| Pets bring smiles to elderly
NORTH CANTON They watch from the window, people confined by age or illness to a chair or a nursing home bed. But on the days Nancy Ruble of Lake Township brings her cat and three greyhounds by for a visit, they get excited, she said. Ruble, a member of the board for the Coalition for Animal Concerns, regularly goes to nursing homes, senior care centers and assisted living centers with her pets to visit people who enjoy but can no longer care for pets. She also visits schools upon request, presenting educational programs. Even people with the dementia and borderline illnesses, even though they dont speak to you, they watch the animals, Ruble said. Others tell me about the pets they had when they were younger or when they were home. Many ask questions (about the animals), the same questions every time we go.
Creating a caregiving ministry
Several years ago, a simple question by a fellow church member led MTSU professor James E. Taylor on a quest to help other family caregivers. "I interviewed some at my church, Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Nashville," said Taylor, a social work professor at MTSU. "They asked me, 'Why don't we have a family caregivers ministry?'" .
DeKalb's haven for senior citizens looks for independence
On a slice of land in DeKalb County, down the street from the medical examiner and the dog pound, is a government property that attracts little public attention. Twenty-nine residents live at Mountain View Personal Care Home. For a modest monthly fee, the small group home for the elderly provides the basic human needs — a clean bed, regular hot meals and the promise of companionship. .
Football not the only action around town
Practically everywhere you go in Northwest Indiana, all you hear is "Da Bears! Da Bears! Da Bears!" Is there a chance you can't bear it anymore? While Sunday's big Bears-Colts face-off has sent the region into a fervor for the past two weeks, there are some folks in Northwest Indiana who honestly don't give a Ditka about Da Bears, the Colts or football in general. What are they to do on Sunday, when the rest of the region is wrapped up in Super Bowl drama? There are alternatives, but the choices are sparse -- even many local restaurants will shut down, and one anti-Super Bowl celebration will be over just in time for the Super Bowl. Here are a few. Anti-Super Bowl event One shopping event planned for Sunday is the third annual Anti-Super Bowl Celebration, the biggest day of the year for the Chesterton women's clothing store Glad Rags, 870 E.
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