Firemen At Minshew Home
Friends Help
Ease The Loss
Small town people are good about
turning out to help when a tragedy
happens.
Belton and Mattie Lee Minshew
experienced the destruction of their
home by fire, and today their friends
have helped locate a temporary
home and furnishings to begin
again.
"I watched them build our house
? brick by brick," Mattie Lee
sighed. "The workmen used to kid
me by asking how many bricks they
had laid that day!
"I'd always say 1 didn't know.
But, when you live next door to
where workers are building the
house you plan to live in the rest of
your life, it's hard not to keep an eye
out the window," Mattie Lee said.
Shortly after graduation trom
Kenansville High School, Mattie Lee
married Belton Minshew and to
gether they watched workmen build
the home they lost January 21 to fire.
? their home for 43 years.
"That's home to me." Mattie Lee
said. "When we rebuild it will be in
ihai same spot. We want to rebuild
as soon as possible, but we're
settled in a nice warm house, thanks
to our friends, and I know there's no
push.
"I've not even looked at house
plans," she continued. "I had no
reason to before now; I thought I had
the house I would spend the rest of
my life in." The Minshew's home
and personal belongings were esti
mated to be a 75 percent loss by
Warsaw Fire Department officials.
Firemen from Warsaw, Kenansville
and Magnolia fire departments were
called to the Minshew home about
sunrise on what is being recorded as
the coldest day in the history of our
state and area.
As the Minshews watched, fire
men battled blazes and water freez
ing before it could extinguish
flames. Finally, air bags were
brought from Kenansville to help
control the fire because water froze
on the house after being sprayed
from hoses.
"Some of the firemen remarked
that another few minutes and we
would have been gone." Mattie Lee
explained they had been alarmed by
a smoke detector in the house.
"1 know those firemen will never
really know how we appreciate what
they did," she said. "My son,
Kenny, is a fireman where he lives,
and he said he'd never seen a group
of more dedicated men. And, 1 think
of how each one of them is a
volunteer." Among the volunteers
on the Warsaw Fire Department is
Jimmy Creech, who helped organize
the community efforts to assist the
Minshews.
"Jimmy has been my main sup
port," Mattie Lee said. "Not only is
he my pastor, he's a good friend. He
was right there to listen and comfort
and help me have the strength to go
through this all.
"And, out of it all, he's helped me
see the blessings within the dis
aster," she said. Creech was one of
many who came to the aid of the
Minshews. Almost two weeks after
the fire, Mattie Lee and Belton are
beginning to organize the gifts of
bed, bath and kitchen linens and
articles. Food from the community
still feeds the couple and salvaged
articles like cross stitch have been
reframed and hung to help make a
house on Hill Street home for the
Mins hews.
"It's so hard to imagine what it
would be like to lose everything,"
Carol Moore said. "I keep thinking
about them. It's on everyone's mind.
I think.
"When I first got there, my first
impulse was to get her (Mattie Lee)
something to wear," Carol said.
"When we first started picking up
stuff after the fire, it was all frozen."
Items like dishes and small fur
nishings were collected by volun
teers and taken to the Warsaw
United Methodist Church to be
cleaned. Volunteers worked more
than two days cleaning items
salvaged after the fire.
"It could have been me and my
family," Carol said. "Helping them
was just something I wanted to do.
And, I wasn't alone.
"You didn't have to call anyone. It
seemed like people just came and
t hey all seemed to know what to do to
help," Carol said. "Even today I
don't feel like I have done anything
special.
"I guess most of all, I wished, I
ci>uld have felt some of the hurt for
her," Carol said. "And, then maybe
I'd feel I had done all I could. But,
like everyone else, I did all I could to
help them out of love for the
couple."
Volunteers provided valuable
assistance. Some of the assistance
came from people who learned
through iheir loss to fire in the past.
A1 and Jean' Smith, who suffered a
similar loss through a fire, assisted
in the effort to tuaip the Minshews.
"That's what it is, it's just like a
death," Jean Smith said. "And,
none can know what it's like. But we
had been through the same ex
perience with a fire and felt we knew
what they were feeling.
"Since we had oeen through it,
when different ones came to us
wanting to do something, we could
help give them a direction," she
said.
. "But unless you've been through
a fire," Jean said, "you can't
imagine or tell someone what it's
like."
Gifts, money and food continue to
make way to the Minshews. Support
came from all areas of Duplin and
some adjoining counties. Mattie Lee
pointed out gifts from people she did
noi know.
"We appreciate everything that
everyone has done," Mattie Lee
said. "And, J don't know how
everyone could have been better to
us.
"Just an example," she began to
cry, "I received a $100 check the
other day from my graduating class.
Thai, was 40 years ago when 1
graduated from Kenansville High
School in 1945. There were only 18 of
us then, and a couple have died
since.
"I don't know how I can ever
really thank everyone," Mattie Lee
said.
program is a two-year curriculum at
JSTC. It prepares graduates to take
the state board exam and to obtain
the registered nurse license. In 1984,
JSTC graduates achieved a 95
percent passing rate on the state
boards.
Early 19th century French looms
were controlled by punched carda^
that were the forerunners of thos^
used in modern data storage sys
tems
JSTC Nursing Graduqte
Pursuing Career -
In Anesthesia
DeWayne Byrd, a 1981 graduate
of James Sprunt Technical College's
associate degree nursing program,
has the distinction of being the
youngest student ever to be admitted
to the Durham County General
Hospital school of anesthesia.
Byrd was admitted to the program
in Sept. 1983 and is scheduled to
graduate in May 1985. He is a native
of Mount Olive.
After completing the ADN degree
at James Sprunt, he went on to earn
the B.S. degree in nursing from East
Carolina University, graduating in
May 1983.
Byrd explains his early acceptance
at the school of anesthesia in this
way:
"The school of anesthesia nor
mally requires applicants to have
had two years of clinical work
experience after their graduation
and licensing," he explained. "But
since I received my R.N. license after
graduating from James Sprunt, I was
able to work at Pitt Memorial
Hospital while I completed my B.S.
and count that work experience
toward the school of anesthesia's
#?ntrv rf?n 11 ir^m^nt Thi? ic nnp wav
JSTC's program was a big advantage
forme."
Byrd went on to say that the
program Svas also helpful to him in
completing the Bachelor of Science
degree at ECU. "The two-year
program at JSTC provides intensive
training and practice in the clinical
aspects of nursing. When 1 enrolled
at ECU, I was able to receive
advance placement through the
junior year for all of the clinical
training 1 had received at JSTC.
Most of what I had to take were the
general education courses."
The two-year program at the
school of anesthesia will qualify Byrd
as a certified Registered Nurse
anesthetist, enabling him to work in
all areas of patient anesthesia. He
explained that the difference be
tween an "anesthetist" and an
"anesthesiologist" is that the anes
thetist is a registered nurse who
completes a two-year program at a
school of anesthesia, whereas an
anesthesiologist is an M.D. who
completes a three-year residency in
anesthesiology.
Like a physician, an anesthetist
can specialize. Byrd is interested in
working with children and hopes to
get a fellowship at a children's
hospital to specialize in children's
anesthesia. He doesn't rule out
'atlending medical school in the
future, either.
"From working in the field, one
thing I've learned is that medicine
changes quickly; there are constantly
new things to learn," he said.
Byrd speaks highly of the nursing
program and instructors at JSTC.
"From my own experience, I can say
that students get education they
need to be competent nurses. The
emphasis is on clinical practice, and
the exposure to different clinical
areas is broader than in many other
programs," he said.
"I give lots of credit to my
instructors, too. Pam Williamson
gave me my interest in pediatrics,
and Gayle Weeks (director of the
program), has been an encourage
ment and driving force over the
years. She always had faith in my
abilities and encouraged me to go on
with my studies."
The associate degree in nursing
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