Harvesting family fun - Winters Express

Winters (CA) Express, Thursday, October 21, 2010 — A-5LETTERSContinued from page A-4Tree House, The WintersExpress, The WintersPublic Library, Theinters Store, The WinersVisitor Center, VeoCityBicycle Center,arrior Video, Wintersity Hall, Winters Eyeare and Winters Truealue.REBECCA BRESNICKHOLMESVice PresidentWinters EducationFoundationFabulousfestivalThe Winters ParentNursery School’s Children’sFestival was ahuge success this yearin part to the generosityand help from manypeople and businessesfrom Winters and thesurrounding areas. Thefamilies and teachers ofWPNS want to sincerelythank all who donatedtheir money, time, servicesand/or products toour Children’s Festival.First Northern Bank,Viking Propane and AutomaticFire Suppresionall donated moneyo WPNS to help withthe costs of the Festival.he following businesssand people donatedtems and/ or servicesefore and during theestival: Cooley’s PumpinPatch, Millikenamily, John Lopez,ohn Neil, Jerry Neil,uckhorn, Pizza Factoy,Warrior Video, AVIDtudents from Wintersigh School, Creeksideigns, Andy Pignatarotate Farm Insurancend Cheto’s Snowcones.Our silent auction thisyear was the most successfulwe have everhad. A huge thanks tohe following businesssand people for itemsnd services donatedor our silent auction:icki Barbosa (KirkoodCabin), RomingerWest Winery (privatetour and tasting), WintersDental Office (CustomWhitening Trays)Green Valley CountryClub members Les andChris Singer (Golf for 4),Mariani Nut Company(Sacramento KingsTickets), Joey’s PerformanceMarine (gift certificate),Laura Ray Photography,Photographyby Jeff Rawlinson andnique Photographyphoto sessions).Our raffle was also auge success thanks tohe donations from PizaFactory, Warriorideo, Chuy’s, Ficelle,egan Curry, Turkovichinery, Winters Auto &ow, Kids Gone Wild,xplorit, Emily Back,Grinsberg Family, MarianiNut Company, MissyDuarte, Laura Mariani,Patrica Erwin, MichelleNarr and Biasi’s.WPNS encourages theWinters community tovisit all the businesseswho supported our Children’sFestival. Wecould not have done itwithout their support.A final thank you to allthe families that attendedthe Children’s Festival.WPNS feels verylucky to be supported byso many businesses andpeople. You help makeWPNS a great place forour kids to grow andlearn.WPNS STAFFand FAMILIESDee Dee’ssupports cureWe want to say thankyou to everyone for comingout to support ourlittle breast cancerfundraiser on Oct. 16.We had a blast andraised $604 for the SusanG. Komen Foundation.First, we want to sharewith you the names ofWinters Merchants thatsupported us: WarriorVideo, Pizza Factory,Kountry Kitchen andthe Winters Chamber ofCommerceSecondly, here aresome people whoshould be recognizedfor their efforts: BambiRobson, Becky Burton,Theresa Hilleman andBrandyn Parisette, whoset up the fundraiserwith the Susan G.Komen for the Curefoundation, spent countlesshours on the phoneto merchants and waitedfor days in line forraffle items.Also we would like tothank the vendors whocame out to benefit thecause by bringing theirproducts and donatingtheir time.Last but certainly notleast, thank you to allthe lovely ladies whoparticipated in the wetT-shirt contest andhelped us raise over$200 just in auctioningoff squirt guns. (Unloaded,of course)In wrapping this up,we would like to makenote that we did so wellin raising proceeds andhad such a great timethat we would like tomake this our first annualBreast CancerFundraiser. Can’t waitto see what we think ofnext year!DEE DEE’SBAR & GRILLBecome awareIn October, Americansobserve National DisabilityEmploymentAwareness Month bypaying tribute to the accomplishmentsof themen and women withdisabilities whose workhelps keep the nation’seconomy strong and byreaffirming their commitmentto ensureequal opportunity forall citizens.This effort to educatethe public about the issuesrelated to disabilityand employment beganin 1945, when Congressenacted PublicLaw 176, declaring thefirst week of Octobereach year as NationalEmploy the PhysicallyHandicapped Week.In 1962, the word“physically” was removedto acknowledgethe employment needsand contributions of individualswith all typesof disabilities. Some 25years later, Congress expandedthe week to amonth and changed thename to National DisabilityEmploymentAwareness Month. Aspecial thanks goes outto all employers thatemployee our disabledfriends.JENNY RAMOSWorkability Job DeveloperSome comfortComfort for Kids is thetitle of my senior project.I am making blankets/quiltsfor the UCDavis Children’s Hospital.Children admittedto the hospital are sickand scared; blankets/quiltsprovide asource of comfort andreassurance.My goal is to make 30blankets/quilts byMarch 1. Each blanket/quiltis 2 1/2 to 3yards on each side.If you have a newfleece or flannel, orwould like to make amonetary donation,please contact me at400-3341 or drop the donationoff on my frontporch at 516 MainStreet. Any size donationis appreciated.Thank you for helpingme be successful withmy project.KATE CLARKPlain EnglishI read with interestabout how test scores atthe local middle schoolhad improved whencompared with “comparableschools” but hadto stop when I read that“only one subgroup,Hispanic/Latino, missedthe growth target forEnglish language arts.”Isn’t that group about 49percent of the students?Like the line from “MyFair Lady,” why can’tthe English teach theirchildren how to speak?KATHY MEDINAPOLKINGHORNThe last word and the bottom line(Editor’s note: This is thesecond part of MargarentBurns’ column about her experiencewith breast cancer.The first half ran on lastweek’s Features page. Octoberis Breast Cancer AwarenessMonth.)In a previous column, Iput forth the propositionthat the metaphor of canceras a battle was not useful.I challenged you tofind a better metaphor.This may be it.You endure cancer.Think about these usesof the word (all definitionsin quotes are from theAmerican Heritage Dictionary):Once you hear the possibilityof cancer raised, as Idid, by Dr. Eric Mitchel aftera routine mammogram,you endure the uncertainty,waiting for appointments,a new, highresolutionmammogram.It had happened before,so I was not exactly worried,but not exactly atease.Once definitive canceris diagnosed, you endurethe treatments; you “carryon through, despite hardships:”the lack of energy,the low white blood cellcounts, the hair loss, theconstant clinic visits, theworry about the future,the worry about your family,the worry about painand nausea.For months, you “bearwith tolerance, put upwith” all of the above.And you work on puttingyourself in a good psychicspace – “It is what is is, “ asDouglas Lurie, M.D., toldme. Appreciating yourself,your friends, family,neighbors, your dog nuzzlingto go for a walk, a softbreeze.You endure. You “continuein existence, you remain,you last, like buildingsthat endure for centuries.”You are still here.A monument.For those who like actionmetaphors – cancer isan endurance race. Youare running long enoughto outlast the ability ofyour cells to do somethingyou do not want them todo.Cancer itself is neverover. It, too, endures. I amnow at a greater risk of recurrence(15%, in thesame or other breast); oflymphedema in the operatedarm (about 15%); oflymphoma of the skin (2 to4 %) due to the combinedradiation and chemotherapytreatment. Cancer isnow a chronic, enduringpossibility of my futurelife. It is a statistical probability.The great problem withstatistical probabilities isthat they say nothingabout the individual.They are fine for populationsof cities or tosses ofcoins, but they do not tellwhat will happen to me,Maggie S. Burns living in-Winters, California in Octoberof 2010. If there were100 of me, 15 of us wouldhave another breast cancer.But we could neverpredict which 15.I endured cancer, and Iam now, presumably, cancerfree. As Jeffrey Suplica,M.D., said, “Now wecan reestablish the baseline.”What does my mammogramlook like now, especiallyin the operatedbreast? We'll find out onNovember 11, 2010, a yearto the day of the lumpectomyoperation, and the firstdate that I could possiblyhave a mammogram (6months after the end of radiationtreatment is required).I feel wonderful.I have energy.During the months fromFebruary through June, Ihad no idea that I wasphysically low. The nursesalways asked if I wastired. I wasn't tired, perse. I wasn't doing much ofanything, since I had sciatica,in addition to thechemotherapy, and I waspretty immobile. But Icould do whatever I wantedto do. What I didn'tknow was that I didn'twant to do very much. Iwas fine reading, watchingsome stupid television,and maybe makingdinner or doing a laundry.Sleep didn't refresh me.I didn't wake up raring togo (not that I do anyway).One day was a continuationof the next.The only way I can conceptualizeit is thatchemotherapy knocks outour body's mitochondria.These little organelles existin every one of ourcells. They are our engines,our power plants.They manufacture ATP,the chemical that makesour muscles run, our eyessee light, and turns theoxygen we breathe intoenergy we use to move orto think. Mitochondriahave their own DNA, inheritedonly from ourmothers, so whenchemotherapy screws updividing cells, it must affectthe operations ofthese little dynamos insideevery cell of our body.Maybe during chemothere are fewer minisculepower plants producingenergy. So you don't feellike doing so much, but ifyou are not terribly sick,as I wasn't, you just feellow key. As Alborz Alali,M.D., said, “It was harderthan you knew.”In one sense, it was kindof nice. All I had to do wastake care of myself, first.The Main Man, Roy, wasalso affected by sleep thatdid not refresh. That tellsyou something about theconnection of the psycheand the soma.What is my bottom line?The physical residue ofthis eight and a halfmonth saga is a) an intactright breast that is noticeablyperkier than the leftone, but not enough to getme into a wet T-shirt contestany time soon; b)slight numbness in thebackside of my right upperarm and armpit,rarely noticeable; c) a newhairdo and color – very,See BURNS on page A-9