Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam ...

Hard to believe September begins in two days and Labor Day weekend is almost upon us.  Won’t it be nice to leave the 90+ degree days behind and pull a sweater out of the closet?  Today Around Davidson reports on some couples who DID pull sweaters out of their closets for their travels this summer to the northwestern United States including the Cains, Millers, Stebers and Mases.  We also have a report from Jeff Hassel on those huts on the lawn at Davidson United Methodist Church, and a project to bring new stoves to families in rural Guatemala.

Last Sunday DUMC launched its Stove Project for Guatemala

FIRING UP A CONGREGATION TO FUND COOKING STOVES

The Rev. Jeff Hassel is an associate minister at Davidson United Methodist Church (DUMC) and a tireless supporter of mission outreach.  DUMC’s largest international mission commitment is to the people of rural Guatemala in a small village called Chucam near the city of Chichicastenengo and Jeff will drop everything to tell you about helping the 450 families who live there.  DUMC representatives have traveled to Chucam to construct a church building in the past.  In 2012 two trips are planned to address medical issues, church and community ministries, a Christian sports camp, clean water and ventilated cooking stoves.

Wood fire smoke filled a typical Guatemalan home while farther down the sidewalk, a ventilation pipe allowed clean air in the dwelling.

This past Sunday at worship, Jeff “fired up” members of the congregation as DUMC launched the “ventilated stove project” – complete with two demonstration Guatemala-style homes:  one having a traditional burning wood fire stove (with smoke causing eye, lung and chronic headaches in the population) and one with a ventilated adobe/firebrick stove (providing clean air in the home).  The Davidson Fire Department was on hand with CO (carbon monoxide) detectors to demonstrate unsafe levels from cooking smoke in the first dwelling and no detectable CO in the second.

Hundreds of church goers gathered on the front lawn to see the houses, visit with firemen and hear stories from DUMC members of earlier Guatemalan Mission Teams.  Enthusiastic members funded dozens of ventilated adobe stoves for $100 each.  Working with matching funds from Our Towns Habitat for Humanity, a minimum of 240 stoves will be built in Chucam, Guatemala, in 2012, benefitting thousands of residents.  Stop by DUMC today and take a look at the typical Guatemalan homes and the cooking stoves inside.  For more information on this remarkable partnership of DUMC, Our Town’s Habitat and Habitat Guatemala, contact Jeff Hassel at jhassel@davidsonumc.orgor call 704-892-8277.

$100 provides a simple, healthy, ventilated stove made with firebrick, cement and metal

(Just a note about Jeff:  He has started a Motorcycle Ministry and a small but devoted group had their first ride this past Sunday – to Mocksville and back.  Missions and motorcycling are Jeff’s favorite past-times so call him if “hog” riding is your thing…)

Larry and Jane Cain enjoyed time in the Mt. Rainier area

Jane and Larry Cain had a wonderful break from the Davidson heat when they flew to Vancouver on Aug. 1.  Here they were able to sightsee for a few days before taking a ferry to Victoria for a day and then another ferry to Port Angeles in Washington.  The Cains rented a cottage on a little lake (through Vacation Rentals by Owner), making Port Angeles their base while touring Olympic National Park for three days. Highlights included visiting a wilderness beach with big rock formations and washed-up tree trunks, a rain forest, and gorgeous snow-covered mountains. Their last stop was Mt. Rainier which had 900 inches of snow this winter, including a blizzard on June 4. There was still so much snow on the mountain that they couldn’t hike the regular mountain trails but they did manage some great waterfall and river walks. It was hard to leave the beauty of the Mt. Rainier area to return to Davidson on Aug. 12.

Catching up with the Cain children, we learned that daughter Rebecca still lives in Arizona, playing bassoon in the Tucson Symphony and working as the orchestra’s personnel manager.  Son Peter has one more year at Cincinnati Conservatory where he is finishing his degree, while living in Knoxville.  He competed and won an audition with the Knoxville symphony as principal clarinet for one year (a sabbatical replacement). Peter will also teach clarinet at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.  Mom and Dad are looking forward to going over and hearing Peter play in a few concerts during the year.  As mentioned in earlier Around Davidson columns, a few Davidson residents ran into Peter this summer at the Aspen Music Festival since he “won” a spot in the eight week festival as a clarinetist.  Congratulations to Peter on some very nice honors.

Montana in May required winter wear for Russell Mase!

Carmen and Russell Mase had an early escape from North Carolina heat when they visited Montana last May.  Since it was early in the season, the state was almost deserted.  They spent ten days exploring the Gold West (or Southwest) part of Montana from their base at a hot springs resort near Butte.  They enjoyed mountain scenery, including the Big Sky ski area, and visited ghost towns, museums, old mining sites, and the headwaters of the Missouri River where Lewis and Clark set up camp.  They experienced wilderness, wide open spaces, and deserted highways – except in Yellowstone where bison had the right-of-way.  It was a marvelous time to be in Montana before the influx of summer tourists.

Summertime hiking in the Pacific Northwest were (l-r) Gary and Linda Steber with Charlotte and Bob Miller

Bob and Charlotte Miller traveled west with Linda and Gary Steber for a two week vacation. They started at the Columbia River Gorge and learned all about the Corps of Discovery, a term Thomas Jefferson used for the group led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.  After some days in Olympic National Park, they headed to the San Juan Islands for wonderful whale watching where they spotted orcas of varying ages from three pods. They saw bald eagles, dolphins, and harbor seals as well. Venturing into Canada, they toured Vancouver and Whistler where they celebrated Bob’s birthday with a gondola ride across the area and some hiking. Returning to the states, Bob and Charlotte headed on to Seattle to fly home while Gary and Linda spent a few more days exploring the North Cascades and the Seattle area.

Interesting to note that Linda and Charlotte grew up in Chattanooga, Tenn., in the same church and reconnected when the Stebers moved to Davidson in ’92. With children of similar ages, the Millers and Stebers have done many family things together. Their two daughters, Rachel Steber and Beth Miller, were roommates at UNC-Chapel Hill.  In addition, Gary and Bob worked together for a short while doing home inspections. For their “Westward Ho” travel, each traveler was assigned a different job: Linda and Charlotte planned, Bob drove, and Gary was in charge of the weather – 10 days of beautiful weather, he is happy to note!

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Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.