About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2020)
LIFE The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Midweek Edition - May 13-14, 2020 3B March for Babies steps into new campaign Times file photo Ambassador family parents Abby and Ryan Burle, from left to right, with their children, Miller, Max and Maggie, walk during the March for Babies on Saturday, April 27, 2019. BY KELSEY P0D0 kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Nine minutes after Devon Stoneburg of Flowery Branch learned that she had a life-threatening pregnancy complication, she was taken into surgery for a caesarean section. Her baby Isla came into the world on Oct. 26, 2018, at only 2 pounds and 8.6 ounces. Her original due date was Jan. 9,2019. “She came at 29 weeks, and this was our first child,” Stoneburg said. “It was terri fying. We were not prepared for it.” Before giving birth to Isla at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gaines ville, Stoneburg said she was diagnosed with preeclamp sia, which involves having abnormally high blood pres sure. The complication then led to HELLP syndrome, a variant of preeclampsia that includes liver failure. While at the hospital, Stoneburg received a ste roid injection in her thigh, which allowed Isla’s lungs to develop faster. If she had not taken the shot, she said her baby would’ve been put on a respirator. The research that devel oped the injection was funded by the March of Dimes, Stoneburg said. Thanks to the care received at the neonatal intensive care unit and the efforts of March of Dimes, Isla is now a healthy and happy baby. Stoneburg and her hus band Andrew have part nered with March of Dimes in Hall County as this year’s ambassadors. “One thing about being March of Dimes ambassa dors, is that we’ve met many families not as lucky as we are,” Stoneburg said. “We’re really blessed that she came out healthy and strong and fought her way out. It’s ter rifying that so many children are born premature, and that so many mothers can have these conditions and compli cations and not understand why.” Jeanine Jackson, chair of the Hall County March of Dimes and nurse practitio ner at Longstreet Clinic Pedi atrics, said this year people’s individual donations and contributions through March for Babies will go directly toward helping local moth ers and families affected by the pandemic in addition to supporting research, advo cacy and programs for those affected by preterm births. Some of the support will include funding research for COVID-19 treatment that is safe and inclusive for pregnant and lactating women, and offering addi tional resources and train ing for doctors and nurses in the NICU and intensive care unit. During the pandemic, Jackson said Hall’s March of Dimes partners have deliv ered care packages filled with gift cards, hand sanitizer and toiletry items for fami lies with babies in the NICU. “It’s a horribly stressful time for families,” Jackson said. Each year, March of Dimes has held nationwide March for Babies events to raise critical funds to support the health of mothers and babies. Because of the pan demic, the event has turned virtual and encourages people across the country to walk safely at home anytime until Friday, May 15. Hall County’s March for Babies StepUp fundraiser aims to reach $82,000 in donations. As of Tuesday, May 12, $49,397 has been raised. To walk, bike or run in March of Dimes’ March for Babies StepUp! in Hall, visit marchforbabies.org/event/ hall and click on “JOIN EVENT.” After registering, download the free Charity Miles app. Through the app people can request pledges from friends and family, which helps turn miles into money for the campaign. Those unable to walk, run or bike before Friday can still donate to the fundraiser by visiting marchforbabies. org. Jackson said the non profit will continue to accept donations throughout the summer for the campaign. The Hall event is pre sented by Longstreet Clinic with additional sponsorship from Northeast Georgia Medical Center. People can view the Hall livestream from 1:30-2 p.m. Friday on March of Dimes Hall County’s Facebook page. To honor donors and participants in March for Babies, the national non profit will hold a celebratory livestream from 2-3 p.m. Friday. People can find the event at Facebook.com/mar- chofdimes or Youtube.com/ marchofdimes. Mamas delicious cornbread and memories of thriftiness R0NDA RICH southswomen@bellsouth.net The other day I made corn- bread and as I did, I spent time with Mama. She was there by my side as clearly as the times that, as a child, I watched her make it. Whenever I sew, make bis cuits, cornbread or scrape a bowl clean down to the last speck, I remember Mama and all she taught me. I was 3 when I started climbing up on the stool on which she sat as she sewed. I stood behind her, my hands on her shoulders, peeping over and watching every stitch she made. Now whenever I sew on a but ton or hem a skirt, she is there with me. Even when I thread a needle that requires me to cut the thread at an angle, hold it up to a light and precariously labor to dart it into the eye, I can see her doing the same thing so many times so many years ago. My aunt was sick, so I was making Mama’s chicken soup and a batch of cornbread muf fins. Aunt Kath is from the moun tains, too, so I figured she would appreciate the taste of the corn- bread made Mama’s way. This requires bacon grease. Mama loved bacon grease. Most of the time, her house hung heavy with the smell and often when Dixie Dew, my dachshund, stayed with her, she smelled like bacon grease when she came home. Mama used so much bacon grease that she never had to refrigerate it. She kept it in a container on the stove. She fried eggs in it, seasoned greens with it and poured it into biscuits and cornbread. She was 80 before the abundant use of bacon grease forced her into a stint and 85 before she had bypass surgery. After the stint, though, she cut back on the grease and grudg ingly followed the doctor’s order of vegetable or canola oil. Sometimes she would make a face when she ate something where she had used oil as a sub stitute. “This ain’t nearly as good without bacon grease.” “That bacon grease is what got you into this situation in the first place,” I’d reply. “Hush. I don’t want to hear it,” she’d reply with an ugly frown. I have always used hard Crisco in my biscuits and either butter — a trick I learned from my friend, Karen — or vegetable oil in my cornbread. Since I don’t use as much bacon grease, I refrigerate mine, mainly used for making wilted salad. This, of course, I learned from Mama and now it is a trendy favorite of five-star restaurants. It’s simple: tear up a soft, leafy lettuce, cut up onion then pour hot bacon grease over it to wilt it. Trust me, if there was anything to be done with bacon grease, Mama figured it out. While I was making corn- bread, I remembered something else. Mama would pour butter milk in the cornbread or biscuit batter then add water. I have always made mine completely with buttermilk and don’t dilute it with water. Suddenly, some thing came to me. Funny how memory or knowledge is stirred up by the stirring of a spoon. It was, I realized, Mama’s mountain thriftiness that had led her to using half water and half buttermilk. In times that were hard and where one milk cow had to quench the thirst of 10 people, they watched every drop. She had never stopped to explain. Not once as she taught me to make biscuits or corn- bread did she say, “Now, save your milk because water works just as good.” Although, she did stress the importance of getting every speck of batter out of the bowl because “I used to see my friend, Margaret, waste money by not scraping the bowl.” I stopped for a moment and remembered the poor people from which I come. Then, I took the bowl of cornbread bat ter over to the sink and added water. Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of several books, including “Let Me Tell You Something.” Sign up for her newsletter at www.rondarich.com. Her column publishes weekly. ^4% %t 6/ ° HOLD YOUR TICKET NEW DATE Michael Combs» JULY 10 # 2020 7:30 PM The Venue at Friendship Springs please help, stay home. As our region, state and nation all battle the COVID-19 pandemic, people often ask us what they can do to help. The answer is simple: stay home. We understand you may need to leave to get groceries and medications - or you may have a true emergency or a job that you can’t do from home - and that’s understandable. Otherwise, staying home is the best way to protect you and your loved ones from this virus. We believe that if everyone in our region will commit to staying home for at least 14 days, it will significantly limit the spread of COVID-19 and save as many lives as possible. Stay informed. nghs.com/COVID-19 Purchase your Tickets at: gainesvilletimes.com/michaelcombs Northeast Georgia Health System
