The News-Messenger from Fremont, Ohio • Page A4

Tuesday August 31, 2010 JILL NEVELS-HAUN MANAGING EDITOR I 419-334-1040, jhaungannett.com Grandmothers find a club to call their own 1 ii Lr1 np lE. I hi Clyde chapter of U.S. Grandmothers Club fills a need, and serves a purpose BY SHERI TRUSTY News-Messenger correspondent CLYDE Four years before Thirza Fromm died in a 1964 car accident, she formed the United Grandmother Chapters of the United States, an organization designed to bring grandmothers together for companionship and community service. As a grandmother, she knew the frustration of older women whose children are grown, but who aren't ready to sit back in the ease of retirement. Now, 50 years later, a group of women are carrying on her legacy in Clyde.

As members of the Clyde Rosettes chapter of the U.G.C. of U.S., the women meet monthly to plan fundraisers, discuss community outreach projects and enjoy the company of other grandmothers. At the August meeting, members planned a September luncheon for other local Grandmother's Clubs, including those in Fremont, Port Clinton, Sandusky and Tiffin. The luncheon will serve as a fundraiser for the many organizations they help to financially support. "Our purpose is to support grandchildren and other children," said Rosettes President Shirley Kuhn.

"We donate to the Ohio State School for the Blind and the Ohio State School for the Deaf." The group donates money to local hospice groups that have served members, and at Christmas gives to local food pantries. "If someone gets burned out of a house, or a child gets sick, we give to them," Kuhn said. The members have developed close ties in their work together, and as a result their support turns inward as often as it turns outward. Grandmothers from all over the state have made friendships that are stronger than the distances between them. 5 1 3y 4 VS.

II surprise Jackie Briskey, who serves as the state president of U.G.C. of U.S. For the past 15 years she's traveled 90 miles from her home in Stryker to the Clyde meetings every month. "I just love the ladies. It feels like family," she said.

"It's fun, because you get so close to these women. They become like sisters." In addition to monthly gatherings, the ladies travel to yearly conventions where they attend business meetings, catch up with old friends and honor former members who have died. Al Sheri Trusty I News-Messenger correspondent Members of the Clyde Rosettes Grandmothers' Club plan a fundraising luncheon during their August meeting at the Clyde Moose. The women meet once a month to plan community service projects and enjoy the company of other grandmothers. "If you're a grandma, and you're in trouble, you just make a call," Kuhn said.

"When my husband passed away, the grandmothers just floated up from down south." There's only one requirement to being in the group: members must be grandmothers in some way. "They can be a grandmother by birth, by adoption or be a step -grandmother. They just have to be a grandma," Kuhn said. But as any grandchild knows, grandma's rules are made to be broken. Bellevue Hospital center will host Lamaze childbirth class and wife find metal a rewarding hobby m.

1 -r 1 i- Patricia Madaras never had children, and without them she couldn't be a grandmother. Nevertheless, she enjoyed attending the Grandmothers' Club meetings, simply because the women were so much fun. At the Rosettes' August meeting, the group made Madaras an honorary granddaughter. She can't vote, but she can attend meetings and conventions. "She would just love to join, but without having children, she can't," Kuhn said.

"I said why can't we just kind of adopt her?" That sort of kindness doesn't to leave to each of our two daughters," she said, "mine and the one we found." When Carolyn became interested in hunting, Jim bought her a metal detector, and the first thing she found was a roll of dimes. Another time she found $10 on the ground, which Jim said didn't count as a find because it wasn't buried. THEY TAKE REQUESTS Jim said he and others get requests to find lost wedding rings or properly landmarks. Once the Fremont Police Department requested his assistance to find stolen items. A thief at a flea market had made off with a display case of tiny pins, which was later accidentally dropped.

Jim said they were able to recover most of the pins for the owner. "So metal detecting is not just finding things, it is also helping the community," he said. Carolyn said metal detecting is fun, but one should always fill in the holes left behind after digging. Once they were denied access to grounds because others had left unfilled holes, which creates safety hazards. "Make sure you step on and fill your hole," she said.

"One thing about metal detecting, you never get it all," said Jim, who prefers to hunt in the fall because the weather is cooler and moister. He explained that items buried in the ground shift with freezing and thawing or get moved by squirrels or groundhogs. Dry ground doesn't yield much treasure, and wet ground easily enables the detector signal, he said. In the springtime he has other interests fishing, gardening and golf. "But I would go hunting then if I had a hot lead," he said.

Submitted story BELLEVUE The Family Birthing Center at The Bellevue Hospital is hosting a Lamaze Prepared Childbirth Class from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 11 and Sept. 25 in the hospital's Conference Rooms The Saturday childbirth class is designed for busy expectant mothers having difficulty scheduling the regular four-session childbirth class into their schedules, and for busy parents who have conflicting schedules with their partners.

The classes are educational and will prepare expectant parents for a positive birth though much business is addressed at the conventions, they're mostly about fun. From formal dinners to casual lunches to late-night pajama parties, the ladies spend the week in a whirlwind of activity Their next convention will be next spring at the Fremont Clarion Inn. The Clyde group is looking for more local grandmothers to join their group, and they would be willing to help grandmothers in other towns start their own groups. For more information, call Shirley Kuhn at 419-483-2857. experience.

Participants will also meet other expectant parents and share information and experiences. The class will teach the participants about the stages of labor, when to go to the hospital, progressive relaxation, breathing techniques, medications and their uses, Cesarean and labor rehearsal. The class, which costs $30, is limited to the first 10 couples to register. To register or for further information call, in Bellevue, 419-483-4040; Clyde, 419-547-0074; or Fremont, Old Fort, Green Springs and Republic, 419-639-2065. Dial or ask for ext.

3067. a second opinion. The program offers free blood pressure and blood glucose (sugar) tests. Cholesterol tests are available for $10 and A1C diabetes tests are available for $10. The A1C test does not require fasting and is a screening and diagnosing tool for diabetes.

Participants are also offered a free continental-style breakfast of coffee, juice and rolls. To register or for further information call, in Bellevue, 419-483-4040; Clyde, 419-547-0074; or Fremont, Old Fort, Green Springs and Republic, 419-639-2065. Dial or ask for ext. 6610. shredding events ty to dispose of any records or professional documents.

Businesses are advised to call ahead to reserve space. Findlay will host the second free community shred day from 9 to 11 a.m. Sept. 18 at the Findlay East location, 14901 Ohio 12. The Hancock County Sheriff will be on site to provide free kids identification CDs for parents.

For additional information, call 419-427-0061. Morning Health Break to offer free health screenings and advice Husband detecting The Sandusky County Fair ended Sunday night. It is likely that Monday morning several "treasure hunters" were working the fairgrounds with their metal detectors, seeking coins or other treasures that may have been lost there this past week. Two of these hunters were Carolyn and Jim Smallets, of rural Clyde, who have been having fun with their metal detectors for more than 30 years. Jim, now retired from Whirlpool, said he had always had an interest in metal detecting, and received his first metal detector as a Christmas gift.

He quickly tried it out on the frozen ground. He got a strong signal and worked hard to dig up his first find a large metal spike from an eavestrough. Since then he has found real treasures. Jim said his first detector had misfiring problems so one day he asked an experienced hunter and co-worker, Bill Rohe, now deceased, for tips. "Bill said to meet me on the grounds at the Fremont Drive In Theater and he said he would teach me about metal detecting," he said.

"This was in 1983, when most coins contained 30 percent silver." The pair soon became good hunting buddies. They went on to hunt at Whirlpool Park, schools and the fairgrounds. "When I first started, the fairgrounds was a gold mine," he said. COINS AND CLASS RINGS It was a rare day when they didn't find a silver dollar or an Indian head penny or two. He has found two-cent pieces, three-cent pieces, seated Liberty coins and even a coin called a half-dime which was in use before the nickel was coined.

Numerous class rings have been found, which he tries to return to the rightful owner. He even found a friendship ring lost by his wife, the former Carolyn Thomson, when she lost it at the fair as a teenager. Carolyn recalled when she went to the county fair with a friend. "I told Jim it had to be my ring, because of the TALK ABOUT CLYDE JEANETTE LIEBOLD-RICKER Jeanette Liebold-Ricker's column appears Tuesdays and Saturdays. Contact her by writing to 1134 N.

Main, Clyde OH 43410 or by calling 419-547-8177. worn places where the hearts were worn off," she said. "It was amazing that my husband found my ring." Another find at the fairgrounds was a metal token with "Annie" engraved on it. Carolyn said she had learned that once Annie Oakley held shooting matches at the fairgrounds and she wondered if it was a token that may have been given to shooters with whom Annie competed. Jim once found a yellow ladies brooch there with a protective cover of eisenglass.

"It was the silhouette of a southern belle in a long dress, holding a parasol," he said, "I cleaned it off and once the air hit it she disappeared, but I still remember exactly how she looked." A diamond engagement ring appraised at $3,500 was found on a Florida beach. "I wanted to pawn it," said Jim, "but Carolyn wanted it resized so she could wear it." Another time a wedding band was found, which Carolyn kept. "Now I have a wedding ring Submitted story The Bellevue Hospital's next Morning Health Break is from 8 to 11 a.m. Sept. 13, in Conference Rooms 1400 W.

Main Bellevue. The program offers free or reduced health screenings, educational literature, a light breakfast and a registered nurse to answer questions about health. Health care professionals are available to answer questions and provide health screenings for community members. This program is not meant to take the place of seeing a doctor or getting Communities plan Submitted story The Clyde Findlay Area Credit Union is hosting a free community shred day from 9 to 1 1 a.m. Sept.

11 at the Clyde office, 1455 W. McPherson Highway. Anyone can bring confidential documents and have them shredded instantly on site by a document destruction company. Businesses are encouraged to take advantage of this opportuni.