Nettle Creek Gazette, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017 - 3

Continued from the Front Page

In recent years, she has turned her life around and is now certified as a community health worker and recovery specialist.

Sexton Wood is trying to ed-ucate the community at large about the issues related to addiction. To do so, in 2013, she established Unchained Praises, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

She is encouraging and moti-vating area residents to choose recovery, reaching out to help addicts as well as the many parents, husbands, wives and children affected.

As Sexton knows, drug ad-diction can affect people of all ages, ranging from honor stu-dents to seniors who become addicted to pain medication and eventually heroin.

Difficult journey Sexton Wood’s road to ad-

diction began at age 14, when she began drinking alcohol. Sexton Wood said she grew up in low-income housing with an alcoholic mother.

"(Alcohol) leads you down a lot of paths," she said.

Her drinking became worse as she tried to cope with rais-ing children and going through a divorce. She said she was de-pressed and tried to self-med-icate. She used some metha-done off the street and tried cocaine in her late 20s.

In 2004, Sexton Wood gave birth to her last son. She also began using heroin that year as she turned 30.

Her addiction progressed. She lost custody of her two older boys, and within a few years, she woke up to find her fiancé dead. Her life spiraled down even more.

She lost custody of their son, and almost lost her arm.

She lost everything, includ-ing her home, and became tired of living that life.

"I started wanting something different," she said.

However, at that time, it was even more difficult to find a place to detox, with waiting lists for three months.

At that time, Sexton Wood was living in Kentucky, and went to the state hospital in Lexington and begged for help in finding a facility. They kept her for 11 days, but after being released and returning to the streets, she resumed drinking

Woman Shares Addiction Journey to Help Others

and using heroin. However, she didn't lose her desire to get better.

She later went to the hospi-tal in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and told the staff if she didn't get help, she would kill herself.

They put her in the psych unit for five days. It was Feb-ruary 2012.

She was so frustrated as she approached her release that she continued begging for help.

She received phone numbers for two facilities. She bowed her head and prayed. Within 30 minutes, she received a call back. The person who founded one of the programs already had planned to drive past the hospital, and would come and see her. The next day, she left with the woman, headed to the facility.

Her inpatient stay lasted un-til June, when she went back to northern Kentucky.

However, she eventually re-lapsed once more, and went to an outpatient program and an inpatient facility.

Afterward, she went to a transitional housing unit in Richmond in March 2013 and has since remained committed to her recovery. She stayed in prayer and tried to discover what God wanted her to do.

In May 2013, she began speaking about her experi-ences, and started a Facebook page in August of that year to share her motivational poetry and messages about how to change one's life.

She works with individu-als on their personal recovery plans and sees a lot of parents and spouses to help them build their own recovery plans. She also coordinates a program on Whitewater Community Television's Channel 21 called "Let's Talk Recovery," with a message of the same name in Winchester's News-Gazette.

"Addiction affects the whole family, the whole community," Sexton Wood said.

She aims to squash stereo-types during her programs. After people hear the message, she said the name-calling tends to subside, although she acknowledges it takes a per-son's willingness to be recep-tive and listen.

"Addiction - it does not dis-criminate," she said.

Sexton Wood said more peo-ple are open to hearing her message today, although it's easy for the community to get discouraged because there's not a 100-percent answer for eliminating addiction.

"It takes something different for everyone," she said.

She said those in active ad-diction usually want a differ-ent life, and can benefit from someone to talk with who can

The Hagerstown American Legion Post 333 will be holding an Open House on December 8th from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. A chicken noodle dinner will be available for $6.00. Music will be provided by Gary Stearns.

Everyone is invited.

American Legion Open HouseChicken Noodle Dinner

help them set goals to get away from their current lifestyle.

She said it's disheartening when people are still dying. She's pleased to see periods of time when the whole commu-nity comes together to stand up against addiction, but then the emphasis fades.

"The one thing they need to learn is addiction doesn't stop, so we can't stop," she said.

Even if a person doesn't have a friend or family member bat-ting addiction, she says busi-nesses are affected because of theft and other crimes.

She would like to see busi-nesses be more open to help-ing their employees battling addiction get better instead of just letting them go.

Sexton Wood would like to see businesses partner with the local organizations fighting addiction, saying it's a team effort. Residents are encour-aged to provide some volun-teer time or financial support to help those organizations. She said most addicts don't have money for extensive treatment, and she doesn't see a lack of money stopping them from getting help.

She also hopes to persuade residents not to start abusing drugs. She said kids begin us-ing drugs because it's fun and they want to be part of the crowd and do the popular thing.

"I encourage them to look a little further into it. Addiction is not fun, it's not cool, and it's killing thousands of people. I tell them to think smart, not just on instinct."

To help spread the word, Un-chained Praises offers several events each year at area church-es to provide hope, featuring speakers ranging from children to parents and professionals, along with singers and food.

Unchained Praises has re-ceived grants from organiza-tions such as Reid Community Benefits, Drug Free Wayne County, Drug Free Randolph County, Whitewater Valley REMC, Fayette County Drug

Abuse Prevention, Richmond Lions Club and Communi-ty Foundation of Randolph County, as well as contribu-tions from churches, business-es and individuals.

For more information, visit the Unchained Praises page on Facebook, www.unchained-praises.com, or call (513) 306-3085. Donations may be sent to Unchained Praises at P.O. Box 142, Richmond, IN 47375.

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Notice is hereby given that the Board of Commissioners of Wayne County, Indiana, will receive sealed bids and proposals for the year 2018 for Fuel Purchases through an Integrated Dispensing and Managing System for use by the Wayne County Government Ve-hicles and alsoCorrugated Galvanized Steel Culvert Pipe, Sectional Plate Pipe and Pipe Arches, drainage items from Galvanized Steel, Stone, Gravel, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel and Liquid Asphalt for use by the Wayne County Highway Department.

Specifications for these items reflecting estimated quantities and re-quired delivery times are available for public inspection in the Wayne County Commissioners’ Office in the Wayne County Administration Building, 401 East Main Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374.

Sealed bids will be received until 10:00 a.m., local time, Wednesday, December 13, 2017 in the Commissioners’ Office and must include a properly executed Non-Collusion Affidavit. The sealed bids will be publicly opened and read aloud immediately thereafter.

All materials to be delivered and unloaded as specified by the Wayne County Highway Supervisor free of freight, express, drayage or other charges, F.O.B. Wayne County Highway Garage, Center-ville, Indiana, or F.O.B. job site as designated by the Wayne County Highway Supervisor.

Each bid shall be accompanied by a surety bond or certified check in favor of the Wayne County Commissioners in a sum equal to ten per cent (10%) of the amount of the contract price but in no event shall such bond or check be less than $500.00 and shall in all respects conform with the laws governing such matters. Successful bidder must be prepared to submit a Performance Bond.

The Board reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

Wayne County CommissionersDenny BurnsMary Anne ButtersKenneth Paust

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LEGAL

4 - Nettle Creek Gazette, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017

OBITUARIES

NETTLE CREEK GAZETTE Established August 28, 2005, is published each Wednesday at 26 W. Church St., Cambridge City, IN, 47327. It is owned and operated by Hometown Media Group, LLC. Subscriptions for the Nettle Creek Gazette (Nettle Creek School areas) are $30 per year. Outside the area but inside Indiana $35 per year, and out of state $40 per year. Periodical Postage Paid at Cambridge City, IN (USPS 024-684).Publishers: James and Brenda McLane.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:Nettle Creek Gazette, 26 W. Church Street, Cambridge City, IN 47327. Phone (765) 478-5448.

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Notice is hereby given that the Board of Commissioners of Wayne County, Indiana, will receive sealed bids for the purchase of (0-2) 2018 Model Cab, Chassis and Dump Body, 56,000 GVW, Heavy Duty Tandem Trucks with front mount central hydraulics for the Snowplow, Dump Body and Spreader Installed.

Specifications are on file and available at the Wayne County Com-missioners’ Office in the Wayne County Administration Building, 401 East Main Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374.

Bids will be received until 10:00 a.m. local time on December 13, 2017, in the Wayne County Commissioners Office in the Wayne County Administration Building, 401 East Main Street Richmond, In-diana 47374 and must include a non-collusion affidavit, which may be procured in the Commissioners’ Office in Wayne County, Indiana.

Each bid shall be accompanied by a surety bond or certified check in favor of the Board of Commissioners of Wayne County, Indiana, in a sum of not less than ten per cent (10%) of the amount of the bid, and shall in all respects conform to the laws governing such matters.

Bidder to state date of delivery F.O.B. to the Wayne County Highway Garage, Centerville, Indiana 47330.

The “local Indiana business” price preferences provided pursuant to Indiana Code 5-22-15-20.9 are not applicable to this solicited pur-chase.

The Board of Commissioners reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

Wayne County CommissionersDenny BurnsMary Anne ButtersKen Paust

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LEGAL

A Note from CindyPay Attention

Donald E. HunterDonald E. Hunter, 72, passed

away on Monday Nov. 27, 2017 at Heritage House. He was born in Richmond on Jan. 29, 1945 to Horace and Barba-ra Hunter and lived his entire life in this area. After school he started working at Tom Raper RV in the body shop and then in the early 80’s be-gan working at Earlham Col-lege. Don worked in several departments during his over 30 years at Earlham and he re-tired in 2014.

He enjoyed hanging out with his brother, Otis and spend-ing time with his family and friends. Don will be great-ly missed by his family and friends.

Funeral services were Friday, Dec. 1, 2017 at Waskom Cap-itol Hill Chapel in Cambridge City. Pastor Anton Payne of-ficiated with burial at South-lawn Cemetery in Dublin.

Online condolences may be made at www.waskoms.com.

Patricia Ann Wilson, 90, a long time Liberty resident, died Friday, December 1, 2017 at Reid Health.

She was born in Richmond on April 25, 1927 to Lawrence and Marceline (Coggeshall) Moore and lived most of her life in Liberty. In 1948, she married Harold Wilson and he preceded her in death in 2001. She was a 65 year member of Edwards Memorial Church in Liberty. She had been em-ployed at Huffy Manufactur-ing and was a former member of Phi Chi Epsilon in Hager-stown and Delta Theta Tau in Liberty.

Survivors include 2 sons, Timothy Wilson (Deborah) of Eldorado, OH and Todd Wil-son of Liberty; 5 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Private services will be con-ducted at the convenience of the family with burial in Greens Fork South Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to HELP the An-imals, Inc., 2101 W. Main St., Richmond, IN 47374.

Culberson Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Online condolences may be left at www.culbersonfh.com

Patricia Ann Wilson

Ladies, how many of you are proud of your multi-tasking skills? Peggy Lee famously bragged in her 1963 hit:

“I can scoop up a great big dipper full of lard from the drippin’s can

Throw it in the skillet, go out and do my shopping, be back before it melts in the pan”

The song title is “I’m a Wom-an” and I’ll hazard a guess that most of you can continue with the lyrics… “W-O-M-A-N and I’ll say it again.” Granted, the lyrics around “drippin’s” are a bit dated but the bigger picture is still true

We award ourselves (I award myself) gold stars for trim-ming the tree, ordering gifts online, fixing a meal and run-ning the sweeper simultane-ously. During the non-holi-day portion of the year, I can be found taking clothes out of the dryer, which reminds me of another chore I need to get done and suddenly, I’m dis-tracted. At the end of the day, all of my jobs are done but I have the mind-set of a skittery rabbit when I hop from task to task, without finishing one be-fore starting another.

I’m trying to be less of a multi-tasker and it takes seri-ous concentration.

Holding a warrior pose in Megan’s yoga class at the li-brary the other night, I was trying to quiet the traffic in my head. She wanted the class to set an intention for the holi-day season and all the while, my thoughts were buzzing and fussing about the next few days. As the leader, Megan is intent on helping us bring a calm presence into our lives, living in the present and being grateful for our blessings and our bodies.

What do you do that shuts out all of the distractions? What would happen if you al-

lowed the frenzy to take over? You can’t let those pirates run your ship.

Performing at the ballgame the other night, I would have goofed if I hadn’t been fully engaged. My friends who knit say they would drop a stitch or completely mess up a pattern if their mind wandered. Those who sew know that intentional focus brings them peace and quiets their mind as they guide the fabric into the sewing ma-chine where an errant thought might result in a mistake.

How about a farmer? I’d like to think they are paying atten-tion when changing the bean head or backing up an auger cart and not thinking about the cost of the stockpiled hydrau-lic filters in the barn. Harvest time is nerve wracking for this farm wife because our guys work long hours, gamble on the weather and are always, al-ways pushing hard to bring the crops in.

What if a ball player gets dis-tracted by a heckler and pass-es the ball to the other team? And other drivers on the road? I am certain that I want each of them to pay attention and to drive safely, for my safety.

You might think that I got off track here with all of the examples where concentra-tion is necessary. Perhaps, there’s no gold stars in writ-ing Thank You notes while watching TV and talking on the phone or tossin’ the drip-pin’s in the skillet-then shop-ping-then cooking.

The holiday season can be chock full of entertainment and enjoyable activities, a flurry of parties and school performances, weekly prac-tices and ballgames, end of the year bookwork and family gatherings. Maybe we need to schedule a time to “center down” and simply pay atten-tion.

oxo

The Nettle Creek Gazette staff wishes to extend deepest

Condolences to families who lost a loved one this week.

By Dan HarneyEvery Monday through Fri-

day morning, for the last ten years, Nettle Creek Senior Center Director Susie Pierce has headed to the Center to prepare for the day. Pierce, who is a retired factory work-er, is a paid employee; but for her, it is more than a job, it is a labor of love. She recently confided that she frequently feels inadequate because she has not been able to generate more interest within the com-munity. “As people who used our facilities and services have passed away over the years, it has been increasingly difficult to replace them with new peo-ple who have moved into “Se-nior” status.” When pressed to explain reasons for the unfor-tunate decline, Pierce suggest-ed that in some cases people don’t come in because they think we are a charity and they are too proud to accept charity. “We are not a charity” Pierce said. “Anyone over 60 years of age is eligible to come and use our services. We are not income based.” The Senior Center offers nutritious meals for $2.50. The only thing they ask is that you make a reserva-tion the day before so that they can meet the needs without a lot of waste. Just as important-ly, they offer the opportunity for people to spend time with others. “We have a pool table, a big screen TV, puzzles and we play euchre.” Pierce said. More importantly, we offer people who live alone, or peo-ple who don’t get out much, a place to go to interact with other people. Many older peo-ple are on a limited income, but they have the opportunity here to have a hot meal for $2.50 and enjoy some com-panionship.”

An Overlooked Jewel in theNettle Creek Communities?

The center also delivers “Meals on Wheels” to a regu-lar route. “All of our delivery drivers are volunteer,” Pierce said. “They are all wonderful, caring people.”

The center also has exercise equipment available for in- center use along with walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, bath stool and other medical aids available for loan.

Pierce writes a weekly col-umn that appears in the Nettle Creek Gazette. She says that while she gets a lot of positive feedback she does not consid-er herself to be a writer. Pierce calls the writing column the “hardest job she has ever had in her life.” Pierce also admits that she receives compliments. “A lot of people say, Susie, I re-ally like reading your column” Pierce chuckled. “That makes me feel a little better. I don’t use last names or announce that people are going on vacation. Every week when I sit down to write, I always think to myself, what am I going to say?”

The center is open from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM and they do get some funding from Life Stream but it is not enough to cover all expenses. They have been named in a few wills and they do accept donations. They also rent the facility to gener-ate income. The rental cost is $40 with a $20 refundable de-posit if the center is cleaned up after use.

When asked for her conclud-ing thoughts Pierce responded. “I think we have a very nice facility here, with a lot to offer and we would love to increase our numbers. There are many people in our community who are eligible to come here that we never see. I want them to know that we would love to see them. Everyone is welcome here.”

Do Santa's Reindeer Live At The North Pole?

Only part of the year does Santa Claus live at the North Pole. In 1925 it was discov-ered that there are no reindeer in the North Pole.

But there are lots in Lapland, Finland. So today we know that the reindeer live around the secret village of San-ta Claus and the elves (their summer home) somewhere on the Korvatunturi mountain in the Savukoski county of Lap-land, Finland, which is on the Finnish-Russian border.

The next Nettle Creek Ministerial Association Food Pantry is Saturday, December 23rd.

Former Richmond resident, Katie Reihman will be home for the holidays and speak to the Woman’s Club of Richmond on Tuesday, De-cember 12th for the holiday luncheon at Forest Hills Country Club. The daughter of Dr. Dana Reihman and Dr. Eileen Craven will share her successful path to being one of the most honored artists from our area.

Ms. Reihman, a 2004 graduate of Richmond High School, works for Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California. Over the last nine years she has been part of the team that has received several Academy Awards for films where she was the lighting artist for 3D Anima-tion and Visual Effects.

The Woman’s Club of Richmond is celebrat-ing its 99th year by focusing on talented wom-en from our community. The turkey dinner is served at noon and the public is invited to join them with a reservation by December 7th to club treasurer Shirley Wentz (765-962-1686), address or by emailing her at a_wentz@frontier.com. The speaker’s event is at 1 pm and is free to those attending but a reservation is asked of those coming.

The Wonderful World of Disney with Katie Reihman