Amy and Mike St. John, from O’Bay Sunday School, in front, together with, from left, Chandler Roberts, associate minister at First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe; Joe Sieber, from WindMark Beach Church; and Dave Barkalow, pastor at First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe. [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]
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Christmas spirit brightens care center residents

BySpecial to the Star
Chandler Roberts, associate minister at First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]

The spirit of giving is alive and well in Port St. Joe.

The Shores Care and Rehabilitation Center, under the direction of Michele Kettles, received many donations for their Christmas Party Thursday afternoon, Dec. 21.

LaToya Pace, a certified nurse assistant, left, Joe Sieber, from WindMark Beach Church, and Valerie James, activities director. [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]

Activities Director Valerie James coordinated with the First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe’s assistant minister Chandler Robbins for the teen and middle school groups, Amy St. John, with the FUMC O’Bay Sunday School class, along with Joe Sieber, representing the WindMark Beach Church, to give all 73 residents Angel Tree gifts.

Members of the Port St. Joe High School softball team [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]

Ron Reed, manager of Duren’s Piggly Wiggly Grocery Supermarket, donated their delicious fried chicken, and Up Town Raw Bar owners Erin and Christian Johnson prepared a holiday ham meal with all the trimmings. VFW Auxiliary Post # 10069 also provided gifts for the Angel Bags. 

Members of the Port St. Joe High School softball team gave cookies while the Port St. Joe NJROTC provided brown bags of gifts too. The Trilogy Home Health Care gave lovely warm white throws for the bed-bound and wheelchair residents, and the Holiness Church of White City also gave candy canes at the festivities. All this created a festive mood for residents, their families and staff.

Members of the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at Port St. Joe High School [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]

The FUMC O’Bay Sunday School Class gave 20 gift  certificates to the CNAs (certified nurse assistants) for their dedication, at the party and later on Dec. 22.

Amy and Mike St. John, Chandler Robbins, Joe Sieber and Dave Barkalow lead residents in the songs “Silent Night,” “Away In a Manger,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” with Barkalow reading a passage from Luke 2 and Sieber offering a prayer of thanks. 

Valerie James, left, giving first CNA Melissa Powell her gift certificate from Jane Dunn, from FUMC O’Bay Sunday school. [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]

“It is better to give than to receive” added to the holiday spirit for residents of the Shores Care and Rehabilitation Center.

Members of White City Holiness Church in Wewahitchka [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]
Erin Johnson, with the UpTown Raw Bar Holiday Ham Meal [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]
Ron Reed provided fried chicken from Duren’s Piggly Wiggly Grocery Supermarket. [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]
Members of the Auxiliary of John C. Gainous VFW Post 10069 brought Angel Gifts. [ Amy St. John | Contributed ]

Meet the Editor

David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.

Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.

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Wendy Weitzel The Star Digital Editor

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