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PAGE 12-A
THE DeFUNIAK SPRINGS HERALD BREEZE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2011
By ALICIA LEONARD
Florida sunshine has
been known to bring many
things: health, vitality,
growth and now, hope and
love.
Mary and A1 Messer have
enjoyed 53 years of mar-
riage, three sons and four
grandchildren in their life
together. They found their
way to Walton County 13
years ago during a motor-
home trip, ending up at Sun-
set King RV Resort. Three
years ago, they moved into a
permanent park model and
never looked back. "I love
this park and the people we
share our lives with here.
I wouldn't take anything
for it, and I'm here for the
long run or as long as I can
be, God willing." God's will
plays an important part in
Mary's life. "I'm a believer.
I'm a Christian and I believe
in miracles," she said.
A little over six
years ago, Mary developed a
cough that progressively got
worse over time. A gauntlet
of different doctors and tests
followed, yet no one had an
answer. Bouts of steroids
and oxygen supplementa-
tion helped Mary continue
on as her ability to breath
lessened and then a neigh-
bor recommended a new
doctor a little less than year
ago. Two biopsies later,
Mary was diagnosed with
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fi-
brosis, a scarring of the lung
tissue that has no known
cause and no known cure.
Life expectancy for the dis-
ease is around five years.
Mary has already reached
six since her symptoms ap-
peared, and she gives the
credit for that, and for many
more things, to God.
Since the first of this
year, something beautiful
and inspiring has been tak-
ing place on certain days
when the sun is just right at
the clubhouse where Mary
spends a great deal of her
time. A form, that many
believe to be an angel of
light, reflects through the
windshield of her easy-go
cart and onto the wall of the
clubhouse. '"We were clean-
ing in here one Monday.' A
couple of friends were in
here with me, and one went
outside and came back in-
side and said, 'I want you to
come outside,' so, I did, and
that image was on the wall.
He said if that's not a sign,
I don't know what is...."
said Mary before a series of
coughs and a few tears in-
terrupt her voice.
Mary was hesitant to be
interviewed for this piece
when pictures of the image
were brought to the atten-
tion of the Herald]Breeze
by others in the resort, but
with encouragement that
this article could bring hope
to others, she agreed. Right
before the image appeared,
Mary had just returned
from a holiday trip to visit
her kids and grandkids. "I
told them what I wanted for
my arrangements, and to
just try to get my affairs in
order."
When asked what per-
sonal message she wanted
to accompany the article,
she responded, "God never
leaves us, we leave him.
He's always watching over
us. We shouldn't ask him to
send us a signs, but it's hu-
man nature to need reassur-
ance. We all do. We always
pray to be healed, but may-
be we should pray for God's
will instead. Sometimes,
maybe he doesn't heal us so
we can be examples of his
message, or he has different
plans for us. The angel for
me is a great reminder that
we are never alone, no mat-
ter what hardships or chal-
lenges we face. Ihope when
people see the pictures, they
will be reminded of that;
his love for us and that all
things are possible through
him if we believe."
AN ANGEL OF LIGHT
has graced a local commu-
nity after a terminal diag-
nosis was delivered to one
of the residents, 'lifting the
spirits of many in the com-
munity that are suffering
with health related issues.
FREEPORT FIRE AND RESCUE responded to a grass fire near the Freeport High School on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
They received the call around I p.m. and had arrived and extinguished the blaze by 1: 15p.m. The fire was acciden-
tally started when a riding lawnmower's exhaust came in,contact with a pile of dry grass. (Photo by Jeffrey Powell)
cording to testimony at the
meeting, the property was
brought into compliance and
all issues with fines were re-
solved. Due to a change in
ownership on the property,
code enforcement opted to
treat the current alleged
violation as a new one, not a
repeat violation.
Alford testified that, af-
ter receiving a Nov. 16 com-
plaint on the property, his
research had indicated that
it now belonged to Allan
Shane Miller.
Board member Robert
Nelson questioned why the
quitclaim deed transferring
ownership of the property
had been recorded in Bay
County, while the property
is located in Walton Coun-
ty.
Gilbert Ray, a neighbor
of the property, told the
board members that he had
been dealing with excessive
noise from motorcycles on
the track every weekend for
four to five years. "The mo-
torcycles have not stopped,"
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1-A
he said.
Allan Miller testified that
Chris Miller, his father, had
given him the property last
April, and that he uses it
only as a weekend getaway
for himself and his friends,
not to make money. "I use it
to ride," he said.
Chris Miller was not pres-
ent for the hearing.
When board members
brought up the matter of the
Bay County quitclaim deed,
Allan Miller at first seemed
unfamiliar with what they
were referring to. Upon be-
ing shown a copy of the
document, he thought that
it must have been part of
the paperwork that he had
seen when the property was
transferred to him.
The quitclaim deed indi-
cated that $85,000 had been
paid for the property. The
board members asked Miller
if he remembered writing an
$85,000 check for the prop-
erty, and he said he did not.
Regarding the Internet
postings, Miller said, "I don't
take any part of that what-
soever." He said he had been
unaware of the postings and
did not know who could be
advertising the property
as a business. He said he
would not expect his father
to be doing this, since he is
not very computer literate.
He speculated that it might
be a friend of his father.
Miller indicated willing-
ness to remedy the situation
quickly.
Board member Tom Stein
asked if there was a way to
remedy the disturbance if
the noise was indeed coming
from Miller and his friends
riding on the track and not
from it being used as a busi-
ness. Alford responded that
this would not be a code vio-
lation and that there is no
noise ordinance applying to
the area north of the Bay in
Walton County.
Board member Charlotte
Flynt speculated that Miller
might indeed be unaware of
business activity going on
on the property but noted
that, nevertheless, as owner
he is responsibIe.
Miller was found in vio-
lation and directed to bring
the property into compliance
within 10 days. He was also
charged a prorated share for
costs of the hearing.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1-A
it, and by implementing a
'Friends of the Library' pro-
gram like the other three li-
braries in Walton have. We
can implement a volunteer
program, extend the chil-
dren's program and even
put together some programs
for special classes for adults
to get them in the the door
so they can see what the li-
brary has to offer. Work on
it, please, I'm begging you to
help us get a group together
to help keep our library. If
we don't speak up and out,
that library may not be
there for you in the future."
Councilman Tommy Ma-
this told Thompson that al-
though he understood she
was only requesting volun-
teers at that time, she knew
that budgets were tight in
Paxton and she or someone
like her would need to make
a formal request in the fu-
ture if any issues with the
library needed help in fund-
ing from the Council, so it
could be considered when
budget time rolled around.
The Council agreed that the
library was a very important
part of the community and
they could make more use
of or remember to remind
others that the library was
there for the residents.
Councilman Charles
Cook made a motion tobring
the city mileage rate up, af-
ter much discussion by the
Council, to the same as that
of the county at .51 cent per
mile. Council members are
the only employees that use
mileage and then only if
they have travel associated
official business. The motion
passed unanimously.
The Council then dis-
cussed getting some depart-
ment repairs made on a fire
hydrant that had a back
flow preventer problem, but
no formal motion was made
or needed.
The Paxton Town Council
meets on the third Tuesday
on every month.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1-A
offer service to those people
who have regular medical in-
surance policies. Any person
treated at one of these clin-
ics is charged a fee based on
a sliding scale depending on
annual income. Regardless
of income, a minimum fee of
at least $25 is charged.
The Freeport Center
houses both a health clinic
and a dental clinic~ The
health clinic is open from 8
a.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday
and Wednesday; from 8 a.m.
until noon on Tuesday and
Thursday; and from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. on Friday. This
clinic is staffed by a Reg-
istered Nurse Practitioner
who primarily treats mat-
ters of women's health, but
who also can treat minor ill-
nesses and wounds, includ-
ing, those that may require
stitches. More serious com-
plaints are referred to doc-
tors at one of the local hos-
pitals.
The dental clinic which is
just opening is staffed by a
dentist and offers primary
dental care. Its hours will
be from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Monday through Thursday.
A free seminarpr ented by
H dthy Woman
Tuesday March 1st
6:00PM
Walton County Health Department
362 Hwy 83
DeFuniak Springs
Thursday March 17th
6:00PM
First Baptist Church
798 N Pearl St.
Crestview
Light dinner &
door prizes provided
RSVP online at
www.healthywomanonline.com
or call Amy Linares at
tO Ollf ,
1 Center
L, Dr. Amy Riggs • Okaloo*
,Lee
• LPL Fmaadal- Joe Faulk
• 2Is
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