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"The Aspens" is a continuation of her
first book, released earlier this year, "Bugler in the Mountains."
Morris took a few minutes Saturday to
share what the books are about and how she came to write them.
The setting is Bugler, a fictional
town in the mountains in the late 1800s. The primary character is a
young woman who has been jilted by her beau and is seeking a remedy
for her heartbreak.
The main character, Elise, pleads
with her father to allow her to go to the Great Northwest and spend
some time with a favorite aunt. The hope is that time in a new place
will help heal her broken heart. Her father reluctantly agrees and
arranges for his daughter's train passage.
Along the way, the train is
stranded in the small mountain town of Bugler. The residents of the
town open their arms and hearts to the travelers, including Elise.
In her time there, she learns of love, caring and the kindness of
others. The town comes to be precious to her, and her trip to visit
her aunt ultimately ends in Bugler.
The storyline includes two new love
interests and a final commitment by the main character to one of
them. Elise marries and prepares to make Bugler her lifelong home.
"The Aspens" continues the story of
Elise and her new life filled with love and family.
It adds a new character, Ethan. He
is a young boy who has been severely abused and is in much need of
love and healing. In addition, Elise's family grows as she and
husband Mark brings twins into the world.
In this second of a series, there
are also trials and challenges for Elise as well as the small
community of Bugler. In the storyline, these challenges are met with
courage and overcome through love, and in the end the town is a
better place for having faced it all together.
Saturday morning, Morris talked
about her inspiration for the series. A lifelong resident of Lincoln
and Logan County, Morris said she has visited the mountains of
Colorado. While the town of Bugler is completely fictional, it was
the Colorado mountains that inspired its location.
Beyond that, Morris said everything
else in the two books was a gift from God, and she really couldn't
say any more than that.
She explained that the first book
began while she was caring for her husband, who had been diagnosed
with inoperable brain cancer. She said it was a horrible experience
for her, her husband and their family, and she felt God had given
her this make-believe story as a means of coping with what she was
going through in real life.
She said she spent many hours by
her husband's side with a notebook, or two, or three, or four in
front of her. She wrote down notes for the storyline and developed
the first book in between times of jumping up to attend to her
husband's needs.
Morris said that she escaped from
her real world by becoming a part of the Bugler community. She said
that when she was writing, she became the characters in her book and
lived their life instead of her own for a brief moment.
Morris also believes that the books
were intended to be an encouragement and a reassurance to everyone
that there is a better way of life.
She noted that in her life, she has
always wanted to be reassuring and encouraging to people, but her
personality prevented her from speaking out sometimes. In the books
she writes, there is a message of doing good, loving others and
being a source of inspiration for those who are going through
troubling times. Morris said these are the messages she wants to
share with readers through an interesting and entertaining
storyline.
The two books out now are part of a
series she calls "Better Than A Known Way" and will soon be
accompanied by a third book. Morris said the third book is finished,
and the fourth book is well underway. The saga of Mark and Elise
will continue, and no doubt they will face new challenges along with
the small town of Bugler.
Morris is self-published and sells
her books on Amazon.com as well as locally at Prairie Years in
Lincoln. Right now the best price for the pair is at Prairie Years.
The books can be purchased individually there for less than $10
each, a significant savings over the Amazon price.
Morris is also hopeful that the
third book will be released in time for the holidays, and she said
it, too, will be offered at Prairie Years.
Morris also noted that the books
are written for an age group from mid-teens to maturity, with
something for everyone, but most of all reassurance that there is
"better than a known way."
To learn more about the books and
read recent reviews, visit Morris' website.
http://www.dorismyrlemorris.com/.
[By NILA SMITH]
 Lincoln
College invites public to homecoming events
Lincoln College is celebrating homecoming this
week, Nov. 4-10. In addition to Spirit Week activities for students, several
events scheduled are open to the public, including a trivia contest, the
inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame banquet, a tour of the Creekside Outdoor
Center for Environmental Education, a women's alumni basketball game and the
men's homecoming basketball game, featuring special halftime entertainment.
Also, the Fine Arts department will present Neil Simon's "Rumors" on the
main stage of the Johnston Center for the Performing Arts beginning
Wednesday, Nov. 6. Homecoming Trivia Night will be
on Thursday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium.
Proceeds will be used to add to the outdoor furnishings on campus.
Water, tea, lemonade, popcorn and snack mix will be provided.
Teams of up to eight players compete
for a cash prize, and the cost is $10 per person. Contact Jeff
Nelson to register at 217-732-3155, ext. 315, or email
jnelson@lincolncollege.edu. Teams can also register at the
student activities office in the Meyer-Evans Student Center.
Registration deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, and team
registration fees may be paid at the door.
The Athletic Hall of Fame
banquet will be on Friday, Nov. 8, in the Davidson-Sheffer
Gymnasium and includes a cocktail reception from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.,
followed by dinner and the awards program.
The event is open to the public,
but seating is limited, so reservations are recommended. The cost is
$25 for adults and $15 for children age 18 and younger. Contact Mary
Jo Werth in the advancement office to register: phone 217-732-3155,
ext. 217, or toll free 877-522-5867, or email
mjwerth@lincolncollege.edu.
The inaugural Hall of Fame class
includes alumni Jan Bowers, Class of 1981; Matt Hughes, Class of
1995; the late Tom Flynn, Class of 1962; former coaches Joni
Comstock and Charles Lindstrom; the late Jack D. Nutt, president of
Lincoln College from 1982 to 2002; and the late Dominic "Doc"
Guzzardo and his son John, longtime friends and supporters of
Lincoln College athletics.
A tour of the Creekside Outdoor
Center for Environmental Education is planned for Saturday, Nov.
9. A bus will leave from the Lincoln Center parking lot at 10 a.m.
and return at 11 a.m. Professor Dennis Campbell will conduct the
tour. Dr. Campbell encourages participants to dress warmly and to
wear boots or other shoes suitable for walking outdoors. There is no
charge for this event.
A women's alumni basketball game
will tip off in the Jack D. Nutt Arena at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9.
All former Lincoln College women's basketball players are invited to
come back and take on the 2013 Lady Lynx in this special exhibition
game.
Anyone interested in playing should
contact women's basketball coach Carol Wilson at
cwilson@lincolncollege.edu or 217-732-3155, ext. 317. There is
no charge for this event.
The highlight of homecoming will be
the men's basketball game Saturday afternoon. The Lynx will
take on Kirkwood Community College at 2 p.m. in the Jack D. Nutt
Arena in the Lincoln Center. Special entertainment is planned for
halftime, including the introduction of the homecoming court. Lynx
fans are asked to wear white to "white out" the arena.
General admission is $5 for
bleacher seats, $7 for chair-back seats, and $3 for seniors and
children 12 and under. LC students can attend free with student ID.
"Rumors,"
Neil Simon's 1988 farce about a New York City dinner party gone
awry, opens on the main stage of the Johnston Center for the
Performing Arts on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The play will be performed in
two acts with an intermission. Evening performances begin at 7:30
p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 6-9, with a 2 p.m. matinee on
Sunday, Nov. 10. This play closes the Fine Arts department's fall
theater season. Due to some adult language, viewer discretion is
advised.
The cast features Lauren Stanfield,
of Lincoln; Tegan Follis, Lincoln; Angelique Tally, Chicago; Levert
Wilkins, Chicago; Brett Nelson, DeWitt, Iowa; Riley Dobson, Crystal
Lake; Kristin Petrelli, Bartlett; Bobby Wilhelmson, Fort Morgan,
Colo.; Alexa Maxey, Elkin, N.C.; Kristin Craig, Hanover Park; and
Arica Sadler, Emden.
General adult admission is $8, and
senior and student admission is $6. Call the Johnston Center box
office at 217-732-3155, ext. 280, to reserve tickets.
Lunch
and Learn scheduled for Nov. 19 at the Oasis
The Area Agency on Aging for
Lincolnland, in cooperation with Senior Citizens of Logan County,
has scheduled a Lunch and Learn program for informal caregivers of
older adults and for grandparents and other relatives raising
children. It will be at the Oasis Senior Center's temporary
location, 210 Seventh St. in Lincoln, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, from noon
to 1 p.m.
Dave Schneller, physical therapist
with First Care Healthcare, will present "Home Safety and Fall
Prevention."
Lunch will be provided, and
preregistration is required. There is no charge to attend.
This presentation is part of a
series of Lunch and Learn programs. The goal of the series is to
provide practical information that will help caregivers continue to
provide quality care to others while maintaining balance in their
own lives.
Informal caregivers are those
unpaid individuals such as family members, friends and neighbors who
provide assistance to someone who is to some degree incapacitated
and in need of help with tasks such as grocery shopping, bill
paying, cooking or personal care. Grandparents or other relatives
raising grandchildren are those who have accepted primary
responsibility for raising one or more children through age 18.
To register or to learn more about
this program, contact the Area Agency on Aging for Lincolnland at
217-787-9234 or 800-252-2918.
Max Boch, 16 years old, bowls a perfect game
It was a Saturday that Max Boch won't
forget for the rest of his life, because that was the day he bowled
his first 300 game. For all of you non-bowlers, that's a perfect
game. That's 12 frames of 10 pins with not a single one left
standing. It's a real accomplishment that a lot of avid bowlers
don't get to claim. In an interview with Max, you could
see the pride and the ownership of having achieved his goal. He had
come amazingly close on other occasions. At the age of 14 he bowled
a 298, and at 15 he took a 299, but it still wasn't the 300 game he
wanted.
But on Oct. 12, all of that
changed.
He was golden in the fourth frame
and was pretty nonchalant because that wasn't new territory for him.
He'd done that before.
But when Max was going into the
12th and final frame, that carrot was dangling right before him. Max
said everyone in the bowling alley had stopped to come and see the
final frame of "Is it a perfect game?"
With a huge crowd behind him and
his knees shaking, he cleared every pin again, giving him that
perfect game. His first 300.
After that, handshakes and pats on
the back were abundant.
[to top of second
column] |
 Max started bowling as a small
child. He went to watch his friend bowl at the age of 6 and was
hooked. Max at 16 and his bowling buddy, Brandon Brawdy, 18, have
bowled together on the same team since they were kids. While still
best friends, Max is on his way to passing Brandon's two 300 games.
According to Shawn Taylor, "a 300
is much easier to obtain, possibly 20-to-1, than getting into the
800 club."
The 800 club Taylor spoke of is
three very good games back-to-back that total 800 or more. That is
an average of 267 per game. Being in the 800 club allows you entry
into some pretty desirable tournaments. Those are the tourneys where
the best play for the title.
Max's love of the game spans three
generations. John Boch, Max's father, remembers going to the bowling
alley in Decatur with his dad when he and his brother were little
kids. John and Max still love to bowl together, with a shared dream
to bowl in the nationals.
Dad hasn't earned his 300 game yet
but was nearly there at 299. However, he has nailed his 801 series.
And he did that on lanes 1 and 2, the same lanes where Max got
his 300 game. Perhaps that is just one more way to keep it all in
the family.
When asked how he felt about
bowling, Max just responded, "I love it," and flashed a smile that
lit up the bowling alley.
Congratulations, Max. There are a
lot of people proud of you.
[By ROY LOGAN]
Breastfeeding
support group celebrates Halloween
Participants in the Abraham Lincoln
Memorial Hospital breastfeeding support group celebrated Halloween
at their meeting Wednesday, Oct. 30.
The benefits of breastfeeding extend
well beyond basic nutrition. Not only do babies receive all the
vitamins and nutrients they need for the first six months of life;
breast milk is also packed with disease-fighting substances that
protect babies from illness.
However, even though breastfeeding may be "natural," that doesn't
mean it comes so naturally. The group provides mother-to-mother
encouragement to breastfeeding moms. The mothers and babies meet
from noon to 1:30 p.m. each Wednesday in Steinfort B at ALMH.
The meetings are led by Renea
Coberly, certified lactation consultant and R.N., who works in
obstetrics at ALMH. At each meeting, the babies are weighed and
participants can ask questions and discuss their current issues.
There is no registration required and walk-ins are welcome.
For more information about the
group, individuals can call 217-732-2161, ext. 55231.
ALMH's Family Maternity Suites is a
state-of-the-art obstetrical center that features three spacious and private
labor, delivery, recovery, postpartum rooms with private restrooms and
showers. Each mom and baby receives individualized care. To learn more about
the
Family Maternity Suites or the other health care services offered at
ALMH, visit www.almh.org.
Zonta
Club of Lincoln donates phones to Sojourn Shelter
Zonta Club of Lincoln gave
recent donations to the Logan County court advocate's office for
Sojourn Shelter to support local domestic violence victims.
So far in 2013, the advocate's office
has assisted 70 clients with emergency orders of protection and
provides ongoing assistance. The club collected used cellphones, which can be reprogrammed and
given to women to call 911 in an emergency.
Zonta Club of Lincoln also used $800 of last year's turkey dinner
profits to set up a fund at Lincoln IGA. Many domestic violence
victims have no choice but to "grab the kids and run." They often
have no formula, food or diapers or any means to buy them. Charlie
Lee at Lincoln IGA has often quietly provided items to these
families at no cost to them. Zonta Club of Lincoln chose to support
his efforts to help local domestic violence victims. Access to this
fund will be given only by the Sojourn court advocate to the
neediest clients. The community's ongoing support of the annual
dinner allowed this generous donation. Zonta Club of Lincoln is
part of Zonta International, which has 30,000 members in 65
countries worldwide. Zonta recently launched "Zonta Says No," an
international campaign to raise awareness of and increase actions to
end violence against women and girls both locally and around the
world. For more information, visit
zontasaysno.com
or www.zonta.org.
San Jose United Methodist turkey supper & bazaar Nov. 6
SAN JOSE -- The San Jose
United Methodist Women, with the help of the men of the church and members
of the community, are presenting their annual turkey supper and bazaar at
the church on the first Wednesday of November. Serving is from 4 till 7 p.m.
on Nov. 6.
The roast turkey supper features
mashed potatoes and gravy, the women's "famous" dressing, green
beans, corn, salad, desserts, and drinks, besides generous pieces
cut from freshly roasted turkey.
Guests may dine in the Fellowship
Hall or carry out.
Bazaar booths open at 3:30 p.m. and
include a candy shop with a large variety of homemade candy and
sweets; a country store, which will have homemade pies, cinnamon
rolls, breads, jelly and other goodies; a craft booth with unique
heirloom cards and various kitchen items; and a table of "nearly
new" Christmas decorations and other novelties.
Tickets will be sold in advance by
members of the church or at the door for the same price. Ticket
prices for dine-in are $9 for adults and $4 children. Carryout
prices are $9.50 and $4.50.
The San Jose United Methodist Church
is at 601 S. First St., six blocks south of U.S. 136, at the corner
of Linden and First. San Jose is about 10 miles west of Interstate
155 on U.S. 136.
For tickets or more information,
call the church at 309-247-3232 or Jim Eeten at 309-247-3485.
Open Arms & Mission Mart partner
for 2nd annual Thanksgiving dinner
Open Arms Christian
Fellowship offers a free Thanksgiving meal on Sunday, Nov. 24, from 4 to 7
p.m. at the church, 311 Broadway. Last year 300-400 people enjoyed this free
meal and time of fellowship. This year the church is preparing 20 turkeys
and all the fixings -- mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, dressing and
dessert.
Home Sweet Home Ministries of Bloomington and Mission Mart of
Lincoln are partnering with Open Arms Christian Fellowship in this
community event. All the funds from selling "Turkey Cards" at the
Lincoln Mission Mart are staying in the community, helping with this
meal and providing Thanksgiving meals to others in need in Lincoln
and Logan County.
You can purchase a Turkey Card for $2 during
normal business hours at Mission Mart and help others in the
community. Spread the word and let others know of this community
dinner.
Open Arms Christian Fellowship is the church that sponsors the
annual Family Fun Day for the community.
For more information, call the church
office at 217-732-4800 or visit
www.oacflincoln.com.
LCGHS
annual meeting Nov. 18
The Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society's annual
meeting and program will be on Monday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. at the
Blue Dog Inn, 111 S. Sangamon.
The presenter will be Stewart Reeve, director of the
Illinois State
Military Museum in Springfield. Reeve is a retired brigadier general
from the Illinois Army National Guard.
The Illinois National Guard has a history going back 376 years.
The museum houses items of interest reflecting that long history and
tells of Illinoisans who have served the state and the country since
the early 1700's.
The meeting and program are free and open to the public, but
diners will be responsible for their meal. Those attending are asked
to call the LCGHS office, 732-3200, or Marla Blair, program
coordinator, 217-732-9875, to leave your name and the number in your
group.
City
of Lincoln fall cleanup schedules: landfill hours and leaf pickup days
For the convenience of
Lincoln residents, the city landfill will be open six days a week beginning
Tuesday, Oct. 29. Landfill hours will be Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to
3:50 p.m., and closed on Mondays. The landfill is specifically for
landscape waste. Trash dumping will not be permitted there.
With the new city agreement for
commercial mulching, products brought to the landfill by residents
should be separated into two categories: wood products and lawn
waste, such as plant material and leaves.
Wood waste for mulching is defined
as logs, limbs or brush. All wood materials for recycling must be
free of all metal or foreign debris, excluding nails and bolts
three-eighths inch or smaller. Logs and limbs should be cut to a
maximum length of 4 feet.
The landfill will maintain a
six-day-a-week schedule through Tuesday, Nov. 26. Afterward the
schedule will go back to open hours Saturday and Wednesday from 8
a.m. to 3:50 p.m.
The city of Lincoln will also do
free leaf pickup inside the city limits. Pickup dates will be
scheduled by ward and are as follows:
Ward
1:
-
Monday, Oct. 28
-
Thursday, Nov. 7
-
Wednesday, Nov. 20
Ward 2:
-
Wednesday, Oct. 30
-
Tuesday, Nov. 12
-
Friday,
Nov. 22
Ward 3:
-
Friday, Nov. 1
-
Thursday, Nov. 14
-
Monday,
Nov. 25
Ward 4:
-
Tuesday, Nov. 5
-
Monday, Nov. 18
-
Monday,
Dec. 2
Leaves are to be placed in
biodegradable bags at the curb by 7 a.m. the day of the scheduled pickup for
your ward.
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