May 2024 May 2024 | Page 10

A10 May 2024 Pamplin Media Group

Sunshine Services

By JOAN VEDDER

Consider joining our team

Despite the rain , spring is here . I see it all around me — flowers and trees in bloom , grass growing again and lots of people out
VEDDER for walks !
I ’ m pleased to say that Sunshine equipment is being returned following injuries that happened during the ice storm in January . Assuming you are back on your feet , please bring our items back . Many items are limited depending on what we have in stock . For instance : We are currently very low on toilet risers . I believe there is only one in our cupboard ! If somebody needs one , they will have to purchase it . We seek to allow you to borrow rather than buy and this is the very thing we hoped to avoid .
The new Charbonneau Directory
will go into print shortly and I am asking if anybody would like to join our team as a volunteer . If so , please contact me as soon as possible . I would need your name and phone number to add to the booklet . I can ’ t guarantee you will receive a lot of phone calls , but I do shuffle the names around each year to equalize the chances . I will personally train you as to what we have and where it ’ s kept . Quite often the local residents will choose someone they know in their own neighborhood to call for help , and that could be you !
Sunshine has been in effect for approximately 30 years and we have provided assistance and comfort to hundreds of people in that time . Please remember that you must call one of us for help . Do not ask office staff — we are strictly a volunteer team . Borrowing and returning items should go through our group so as to keep our bookkeeping up to date .
I am so ready to get down on my knees and dig in the dirt again ! Gardening is one of my passions and , even though it ’ s a challenge to keep up , it is very rewarding . Enjoy May .

Nonfiction Book Club

By DAVE MAUK

Charbonneau Nonfiction Book Group swerves into spring

Our April book , Jon Meacham ’ s biography of Abraham Lincoln , “ And There Was Light ,” lived up to its title . It presented the 16th president in as a thoughtful , conflicted moral leader who indeed brought light to a dark time in American history . The case was convincing that the United States as we know it would not exist today without Lincoln ’ s as president and the will of his moral courage . There are few leaders who engrave their leadership as imminently . It ’ s certainly a reminder that America is worth keeping when the seeds of unrest , grievance and nativism seek to divide a nation . Lincoln rests his case on a nation where ‘ right makes might ’ because the principles of our democratic republic , Declaration of Independence , Bill of Rights and Constitution form a fortress worthy of
the fight to keep it .
May ’ s book is “ The Swerve ,” winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction . It presents how the unearthing of an ancient manuscript , “ On the Nature of Things ,” by Roman poet and philosopher , Lucretius , unleashes powerful ideas a thousand years after being lost . The likes of Galileo , Freud , Darwin , and Einstein studied and admired the narrative masterpiece . Founding Father Thomas Jefferson owned numerous editions and translations . His ‘ pursuit of happiness ’ clause in the Declaration might well have its origins in Lucretius ’ s text .
The story weaves through ancient times and the Renaissance , tackling superstitions , virtue , pleasure , fear , and particles science knows as atomic matter . The quest of a book hunter , who ’ s the book ’ s central character , takes readers to foregone tombs , Middle Age monasteries , European libraries , and dusty book shelves . Living up to its title , critics claim “ The Swerve ” reads like a thriller on one hand , swerving to a thought exercise on the other .
Our book group will discuss “ The Serve ” when it meets at 1:30 p . m . on Monday , May 6 at a to-be-determined location . Please consider reading the book and joining us .
I can appraise jewelry in the privacy of your home
or the activities center We just need to be indoors .
Appraise & Insure your Precious Jewelry Without Leaving Charbonneau

Call to schedule private appointment

503-819-6305 all to schedule

Robert Bauman G . G . Gemological Institute of America