COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL August 19, 2015
Loaders celebrate
60 years together
H
Church
volunteers
spruce up
the old ball
yard
ank and Pat Loader celebrated their 60th
wedding anniversary on June 18, 2015.
The couple was married in Norristown, Penn. on
June 18, 1955.
Their three children and their spouses are Cher-
yl and Dave Laughley of La Quinta, Calif., Kim
and John Hazleton of Cottage Grove and Lori and
Ron McGowen of Creswell. The couple has nine
grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, plus
two more on the way.
Hank worked in Orange County, Calif. for 30
years in construction, mostly as a superintendent
on jobs. Pat is a homemaker and previously did
childcare. After retiring, the couple moved to Or-
Living Faith Assembly
leads effort to improve
Kelly Field
Work.”
Lead Pastor Rulon Combs said the com-
munity project is all part of the church’s
mission of passionate life change.
“This includes connecting people to
Christ, connecting people to community
and connecting people to purpose,” said
Combs. “The ball fi eld project helps our
church to be more aware of community
needs and to let the community know
that as a church we stand ready to help
to bring Cottage Grove to its full poten-
tial,” Combs continued.
Living Faith Assembly is located at 467 S.
10th Street. More information can be had
concerning the church and its projects
by calling 541-942-2612.
R
G U I D E
Kelly Field gets makeover with help of
local church
It’s a whole new ball game at Kelly Field,
home diamond for the Cottage Grove
High School Lions baseball team on
Quincy Street.
Members of Living Faith Assembly of
God took on the ball fi eld improvement
as a community project in an effort to
make the athletic facility a place the
community can be proud of. The church
members spent a few weekends put-
ting fresh coats of paint on dugouts, the
grandstand and other community areas
of the complex as well as constructing
and hoisting a new sign to spur on the
Lions. The sign says, “100 percent Hard
estaurant
11A
egon.
Their family celebrated with them at their home
in Dorena on June 28.
Turning 49 doesn’t matter much
when you don’t act your age anyway
BY NED HICKSON
News Media Corporation
L
ast night, a good friend
suddenly — and without
warning — offered a pre-emp-
tive toast to my turning 49 next
week. I call him a “good” friend
because, until as recently as last
night, I considered him a “great”
friend. But I honestly can’t re-
member his name now.
Haha! Just kidding!
We were actually never very
close.
Ok, in all seriousness, until
his good-natured ribbing about
turning 49 (I still can’t stop
laughing!), I hadn’t given it
much thought. That’s because I
don’t really think about myself
relative to age.
Relative to the nearest strip
of bacon, coffee shop and my
wife? Sure.
But age? Not really.
I still wear band shirts from
Hot Topic; I have eight pairs of
Marvel superhero Vans shoes;
sometimes when I’m at a drive-
thru, I’ll order my food while
talking like Elmer Fudd.
I’d wike your deee-wishess
ba-weeto su-pweem, pweez...
I still get excited when, like at
dinner last night, I found a Star
Wars poster in my box of Re-
ese’s peanut butter cereal! And
yes, I had peanut butter cereal
for dinner.
On the rare occasion I’m
asked for my age, like when it’s
Senior Tuesday at Fred Meyer
I order a glass of wine, I have
to think about it and then count
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NEW HAPPY HOUR
forward from 1977. I was 11
years old then. I remember that
because “Star Wars” came out
that year.
I realize a person could sug-
gest the inability to remember
my age is, in itself, a sign of my
aging. However, as I’ve men-
tioned, that person’s name es-
capes me.
It’s no small irony that over
the years some people have re-
marked, “You don’t look your
age!” while others have suggest-
ed “You need to start ACTING
your age!” I don’t think this is a
coincidence. In fact, I’d say one
is the direct result of the other.
Keeping a lighthearted perspec-
tive on the world and main-
taining a sense of wonderment
about its possibilities — wheth-
er plausible or fanciful — helps
avoid that downward spiral into
living life in an uninspired rut.
Kids instinctively avoid this rut
because they know their mission
is to explore, push the boundar-
ies and question the rules — of
the house, the laws of physics,
human anatomy, the proper use
of utensils — in order to defi ne
themselves.
They approach life with their
eyes wide open because they
haven’t started second-guessing
the world yet.
Then somewhere along the
way we’re told being an adult
means having all the answers.
So we stop questioning. Stop
wondering. Stop trying to move
objects with our mind while sit-
ting in traffi c. And stop believ-
ing in the possibility, however
remote, that we might be the
vessel of an undiscovered super
power.
I’ve worked hard to keep my
youthful perspective.
Does that mean I spend every
moment being a goofball trying
to shoot lasers out of my eyes or
throw a stapler at my editor us-
ing my mind?
Ok, fi ne. But how about when
I’m not at work?
No. I recognize when it’s time
take things seriously and the re-
sponsibilities I have as a father,
husband and human being. I’m
reminded of this whenever my
fi re department pager goes off
— and how knowing when to
embrace rational understanding
over youthful wonderment can
mean the difference between
life and death.
Yet the same can be said
about everyday life: knowing
when to embrace wonderment
over rationality can also mean
the difference between life and
death, albeit a slow one from the
inside.
So as I approach 49, I plan
on keeping a balance between
the two. For example, when I
responded to this morning’s
tap-out for a car accident I put
youthful wonderment aside and
dialed-in my serious mode.
I also wore Marvel superhero
underwear from my kids.
Because constantly living
your life “age-appropriately”
can be like Kryptonite.
Ned is a syndicated columnist
with News Media Corporation.
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