Ann Currie and Jack Schweppe agree: It is hot enough to make you cry!
Could it be any hotter? Well yes, it could. And we really have no room to complain when so many are without electricity due to summer storms wreaking havoc with trees and power lines. We do, however, have a wonderful photo to share with our readers just begging the caption: It is hot enough to make you cry!
Thanks to Ann Currie and her family for sharing the photos and news of a new baby, Jack Schweppe, in the family which we include today. Around Davidson also took time to visit with Jeff Hassel as he leaves Davidson for new adventures. We also have a note for our readers about keeping track of their reading – for all ages.
Four generations of Currie family gathered for Ann’s 88th birthday celebration: (left) Winn Currie Ballenger, Ann Ballenger Schweppe, Ann Currie and Jack Schweppe
ANN CURRIE IS A GREAT GRANDMA
Long time Davidson resident, Ann Currie, is celebrating her new role as a great grandmother. Great grandson Jackson Baker Schweppe was born on March 2, 2012, to proud parents Ann Ballenger Schweppe and her husband, Mark, of Winston-Salem. Weighing 7 lbs., 13 oz., Jack is the first child for Mark and Ann, as well as the first grandchild for Winn Currie Ballenger and her husband, Jack, of Roanoke, Va., and the first great grandchild for Ann Currie.
Ann got to meet this charming baby boy when he was just one week old as the family gathered to celebrate her 88th birthday. It has been an exciting spring for Ann, not only to have a great grandson and a wonderful birthday, but also to settle in to her new apartment at The Pines Retirement Community.
Best wishes to all the family as they dote on Baby Jack who is already three months old!
With a wave and a “roar,” Jeff is on his way west this Friday!
MAN ON A MISSION – JEFF HASSEL
This Friday, July 6, Jeff Hassel will strap on his helmet, rev the motor of his BMW motorcycle, and head west! His new “business card” reads: “Free Wheeling Missionary, Have Motorcycle, Will Travel.” For the past four years, Jeff has been the Senior Associate Pastor for Missions and Membership at the Davidson United Methodist Church (DUMC). He chose ministry thanks to mission experience with his home church in Connecticut and over the past 20 years has worked as Volunteer Coordinator on Appalachia Service Projects, pastored four N.C. churches and served as a missionary in Lithuania for six years.
Wanting to devote more time and effort to the mission field, Jeff is leaving Davidson and DUMC to take sabbatical from the Methodist Church in order to pursue his heart’s desire of improving the plight of those less fortunate in Central America. Before that happens, Jeff is going to take a few months to ride the back roads of America headed first to Grand Junction, CO, and then to follow his nose until, in Jeff’s words, “it is no longer fun.” He has packed his few belongings, found a friend to foster his dogs, Chandler and Brisa, sold his car, and in the next few days will tie up loose ends before fueling his bike and heading out. Jeff has charted a route that takes him to friends, friends of friends, hostels, hotels and occasional “couch surfing” locations for overnight stays. When he tires of the open road, he will head south to Antigua, Guatemala, for four months of intensive language school while lodging with a family in the city.
Once his language skills are good, he will be in touch with a group of Dutch investors who want to set up tourist hotels in Third World countries using a model whereby all profits are channeled back into the community where the hotel is located. (see Hotel con Corazon website, www.hotelconcorazon.com) Wanting to replicate the model of Hotel Con Corazon, Jeff would be mentored in hotel management while determining how best to help others less fortunate in his vicinity – hopefully in Guatemala, where DUMC has many connections and has sponsored numerous mission trips. As a rule of thumb, Jeff wants to give a “hand up” rather than a “hand out.”
No doubt Jeff will be immersed in gardening projects wherever he lands. Just look at the yard of the former Lefty Driesell house on the corner of Lorimer and Woodland so see what love of digging in the dirt can do. As his business card adds, Jeff is “experienced with basic farming implements and tending soil as well as souls!” Well said. We wish you the best, Jeff, and know that you will stay in touch to keep us up to date on your “vision” of continuing “mission.” (Want to send Jeff a greeting? He will be checking jeffhassel@yahoo.com)
BETWEEN THE COVERS
Sounds a little racy but it is the theme for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library’s Summer Reading Program. The bookmark actually states: “This summer, spend time…Between the Covers of a good book!” Just walking outside in this heat makes you wilt so why not spend time inside with a book and win prizes for the time spent “between the covers.”
Interested? Go online to www.cmlibrary.org/summerread and get started. If you do not have computer access at home, stop by the library and they will get you signed up on one of their computers. There are programs for all age groups with individual prizes awarded as well as entering your name for special drawings. Don’t delay since the summer read program ends on August 10.
Also a good idea to go online and check out free programs and workshops during the summer months. This Saturday afternoon, July 7, at Davidson Library, Matthew Shaw will be hosting another of his science programs for elementary age youngsters. Stop by the library for more information and to sign up.
SEND US YOUR NEWS
Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbbarger@gmail.com.
