Spearsville Happenings

Barbara Walton
December 3, 2009

Mondays are always tough and especially after a long holiday – have you noticed? This morning I was looking for my phone to call my “resource center” and couldn’t find it; lo and behold it was found, after activating the ringer, right on the computer desk under a paper. Sure hope the rest of the day goes better!!

Thanksgiving brought lots of visitors to Spearsville. Mary Gene & Vergil Rhodes had their whole clan of over forty, home for the holiday. On Thursday they went to the Meadow Lake Country Club in Bernice for their annual dinner. With this many musically talented people there is always lots of singing, playing various instruments, visiting, laughing, and joking around; lots of good food and children to be enjoyed as they are passed around. This is truly a blessed family and a family that is all serving the Lord in a special way. On Friday, they all worked in the house and the yard doing all those things that Vergil & Mary are no longer to do for themselves. I would say this was a perfect Thanksgiving holiday.

Oda Rockett, Kim Brantley, and her son, Justin, spent the week in Grand Cayman. They just had a wonderful week and the weather was excellent – started turning a little chilly on the day they left. Kim and Justin did some snorkeling, while Oda enjoyed the beach and sitting in the water. It was a fun & restful vacation with three generations as they played together for seven days.

Floy and Billy Rea enjoyed a celebration with children, Jan & Sharon, their spouses, Ski and Dale. The grandchildren, their spouses, and great grandchildren rounded out the dinner list; however, several had already had as many as three celebrations and they were not exactly excited about turkey and dressing again. New year, she should just make it real easy have sandwiches or spaghetti and no desserts!!

Denise and Tim Clement celebrated their first Thanksgiving in Spearsville. They entertained her brother, John Perry; sister, Kathryn Perry; and nephew, Chase Perry, all from New Iberia, LA. They had not shared a Thanksgiving with her younger siblings since 1980. Friday night the had dinner at Hollis’ Seafood and got in a little Black Friday Christmas shopping while they were there. Denise and Tim have enjoyed sharing their new home, The Dr. Dudley House, with family and friends throughout the past nine months; we have thoroughly enjoyed them as new friends. The best part, that makes them so special, is their love for this community and its people.

I went to have Thanksgiving with Shana and Helen, my daughter and granddaughter. Our family joined the Patrick Mackin Family of Slidell-Ashley, Allyson, granddaughter, Maddison, and Patrick’s brother, Daniel. Not only did we have a big meal with lots of visiting but were entertained with music by Daniel, Patrick, and Helen. The clean-up was a breeze, with the storage containers being brought to the table while we were still sitting around visiting; each person filled one with the leftovers and they were quickly taken to the fridge – now why had I never thought of that? Young people have lots of good answers for what appears to be overwhelming problems!!

Wilbur and Nell Upshaw had a yard full of cars and I heard lots of kids, spouses and grandkids. Nell is such a good cook, it is no wonder they all flock to her house; however, Wilbur did say, laughingly, that he didn’t think they would cook again until after the first of the year. Knowing them, they will be rested up and ready to do it again at Christmas. Big families are such treasures and have such a good time when they gather at Grandmother’s house for meals and fun. These are great memories they are storing away.

Probably one of the biggest happening, my Yankee friend, Bonnie Rhodes, made her first cornbread dressing – using Ann Stone-Heard’s recipe. It seems, from the report I had, it was delicious; however, she forgot that Ann’s recipe feeds lots of folks and Bonnie forgot to take not of this. The two of them didn’t make a dent in it and they are still eating dressing – “twice a day”, she said. The other big news from that house. Bonnie is joining the world of technology and ordered a new laptop computer, thanks to an early Christmas present from her husband, John. She is on Cloud Nine and so am I. Now she can start her day off laughing with all the jokes we can send to her. Maybe I can even talk her into writing The Spearsville Happenings, occasionally. Who knows miracles do happen!!

Bro. James finished the week off with a good message that correlated with our Fifth Sunday Lord’s Supper, entitled Come to the Table. He had earlier, jokingly, invited us for takeouts of leftovers from his table at the Parsonage. He didn’t have an takers for that but the Lord’s Supper was a fitting end to this Thanksgiving Season and a good beginning for the Christmas Season. The children all got a large brass cross to hang in their bedrooms as a reminder of the things that God, through His Son, has done for us. We must never forget to thank God for such a loving, caring pastor – not just for the adults but especially for our children.

One of the greatest blessing for this community was the return of Ann Heard’s grandson, Johnation Nunley, from Iraq. His mother, Theresa, went to meet him and took his car. After all the exams and de-briefing he will be assigned to Ft. Campbell in KY. Since Iraq, Theresa who lives in Hot Springs, AK., will just see this as a leap, jump and a hop to go to see him. We are so happy that he is back safely – no injuries – to be with his family once again. WELCOME HOME AND COME TO SEE US SOON!!