On Saturday, Jan. 17, Marion Hoar, Riva, John and Shelly Stevens and Barbara Pelletier were volunteers at the Upper Room in Sherman where new and used clothing can be bought at very low prices. Business was a bit slow at first (probably due to the very cold weather) but it picked up quite a lot as the day grew longer. and many bags of good, warm clothes were taken home to keep people warmer during the rest of the winter.
Whittier Congregational Church held its annual business meeting after church services on Jan. 18 in the vestry of the church. Phil Faulkner, moderator, conducted the meeting and all issues were thoroughly discussed before being voted on. Following the meeting a luncheon of beef stew and corn chowder was served, along with assorted desserts.
I haven’t ventured out much during the wicked cold weather that we have been enjoying the past week or so, except to pull on my insulated gloves and warm coat to dash outside with the peanut butter and lard mixture and bird seeds to keep all my feathered friends full.
I have noticed that there are now a few more little wrens around and the female goldfinch have been seen flitting in and out of the feeders and busily eating the mixture of peanut butter and lard as quickly as the woodpeckers and blue jays. I haven’t seen the mourning doves lately or seen a cardinal. Maybe if (or when) it gets warmer they will show up.
I still see the gray squirrel and the little red squirrel in the feeders, and the little red one gets right inside one feeder and stays until he has finished off most of the seeds there.
The several deer still arrive, almost on the dot of 4:30 p.m., to eat all the bread and apple chunks I put out for them. They don’t linger too long but head straight for the woods down back where they probably spend the night. My backyard is covered with deer tracks, especially around my cedar trees, so I figure they move around maybe during the night, too, to forage for food.
