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FRIDAY,
SEPTEMBER 2, 2005
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Billy Powell
Columnist
A dog funeral
On Christmas day in
1979, my son Tim found
Duke, a golden retriever
puppy, under the Christmas
tree in a little box decorated
with a red ribbon. We pur
chased Duke from Susan
Turner of Marshallville.
Duke loved to play Frisbee.
We could fling the Frisbee
across the front yard, and
Duke would catch it with
his mouth before it hit the
ground. He was a smart dog
and possessed a remarkable
vocabulary. If Beverly and I
didn’t want Duke to under
stand what we were saying,
we had to whisper. Duke
lived to be almost 12 years
old, which in dog years is
about 80. One Saturday
morning, Duke collapsed
and experienced breathing
problems.
An emergency call was
placed to Smith Animal
Hospital in Perry to alert
them that we were on the
way. Beverly drove while I
sat in the back seat, holding
Duke, a 90-pounder, in my
lap. Duke, breathing shal
low and irregular, stopped
breathing just outside of
Perry. I immediately per
formed CPR, holding
Duke’s nostrils and breath
ing into his mouth. Dr. Ben
Smith was waiting outside
when we arrived. Duke
loved his two doctors, Ben
and Felix Smith. Ben
rushed over to the car to
check Duke, still in my lap.
“He is gone, Mr. Billy,” he
said with pain etched on his
face. That was a sad day for
Beverly and me, and we
hated to tell Tim, who was
off at college.
As soon as we arrived
home, I laid Duke under a
shade tree and hastily
began building a wooden
boi. Next I dug a deep hole,
tears rolling down my
cheeks with every swing of
the pick and every scoop of
the shovel. I placed Duke
inside in the box, nailed the
lid, lowered the box into the
ground, and filled the hole
with the dirt. Duke was spe
cial. He deserved something
more.
I retrieved-my Bible and
read a few passages of scrip
ture. I concluded with a
prayer, thanking God for
sending us such a loving
dog. I asked God to usher
Duke into His eternal king
dom. It was comforting to
know that Duke was in
God’s hands. In fact, all liv
ing creatures are in God’s
hands. Not a sparrow falls
that He doesn’t know about
it.
I close with the story
about a man named
Andrew, who lived alone in
the countryside with his
only companion being his
pet dog. One day the dog
died, so Andrew went to the
Catholic priest and asked,
“Father, my dog is dead.
Would you conduct his
funeral?” Father O’Leary
replied, “I’m afraid not. We
don’t hold services for ani
mals, but there is a Baptist
church in town, and there’s
no telling what they believe.
Why don’t you ask them?”
Andrew responded, “I’ll
check with the Baptists
right away. Father, do you
think $5,000 is enough to
donate for the service?”
Father O’Leary exclaimed,
“Sweet Mary, Mother of
Jesus! Why didn’t you tell
me your dog was Catholic?”
Family Faun
‘tTeawing up to
M p tk needy
17 community ‘transport teams’
helping with Loaves and Fishes
food bank effort
Story and photos
by
Charlotte Perkins
They took their name
from a Biblical miracle, but
for the volunteers at Loaves
and Fishes of South
Houston County, muscle,
money and manpower are
the major requirements.
Alvalyn Pope, chair
woman of the food bank,
has been looking for volun
teer “angels” to help with
the transportation, loading
and unloading of the food,
and she reports that the
response has been heart
warming.
Currently seven teams
are helping with the trans
portation of food items from
local grocery stores to the
food bank at Crossroads
United Methodist Church,
and 10 more teams are
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These volunteers for Loaves and Fishes are among those helping to keep the food bank running on a twice-weekly basis. From left, seated, are
Georgia Johnson, Doug Baase, Geraldine E. Little, Polly Larsen, Elizabeth Fountain, Sandy Yawn, Stephanie K. Lord; standing, Mayor Jim
Worrall, Peggy Jackson, Bernell Latimore, Margret Attaway, J.W. McDowell, Aileen Harden, Joy Albright and Alvalyn Pope.
Benefit for
Loaves and
Fishes
Roland Everett Fall and
the Lightword Band will
present a concert at the
Perry Arts Center at 7:30
p.m., Saturday, Sept. 17,
to benefit Loaves and
Fishes.
The admission charge
is one can of vegetables,
soup or stew, or $1 at the
door. According to Fall,
the music will be
“Christian folk rock with
some reggae flavor," and
those attending should
“bring their praise danc
ing shoes.”
i r ~
DR. DAN ARIAIL
making regular runs to
Macon to get food supplies
from the Middle Georgia
Community Food bank and
bring it back to the*Perry
site.
Assisting with the local
food transportation are
Gerald Auchard, Robin
Dean of Badcock Furniture,
the Exchange Club of Perry,
Lori Hardy, Jesup
Furniture, Neal Reagan of
Perry Furniture Mart and
Perry Stanley of Stanley
Furniture.
Assisting with the runs to
Macon are City of Perry
employees, Dave Crockett,
Dave Cyr of Parrish
Construction, Byron
Etheridge, James Langston,
Hanse Massee of Mid State
Construction and Striping
Inc., Charles Parker,
Dennis Peavy, Mayo and
Jeanne Sexton, Phil and
Sandy Smith.
These teams are in addi-
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Former pastor of Perry First Baptist retires
Special to the HHJ
Dr. Dan Ariail retired on
Aug. 1 after serving as pas
tor of Maranatha Baptist
Church in Plains for 23
years.
Ariail served as associate
pastor with Dr. Albert
Cardwell at First Baptist
Church in Macon during
1968-73 and at First
Baptist Perry from 1973-
1982. He says that serving
in Macon and Perry
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Davy Crockett, Charles Parker and Lori Hardy, “Angels" on the Loaves and Fishes
transport team, are among the large number who help with getting the food from
local stores and the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank.
tion to the 30 faithful vol
unteers who show up regu
larly to staff the food bank
and help with the distribu
tion of boxes of food each
Monday and Thursday from
10 am. until 1 p.m. These
include Joy Albright,
Margaret Attaway Doug
and Gail Baase, Sara Baker,
Jean Brewster, Susan
equipped him well for serv
ing in Plains. He expressed
his gratitude to Cardwell
and First Baptist, Macon
and to First Baptist, Perry,
especially those serving as
deacons at the time of his
going to Plains.
His 23 years at
Maranatha have been filled
with many unique opportu
nities, preaching to people
from all over the world.
Ariail earned his doctor of
Cantrell, Marty Durham,
Betty Easley Joyce Ellison,
Elizabeth Fountain,
Jeannette Gurr, Susie
Greer, Vern Gladu, Ailen
Harden, Peggy Jackson,
Georgia Johnson, Ellen
Kelly, Polly Larsen, Bernell
Latimore, Evelyn Levan,
Geraldine Little, Stefanie
Lord, Claudia Luckey, J.W.
ministry degree from
Southern Baptist Seminary
while serving at
Maranatha, writing his the
sis on “A Ministry of
Hospitality at Maranatha
Baptist Church.”
He and Mrs. Ariail have
had many special opportu
nities to travel with former
President Jimmy Carter
and Rosalyn Carter, and.
have worked with Habitat
for Humanity.
7A
McDowell, Martha Miller,
Cathy Shaw, Sandy Yawn
and Alvalyn Pope.
Last year, the volunteers
of Loaves and Fishes of
South Houston County pro
vided food for over 6,600
individuals in Houston
County, many of whom
were senior citizens or chil
dren.
On Tuesday, all
of the volunteers
with Loaves and
Fishes were
given certifi
cates of appreci
ation by Mayor
Jim Worrall,
right. Here, the
mayor presents
the first one to
Alvalyn Pope,
who chairs the
food bank.
They accompanied the
Carters to Oslo, Norway,
when President Carter
received the Nobel Peace
Prize.
“We have been blessed
beyond measure during our
45 years of ministry and we
thank God for the opportu
nities we have had,” Ariail
said.
Dr. and Mrs. Ariail plan
to continue living in Plains.