March 2005 The Shoreline Page 15
Women’s Club Meetings
By Beth LaBrie
The Board of Directors of the PKS
Women’s Club will hold their meeting
Friday, March 18 at the Town Hall at 9:00
a.m.. Any member of the Women’s
Club is welcome to attend any board
meeting.
On March 25 members, guests and
visitors will meet at 9:30 a.m. for a
social time, with the meeting to follow at
10:00 a.m. in Town Hall. Susan
Simpson of Carteret County Library will
be our speaker. Hostesses for the day will
be Kathy Kimel, Blanche Yancey and
Betty Hunter.
The two Book Clubs, the Supper
Club and the Cook’s Night Out are
meeting regularly. Contact Pat Ruggiero
for the Supper Club and Mary Greene if
you are interested in a Book Club. New
members are welcome.
The Cook’s Night Out will be April
15 at6:00p.m. at Floyd’s 1921 restaurant
at Fourth and Bridges Streets.Telephone Pat
Filan, 240-3119, with your reservation by April
10.
All of our meetings are open to women
who are residents of Pine Knoll Shores who
would like to see and hear what we are doing.
Visitors and prospective members are always
welcome. If you would like further information,
please telephone Mary Kanyha at 247-4153.
The Book Clubs are reading...
The Beach Book Club will meet at the
home of Pauly Brown on March 10 at 2 pm to
discuss The Namesake: A Novel by Jhumpa
Lahiri.
Between the Bookends will meet at the
home of Rae Jones on March 14 at 2 p.m. to
discuss The Jane Austin Book Club by Karen
Jay Fowler.
You are invited to join and read with a
book club through the Pine Knoll Shores
Women’s Club. Please contact Mary Greene at
222-3005.
Book Review
Father Joe:
The Man Who Saved My Soul
By Tony Hendra 271 pp. Random House 24.95
By Dick Reeves
Against the background of the recent
scandals of the Roman Catholic Church
comes a book that delineates the true
meaning of “Godness”, of humanity, and
of the exhortation, “Love one another as I
have loved you.”
Tony Hendra, a confused youth, a
zealot and an unhappy satirist, a successful
and brilliant writer, seeks the ultimate
meaning of life and the answers to
questions like, Why are we here? Is there
a God? Who created the universe? and
What do I do with my life?
As a youth, he tries to balance the
alluring forces of testosterone with the
tyranny of a church that denies and
demonizes sex and permanently damages
the psyche of generations of adolescents.
But then, a miracle happens. Tony is
introduced to Father Joe, the Reverend
Joseph Warrilow, an English Benedictine
Monk who spent most of his life in a
monastery on the Isle of Wight off
England’s southern coast.
Father Joe doesn’t preach, doesn’t
judge, doesn’t counsel. He listens, he
laughs and he loves every one of God’s
creations - agnostics, atheists, saints and
sinners. Because Father Joe is a living,
breathing 20* century saint, he not only
saves Tony Hendra’s soul, but it turns out in the
end of the book that he has saved hundreds of
others. Meanwhile, Hendra believes, as does
the reader, that Father Joe has devoted his entire
life to the role of confessor to one wayward
soul.
Meanwhile, Hendra struggles through a
life of outward success but inward failures
including loneliness, failed marriages,
friendships and betrayals - all the vicissitudes
of life. But Tony has an anchor. And that anchor
is Father Joe and the Isle of Wight. Again and
again, when his soul, his ego, his very being
runs out of gas, he returns to Father Joe for the
recharge that allows him to face and conquer his
personal demons.
Father Joe is a book that is entertaining,
profound and addictive. I read it in one sitting as
did many others. It is a book that you want
everyone to read. At the same time, you don’t
want to let it out of your personal library. It
deserves a place among the great books and the
great thinkers from Aquinas to Shakespeare.
The icing on the cake is that Hendra is not
only a profound thinker, he is a great writer who
can hold his own with any modem writer from
Hemmingway to Wolfe.
Our world has never had so many hypocrites
and false prophets. Father Joe is the breath of
fresh air we all need. If only we could clone him.
At the Library
Bogue Banks Public Library (252)247-4660
CALENDAR FOR MARCH
What’s New: Take a few extra minutes
and stop by the ever popular jigsaw puzzle
table for a new puzzle challenge. Income tax
forms for state and federal filing are now at the
library. Copies of the most used forms and
reproducible tax forms are available. The
reproducible forms can be used to make copies
on our copier (still only $.15 per copy).
New Books at the Library; Best Sellers
now available at the library include “The
Broker” by John Grisham, “Hour Game” by
David Baldacci, “London Bridges” by James
Patterson, “By Order of the President” by
W.E.B. Griffin and “A Salty Piece of Land” by
Jimmy Buffett.
Featured Artists for March: The Art
Gallery will feature an exciting show by the
popular Gloucester artist, Sally Anger. Her
show includes paintings in oil, acrylics and
watercolor, with subjects ranging from portraits
to florals to local marsh landscapes. Her work
is well known for the use of bright color. The
library’s showcases for the month will feature
sample portraits by the former Morehead City
artist, Harold Brammer, who recently moved
his studio to nearby Wilmington. Mr. Brammer
will be on hand at the artist’s reception to
answer questions about his work.
Artist’s Reception: Open to the public
and hosted by The Friends of the Library for
March’s featured artists on March 11 from 3 to
4 p.m. Please join us and bring your friends to
meet these talented artists. Light refreshments
will be served.
Activities for Children: Preschool
Storytimes each Thursday at 10 a.m. with Ms.
Rebekah. “Journey to Space” on March 3,
“Apple Seed Day” on March 10, “St. Patty’s
Day” on March 17 and “Egg Hunt” on March
24, and “Spring Celebration” on March 31.
Regular hours are Monday through
Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Bogue
Banks Public Library is a branch of the Carteret
County Public Library in Beaufort and is
affiliated with the Craven-Pamlico-Carteret
Regional Library.
The “Reading Robot” welcomes children to
their room at the Bogue Banks Public
Library in Pine Knoll Shores. This robot
dresses for the season. Children’s Storytime
is 10 am on Thursdays with Ms. Rebekah.
“I Know Why”
Being a veterinarian, I had been called to
examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named
Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa,
and their little boy Shane, were all very attached
to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying
of cancer. I told the family there were no
miracles left for Belker and offered to perform
the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in
their home. As we made arrangements, Ron
and Lisa told me they thought it would be good
for four-year-old Shane to observe the
procedure. They felt Shane could learn
something from the experience.
The next day I felt the familiar catch in my
throat as Belker’s family surrounded him.
Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for
the last time, I wondered if he understood what
was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker
slipped peacefully away.
The little boy seemed to accept
Belker’s transition without any difficulty or
confusion. We sat together for a while after
Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad
fact that animal lives are shorter than human
lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly,
piped up, “I know why.” Startled, we all turned
to him. What came out of his mouth next
stunned me - I’d never heard a more comforting
explanation.
He said, “Everybody is born so that
they can learn how to live a good life, like
loving everybody and being nice, right?” The
four-year-old continued. “Well, dogs already
know how to do that so they don’t have to stay
as long.”