Beacon July 2023

M
Our People
in the
ILITARY
WH a frequent basis.
FROM
hat's
ere There were large gatherings
at Christmas time and on
Happening In
ST. LEON Grandma’s birthday in June. It
was a close-knit bunch.
By
Ollie By
But a few bad things happened
over the years and my
Donna
Roehm Davidson family changed. The gatherings
gradually ended and
Community
Correspondentthere wasn’t much communication
going on.
Family is a wonderful thing.
I have a great one in my wife, Things stayed that way for a
son, donnadavidson.thebeacon@yahoo.com
two daughters, and four long time.
granddaughters. There are However, a couple of years
close, longtime friends who I ago I received a Facebook
love as though they were family.
But for a number of years, my cousin Vicki that began a
message out of the blue from
Happening In
something BRIGHT has been missing. reconnection with some of my
When my mother died in relatives. And it feels really
’04 I became an
By
Debby
orphan of good.
sorts. Stutz
Vicki and I are second cousins
on Mom’s side. We didn’t
My father and brother had
already passed Community and I had no meet until the early ‘70s and
immediate family. Correspondent My grandparents
were long gone and I But we eventually lost track
we became good friends.
debbystutz.thebeacon@yahoo.com
had lost track of most of my of each other. Since Vicki
aunts, uncles, and cousins. reached out to me in early
There was never much communication
with Dad’s side better friends. We communi-
2020 we have become even
of the family Swhen BEACON I was a cate quite a bit on Facebook,
kid. His brothers lived across spent a Christmas Eve together,
and have enjoyed each
the river from PORTS
Louisville in
Clarksville Indiana and visits other’s company in several
with them didn’t SCENE
happen often social settings.
enough because of the distance.
By mom’s sister passed away. I
A couple of years ago my
Mom’s side was a different
story. I saw most of Zoller my because Covid was raging. So
Jack couldn’t attend her funeral
aunts, uncles, and cousins on I sent letters of condolence
beaconsports
@live.com
W
hat's
July 2023 THE BEACON Page 9A
By
Melanie
Alexander
I love this time of year
By
for all the wonderful Maxine fresh
vegetables either Klump in a home
garden or those found at
one of the farmers’ Community markets
Correspondent
throughout the Tri-State area.
I am privileged to have a
maxineklump.thebeacon@yahoo.com
farm stand about a half mile
from my home so I’m able to
visit one or more times each
week; it’s almost like having
my own garden plot without
the weeding and the garden
hoe that was part of my
routine in those years we had
our garden.
This pasta main dish has
long been a family favorite,
especially when guests are
here. The best features include
the ability to enlarge or
decrease the ingredients to fit
the number of folks expected
at the meal and the ease of
substituting the vegetables
used in the dish. Just thinkno
more groans that someone
dislikes asparagus-just substitute
peas or green beans.
Summertime Veggie Pasta
(4-6 servings)
½ pound fettuccine (or your
favorite pasta)
Small amount of vegetable or
olive oil to saute´ the
vegetables
1/3 cup onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup asparagus, cut into
2-inch pieces
1 medium zucchini,
quartered and sliced
1 carrot, pared, cut in half
lengthwise, and sliced
4 ounces button mushrooms,
sliced
½ cup sour cream
½ cup chicken broth (may
use vegetable broth)
8 ounces diced, cooked ham
OR diced, cooked chicken
breast
½ cup Parmesan cheese plus
additional for sprinkling
over top of the finished
dish
2 tablespoons minced green
onions (be sure to use
green portions)
1 teaspoon dried crushed
basil
ripleycrossing.com
to her sons and my cousins
Kevin and Kendall, including
my contact information. We
were all fairly close at one
time but I hadn’t seen them in
years.
I received no acknowledgment
of the letters which
stung a bit. But after a couple
of months had passed, the
doorbell rang. It was Kendall.
We sat down at the kitchen
table and talked for more than
two hours.
A month or so later the
doorbell rang again. It was
Kevin. Since that day Kevin
and I have become fast
friends.
Kevin gave me a sack of
family photos that belonged
to his mom. We decided
to set up a lunch and share
them with our Uncle Bill, his
wife Patty, and Uncle Bill’s
daughter (my cousin) Jana.
We had a wonderful time.
Many of the photos brought
laughter and some brought
tears.
Back in February, I wrote
a column about how Kevin
was considering learning how
to play the guitar and how I
was encouraging him to do it.
It tickles me to tell you that
he now has a nice Washburn
acoustic and some serious callouses
on his fingertips.
Prepare pasta according to
directions, drained, and set
aside (keep warm).
Heat oil in a large skillet
or Dutch oven over mediumhigh
heat.
Saute onion until softened
and then add garlic and cook
for about 30 seconds more.
Add remaining vegetables
except for green onion and
cook until crisp-tender. Add
meat and broth and cook,
while stirring, until vegetables
are tender but still somewhat
crisp. Add sour cream,
and basil and stir to blend all
ingredients. Fold in pasta and
green onion. Season with salt
and pepper. (Add more broth
and or sour cream if necessary
to maintain a creamy
sauce).
Turn out into a large bowl
or platter and top with additional
cheese.
I might be among the last
humans to “discover” this
dessert! I love it for last-minute
dessert needs since I almost
always have a cake mix
and frozen berries on hand.
Berry Dump Cake
Nonstick cooking spray for
the baking dish (9x9 inch)
4 cups fresh or frozen berries
(all of one kind or a
mixture of berries)
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon
juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Box of vanilla cake mix
8 tablespoons butter, cut into
cubes
Vanilla ice cream or whipped
cream for serving
Preheat oven to 350°.
Spray the baking dish with
nonstick cooking spray.
Combine the sugar, cornstarch,
lemon juice, and
vanilla extract. Add to the
berries and toss to coat. Pour
the mixture into the baking
dish. Spread the cake mix
evenly over the berries and
then scatter the butter cubes
evenly atop the cake mix.
Cover the baking dish
with aluminum foil and bake
until the top is puffed and
golden brown and the fruit is
bubbling about 40 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake
for an additional minute. Let
the cake cool slightly before
serving (10-15 minutes
should work to avoid instant
melting of ice cream.)
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Kevin and I have been seeing
quite a bit of each other
lately. We’re going out to
dinner with our wives tomorrow
night and have a fishing
excursion scheduled soon.
I’m telling you all of this
because I’ve learned something
important. If you have
the desire to reconnect with
your family, do it.
If Vicki hadn’t reached out
to me on Facebook we would
not have a relationship that
Get it All at www.goBEACONnews.com
both of us now greatly cherish.
If I hadn’t reached out to my
cousins after their mom died,
my renewed loving friendship
with Kevin and Kendall
probably would not have happened.
We would not be going
out to dinner tomorrow night
and Kevin wouldn’t have callouses
on his fingertips. And
I wouldn’t have a renewed,
broader sense of family that
was badly needed.
Do it.
South Dearborn Students Attend
Business Professionals of America
National Leadership Conference
Three South Dearborn High School students attend the
Business Professionals of America National Leadership
Conference in Anaheim, California. Holding The BEACON
are senior Emma Kochert, senior Rebecca Hughes, and
sophomore Carson Osborne.