Benefit breakfast nets $4,300 for Sara Dixon

Dorothy Milligan

The volunteers ate at 5:30 a.m.; the first ticket-holding customers came at 7, the last ones came about 11:30, and we had the New Bethel Fellowship Hall cleaned and were on our way home by 12:15. Not a bad morning; as a matter of fact, a great, well-nigh miraculous morning because everything at the benefit breakfast for Sara Dixon last Saturday went very, very well.

Tommy Cooper cooked hundreds of excellent pancakes and the oven produced an equal number of sausages. Jodi Jackson officiated at her own grill in the south side of the hall and turned out custom-ordered dinosaur, puppy dog and kitty cat pancakes for kids.

(No, she didn’t have any molds or shaping devices. She freehands all those animal figures.) Other New Bethel volunteers took care of coffee and orange juice. Three of our young girls, Lisa Eidson, Jessica Painter, and Mary Dixon circulated among the tables and made sure everybody was kept supplied with all they needed for a good breakfast.

The amazing thing was that plenty of help showed up, so nobody worked too hard. The crowd came just right to keep the New Bethel Fellowship Hall comfortably full. There was plenty of time for visiting with folks we hadn’t seen for a long time, and everybody was encouraged to consume lots of food and fellowship.

Sandra Dixon’s co-worker, Karen Williams at East Central University and some of her sisters from Xi Delta Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, brought impressive donations and even more impressive manual labor. They wiped tables, helped the cook, and washed dishes just like they were native-born New Bethelites. The group included Sherry Barnes, Cindy Beasley, Sharon Beasley, Brenda Hall, Cindy Keefer, Mary Story, and Lani Vasconcellos.

We surely appreciated all of them.

When all was done and the receipts were counted, it was found we had taken in $4,299. When Dave Jackson gave the report Sunday morning, several folks volunteered the extra dollar to make it a round $4,300. We thought that was great for a pancake breakfast.

Generous as that is, it will pay for only a few days in a special eating-disorder center like Ramuda Ranch where Sara is currently undergoing treatment for anorexia nervosa. Knowing that, friends and associates of the Bill Dixon family have simply decided that they will do everything they can to help and leave the rest up to God.

One woman wrote on a napkin for me information about another event planned for Sara. The Ada and Konawa Masonic Lodges will host a hamburger-hotdog feed on September 7 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Ada Masonic Lodge, 730 Crestview, Ada.

Sept. 7 is also the first day of our community-wide garage sale for Sara. Already, my car has to inhale deeply to find a place in my garage. The addition to the barn which holds my younger son’s vintage pickup is stacked to the ceiling with all kinds of good garage sale stuff. There’s furniture, clothing, and lots if good old miscellaneous. But more about that next week

The Sara Dixon Medical Expense fund is established at Vision Bank and contributions will be greatly appreciated. Even more, the family also appreciates our continued prayers and good wishes.

———

I like e-mail and telephone calls, but sometimes it’s nice to get a plain ol’ snail mail to read and savor.

I had such a letter this week from a former student, Maureen McCarty (now Lide.) I remember two things about Maureen. She had a keen mind, and the longest prettiest honey-colored hair I’d ever seen. I’d like to share part of her letter.

“I sometimes read the Ada Evening News on the Internet, and yesterday I read your column about school enrollment and some of the changes at Byng over the past 40 years. That brought back a lot of memories. I remember the hot classrooms in the 1960s and the hot bus rides to school. We always lowered the windows on the bus, but that was sort of like sitting in front of a huge blow-dryer.

“I enjoyed the little heifers and bulls being in separate classes in the seventh and eighth grades. We gals could talk to our women teachers about “girl stuff” which wouldn’t have been possible with boys in the room. When we were in Mrs. Fowler’s (Louella) class, she would let us sing hymns and share Scriptures. She read the book, In His Steps to us. Can you imagine that happening today? No way, not without someone screaming about “separation of church and state.”

I moved to Mississippi in 1996. I suffered from culture shock! At Byng we had white, black, Native American, any and all kids, and I can’t remember any sign of prejudice or bigotry. Not so in Missisippi.

I will never accept or condone the blatant prejudice that is alive and well here. Every city and rural community has at least one “academy” which most of the white kids attend. These academies annually publish a “non-discrimination policy” in the local newspaper. I once asked, “What would the academy do if a black parent came to enroll his child and had money to pay for tuition?” I was told, “They’d just tell him that classes were full, and that the child would be put on a waiting list.”

“So, many of the white parents pay a large tuition bill; some of the teachers aren’t certified, and they have several fund raisers throughout the year to keep the school going. I have known several parents who live within the public school district, but falsify residence records so that their child can attend the academy. The officials know this happens, but choose to look the other way. So, the seeds of hatred and bigotry are constantly being planted, watered and nurtured.

“It was just so nice to see your article in the newspaper, and I wanted to write and say howdy. ‘I can still say ‘howdy’ even in Mississippi.

Maureen

to the barn which holds my younger son’s vintage pickup is stacked to the ceiling with all kinds of good garage sale stuff. There’s furniture, clothing, and lots if good old miscellaneous items. More about that next week.

The Sara Dixon Medical Expense fund is established at Vision Bank and contributions will be greatly appreciated. Even more, the family also appreciates our continued prayers and good wishes.

———

I like e-mail and telephone calls, but sometimes it’s nice to get a plain ol’ snail mail to read and savor.

I had such a letter this week from a former student, Maureen McCarty (now Lide.) I remember two things about Maureen. She had a keen mind and the longest, prettiest honey-colored hair I’d ever seen. I’d like to share part of her letter.

“I sometimes read the Ada Evening News on the Internet, and yesterday I read your column about school enrollment and some of the changes at Byng over the past 40 years. That brought back a lot of memories. I remember the hot classrooms in the 1960s and the hot bus rides to school. We always lowered the windows on the bus, but that was sort of like sitting in front of a huge blow-dryer.

“I enjoyed the little heifers and bulls being in separate classes in the seventh and eighth grades. We gals could talk to our women teachers about “girl stuff” which wouldn’t have been possible with boys in the room. When we were in Mrs. Fowler’s (Louella) class, she would let us sing hymns and share Scriptures. She read the book, “In His Steps” to us. Can you imagine that happening today? No way, not without someone screaming about ‘separation of church and state.’

“I moved to Mississippi in 1996. I suffered from culture shock! At Byng we had white, black, Native American, any and all kids, and I can’t remember any sign of prejudice or bigotry. Not so in Mississippi.

“I will never accept or condone the blatant prejudice that is alive and well here. Every city and rural community has at least one ‘academy’ which most of the white kids attend. These academies annually publish a ‘non-discrimination policy’ in the local newspaper. I once asked, ‘What would the academy do if a black parent came to enroll his child and had money to pay for tuition?’ I was told, ‘They’d just tell him that classes were full and that the child would be put on a waiting list.’

“So, many of the white parents pay a large tuition bill; some of the teachers aren’t certified, and they have several fund raisers throughout the year to keep the school going. I have known several parents who live within the public school district but falsify residence records so that their child can attend the academy. The officials know this happens but choose to look the other way. So, the seeds of hatred and bigotry are constantly being planted, watered and nurtured.

“It was just so nice to see your article in the newspaper, and I wanted to write and say howdy. I can still say ‘howdy’ even in Mississippi.”

Maureen