Kindred at Home Launches Food Drive to Benefit Rowan Helping Ministries

Staff members from Kindred at Home will be blanketing the Rowan County area throughout August, distributing food collection bags and gathering donations for Rowan Helping Ministries, one of many benefactors of Kindred’s 13th Annual Food Drive.

Employees at Kindred and their associates across the Kindred Hospice and Kindred at Home family of home healthcare services are placing the food collection bags at healthcare and other facilities in their respective communities and will collect their “harvest” during the entire month of August. They are focused on beating the tally from last year, when the company’s annual food drive yielded more than 331,000 pounds of goods for donation to charitable organizations across the country.

“Because of the broad scope of care we provide patients and their families, home health and hospice providers are by nature in touch with their community’s resources and aware of the fact that food banks, pantries and other charitable organizations face increasing demands for assistance,” said Susan Wear, senior home health specialist. “With one in eight U.S. households being ‘food insecure,’ it just makes sense that healthcare leader like Kindred — with a vested interest in promoting healthy communities — does what it can to make sure the most basic component of good health, food, is available to those in need.

The Salisbury office is an affiliate of Kindred at Home, one of the nation’s leading providers of comprehensive home health and hospice services. While its local office is staffed by area professionals familiar with the health needs of community residents, Kindred at Home’s national scope allows it to bring substantial resources to its local offices that other companies often cannot provide.

Area residents, physicians and referral sources who want to learn more about Kindred’s services should contact Stephanie Linn at 704-636-3334.

New book: My Humor Heritage in Madison County and Beyond

Anthony E. Ponder has written My Humor Heritage in Madison County and Beyond. It features cartoon illustrations by Graham Ponder. The publisher is YAV Publications and is available in paperback at most all outlets.

“I tried to give the reader a glimpse of what amused our ancestors. Our Madison County, N.C. humor heritage is rich. I think we should note and preserve it,” Ponder said.

My Ponder introduces the work by using a few gags from old newspapers. He also invents some humor for our founding fathers.

For instance: Elizabeth Hamilton asks, “Is it true Martha that your husband threw a silver dollar across the Potomac?”

“I don’t know how these things get started,” replies Martha. “There is a place in western Virginia where I threw George across the Potomac.”

With his work he hopes the reader detects the shifts in humor over time. He cites humor from colonial times until 1965.

One local humor highlight is a humorous twist on a local expression, “Won’t you go home with us?”

With tongue in cheek, perhaps, Ponder recalls Madison County elections with lines like: “Heck, when I was growing up, our party won elections regardless of how the vote went. It wasn’t considered a fair election until it was rigged. I grew up thinking honest elections was a late Kentucky Derby scratch.”

And here are two of several more: “As a youngster I voted in three presidential elections … and that was before the age of ten. Heck, I learned to mark a ballot before I learned to walk.”

Ponder notes two influences of music on our culture. One is the minstrel show and the other is rock-and-roll.

He offers an amusing local take on Elvis Presley performing early rock and roll. With Elvis, old folks didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or dance. 

From the book he adds: “I saw him (Elvis) on the Ed Sullivan show, and I hadn’t heard that much screaming and squealing since 1947 when we had a community hog killing.”

Ponder added: “By accident I stumbled upon the idea writing about my humor heritage. The Madison County Genealogical Society was kind enough to permit me to give a presentation on part of the work. I hope the reader enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.”