COMMUNITY & CLUBS -- jim de boom

THANKSGIVING: I write this column Tuesday from Minneapolis, Minn., where

I am spending Thanksgiving with my soon to be 92-year-old father and

65-year-old quadriplegic brother LeRoy in the home they (and I until the

mid-’60s) have lived in since the early 1950s. Today, Minneapolis

received the first snow of the season. A heavy, wet snow totaling six

inches began in the early hours of this morning and quit after night rush

hour.

For more than 20 years, I have been coming to Minneapolis to spend

Thanksgiving week with mom, dad and LeRoy. Some years my wife Barbara

and/or daughters Stacy and Jodi come along.

In 1995, the four of us brought a cooked turkey and all the trimmings

with us when we arrived Thanksgiving Day to spend time with mom, dad and

LeRoy. That was a memorable Thanksgiving for the four of us because it

was the last opportunity we had to spend time with mom, who died six week

later in January 1996.

Dad reminded us they were married 64 years. Dad is always full of stories

about his 50 years as a Boy Scout leader, when he and mom met while

teaching fifth-grade Sunday School at Wesley Methodist Church or fishing

with LeRoy on the pontoon boat at the family cabin at Lake Ida.

Actually I make the trek a couple of times a year, usually coming in June

for a week in order to help with tasks outside the house, like planting

flowers, painting windows or the garage. This Thanksgiving, LeRoy had a

list of “jobs” for me: restring the mini-blinds, paint the bathroom heat

vent, replace the light over the garage door, and the list goes on. And I

should be able to get most of them done before I head back to Orange

County on Friday.

For me, spending a week or two in Minneapolis is payback time for the

family that helped me grow and develop for the first 20-some years of my

life. They changed my diapers, made my lunch for school, went with me to

church, helped me with my homework, supported me through college and

welcomed Barbara into the family. If they hadn’t given me the foundation,

well. ...

While Thanksgiving Day comes around every year, as we found out with my

mom, parents and families might not be there next year. As children we

get love from our parents and siblings and as adult children its

important to share our love with our parents and family while we can. If

you don’t do anything else this Thanksgiving weekend, go visit, or if

distance separates you, pick up the phone and let your parents, brothers

and sisters know you love them and value what they have added to your

life.

Give thanks where thanks are due! With God and your family.

WORTH REPEATING: From the newsletter of the Newport Beach-Corona del Mar

Kiwanis Club, the Scuttlebutt ... “No person was ever honored for what he

received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.”

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK: Want to get more involved in your

community, make new friends, network, or to give something back to your

community? Try a service club! You are invited to attend a club meeting

this week. Many clubs will buy your first guest meal for you.

TUESDAY: 7:30 a.m., the Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club meets at the

Balboa Bay Club; 6:30 p.m., The Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club will

meet at the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club.

WEDNESDAY: 7:15 a.m., the South Coast Metro Rotary Club will meet at the

Center Club; Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at the University Athletic

Club; noon, Soroptimist International of Newport Harbor meets at the

Santa Ana Country Club for a business meeting; The Exchange Club of

Orange Coast meets at the Newport Beach Yacht Club; 6:00 p.m., The

Newport Balboa Rotary meets at the Bahia Corinthian for a report by Raj

Desai on Project Deaf India.

THURSDAY: 7 a.m., the Costa Mesa Orange Coast Breakfast Lions Club meets

at Mimi’s Cafe to hear of the travel experiences of Lion Brad Russo;

noon, Kiwanis Club of Newport Beach-Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia

Corinthian Yacht; the Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club meets at the Holiday Inn;

The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the Riverboat for a business

meeting; the Newport-Irvine Rotary Club meets at the Irvine Marriott.

* COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Saturdays in the Daily Pilot. Send your

service club’s meeting information by Fax to (949) 660-8667, e-mail to

jdeboom@aol.com or by mail to 2082 S.E. Bristol, Suite 201, Newport

Beach, CA 92660-1740.