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Filling a need by
filling backpacks
Information provided by Douglas County Libraries
The Douglas County Libraries (DCL) 2022 Brew Tour includes some great breweries and coffee shops again this year.
Gather points and unlock rewards by logging visits to each participating partner brewery and coffee shop. Each visit also earns one entry into the grand prize drawing for a Happy Brew Year – one premium stainless steel growler filled twice by each participating brewery, plus free coffee.
Attend Brew Tour events at DCL and select brewery locations to earn additional points.
Have fun with Harry Potter Trivia, Craft & Sip events, Books & Authors Bingo, Beer Games, and more. For more information, visit dcl.org/brew-tour or see page 7 in the August E Guide insert.
By Hollen Wheeler; photo courtesy of Castle Pines Orthodontics
The Foundation for Douglas County Schools held its annual “Lend a Hand” school supply drive in July. Castle Pines Orthodontics stepped up as a donation drop-off location and asked patients to donate and bring supplies to its office on Max Drive.
The Foundation staff and volunteers assembled the supplies in backpacks and distributed to students (K-12).
“We were glad to ask our clients to pitch
in to help Douglas County children for the next school year,” said Dr. Andrew Dunbar, Castle Pines Orthodontics.
“We loved seeing the kids be so excited to bring school items in for such a great cause,” said Jennifer Dunbar. She added that she hoped their office could be a donation site again next year.
Some of the supply requests included pencils, index cards, ruled paper, highlighters, dry erase markers, scissors, notebooks and binders, to name a few. For additional information, visit foundationdcs.org.
Flying to Freedom
By Stacie Chadwick
When I was 2 years old, my parents got divorced. I was lucky in a way, because at the time I was too young to understand that this separation, at its most basic level, meant the world as I knew it had changed.
By the time I’d turned 5, my mom had remarried. We left Georgia, where our entire family was from, and moved to Kentucky, where I ultimately grew up. Back then, fathers didn’t have the same parenting rights as today, so at a very young age, I became accustomed to filling my backpack with Cracker Jacks and chocolate milk, tucking away the latest Little House on the Prairie novel, and flying to see my dad a few times a year.
In those early years of flight travel, I imagined that each time I boarded a
plane I was off to an exotic location. I fantasized about jumping out the window and onto the marshmallow shaped
clouds, doing backflips in the air on
fluffy sky-high trampolines. Fueled by my dreams, I pretended my trips weren’t meant to split time between two people who loved me but no longer loved each other. Rather, there was a higher purpose for my travel halfway across the U.S. Perhaps my thoughts were a coping mechanism for my parents’ split or simply an idealization of the ordinary, but either way and for whatever reason, flying was simply fun.
Confident and, in my mind at least, years ahead of my actual age, I hated holding the supervising flight attendant’s hand
as we deplaned and walked through the airport toward the exit. I just wanted to explore on my own. By the time I was 10, I could talk my way out of the escort and wander through the terminals by myself. Flying back then was nothing short of exhilarating, both because of my ability to convince someone a lot older than me that it was a good idea to let me go it alone, as well as the thrill of that first rush of being by myself.
Today, it appears that a pastime which was once something to look forward to has become a means to an end. Anyone and everyone seems to dread flying. But not me. I still love to fly as much as I did when I was young. Even when the surrounding circumstances aren’t ideal, fastening my seatbelt and preparing for takeoff will always and forever represent freedom, independence, and adventure.
August 2022
To read more from Stacie, check out her blog at https://readingbetweenthepines.com.