have been able to continue
our mission of quality end of life care
for all of these years without the support
of our communities, so we are giving
back.”
Beginning in July and lasting through
December of this year, Georgia
Mountains Hospice will be offering
their services to nonprofit agencies
throughout the 10 counties it serves in
north Georgia.
“We would like to come help you
stock food in the food pantries, help fill
up back packs for kids, make lunches,
work your yard sales, whatever your
group is doing to further their mission.
We are offering ‘25 Acts of Service’ to
show our appreciation to you,” said
Pendley.
On Nov. 7, Georgia Mountains
Hospice staff and volunteers worked
with Ric-Rack food bank and thrift store
in downtown Dawsonville to help the
nonprofit organization stock its food
bank and provide free food to qualified
Dawson County residents.
Ric-Rack is staffed from the Church
Alliance and funding comes through the
thrift store as well as cash and food
donations.
Georgia Mountains Hospice is a non
profit agency taking care of terminally
ill patients in their homes or nursing
home. They specialize in the care of
children and are very proud of the ser
vice offered to veterans. For more
information about the agency, the areas
it serves or the “Acts of Service” please
call (706) 253-4100 or (800) 692-7199.
Join the Georgia Mountains Hospice
Facebook page to follow upcoming
events.
Anderson
Family Medicine
Dr. Larry Anderson is proud to serve the Dawsonville
community as your neighborhood doctor. Our friendly,
experienced staff provides excellent care in a friendly, caring
and professional environment, and serves each patient with
the time and attention they need.
We accept most insurance plans, including:
• Aetna
• Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Cigna
• Coventry
• Humana
• Medicare
Call (706) 265-1335 to schedule an appointment today.
81 Northside Dawson Drive, Suite 205
Dawsonville, GA 30534
andersonfamilymedicine.com
NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL
Tink and a dog who loves
fresh buttermilk biscuits
It started out as the
neighborly thing to
do.
Up the road from
the Rondarosa, lives
Doug and his family.
We have known each
other since childhood
and now, in the years
of our maturity, he is a
wonderful neighbor,
proving his helpful
ness time after time. A
few of those times,
when I’ve had to call
him for help, involved
barbed wire wrapped
around the blades of
the mower. Once, we
rescued what we
thought was an
injured puppy that
actually turned out to
be a coyote, the very
animal we try to pro
tect our farms from.
And another time —
this was almost down
right historic and did
wind up making the
front page of the
newspaper — we
teamed to help lower
the boom on a band of
crooks that had long
plagued several coun
ties.
One Saturday in
mid-February, Doug
called. “I hate to both
er y’all but we’re out
of town and my moth-
er-in-law is house-sit-
ting. Our little dog has
gotten loose so if
you’d keep an eye out
for her, I’d appreciate
it.”
When the call
ended, I turned to
Tink. “We have to go
and look for that dog
right now. Doug has
been too good a
neighbor. And I know
from experience, it’s a
terrible feeling to be
gone and have some
thing like this hap
pen.”
On a cut-through
Jingle Market | 3pm - 8pm
Christmas Parade | 5pm
Tree Lighting | Dusk
FOOD TRUCKS | MUSIC | DANCERS
COOKIE DECORATING
PHOTOS WITH SANTA BY JOHN SEIBEL
dawson.org | 706-265-6278
RONDARICH
Columnist
road, about a mile away,
we found the little dog
that had already been
discovered by a nice
woman who, seeing that
the dog was wearing a
collar, knew something
was wrong and stopped
to put the dog on a spare
leash she had. In the
middle of the country,
the nice woman was
going door to door to
find the dog’s home. We
stopped and pointed her
in the right direction and
then headed back home
ourselves.
Before we’d seen
Doug’s dog, however, we
had discovered the cutest
black and white puppy,
about three months old,
standing guard outside a
gutter pipe on vacant
property. The moment I
saw what looked to be a
beagle, I said impulsive
ly, “That dog is going
home to the Rondarosa.”
If memory serves cor
rectly, Tink rolled his
eyes. For two days, I
tried to entice the dog
out of the drainpipe
where she retreated
whenever she saw our
car. She scampered in,
stayed firm and barked
defensively. Every time
my efforts failed, I left
food at the mouth of the
pipe and promised to
return. One morning, I
grabbed a couple of bis
cuits from a fresh-baked
batch and headed out to
try once again. An ice
storm was coming in a
few hours and I did not
want that baby shivering
in water and ice.
The moment that dog
smelled the Southern
buttermilk biscuits, her
barking ceased and she
scrambled quickly out of
her bunker, tail wagging,
toward fresh food. I
scooped her up, carried
her to the truck and said,
“Well, Biscuit, you’re
going to have a happy
home.”
Boy, does she. The
plan was for Biscuit to
live outside but ice was
coming and since Tink
had gone to Eos Angeles,
I brought her in the
house — where she
never left. She now
weighs 28 pounds and is
a beautiful example of
God’s hand as an artist.
She is white with a black
mask across her face,
freckles on her nose, and
polka dots and spots per
fectly spaced and painted
on her body.
She’s become Tink’s
best friend. Wherever he
goes, she intends to fol
low. When he is on the
tractor or mower, she is
nearby watching him,
ever faithful. She often
rides with him to the
hardware store, feed
store, or just across the
Rondarosa. He rolls
down her window, she
puts her nose to the
wind, and there they go:
two best buddies riding
down highways and back
roads.
It is a sight to behold,
one that never fails to
bring a smile or a laugh
to me. One lost dog led
us to another and, thank
fully, both had a happy
ending.
Ronda Rich is the best-sell
ing author of Mark My
Words: A Memoir of Mama.
Visit www.rondarich.com to
sign up for her free weekly
newsletter.
'ht&dteJL'i3y>:
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE'
Children’s
Healthcare of Atlanta
Medical Plaza 400
A service of Northeast Georgia Health System