SMITH: A good day to give away her clothes
Published: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 5:12 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 5:12 p.m.
Dan Crossland was thinking about his 50th wedding anniversary when he read in the PD that Goodwill is opening a huge new thrift store on Santa Rosa's Stony Point Road.
An idea dawned when Dan, an Oakmont resident retired from CBS News, read that the store opens Dec. 16 — the very day of his and his wife, Joan's, anniversary.
He decided to give Goodwill all her clothes.
As they near their 50th year together, life isn't what the Crosslands had hoped for. Joan began showing signs of Alzheimer's disease eight years ago and for the past three has lived with advanced-stage symptoms in a Kenwood care home.
Her wardrobe sits unused back at home. Dan said that when he read that Goodwill Redwood Empire will open a new flagship store to boost its services to people with obstacles to employment, it occurred to him that it would be a tribute to Joan to donate her wardrobe to the cause.
Dan's gathering up her things for a large Store Opening/Golden Anniversary delivery.
“There's something like 55 pairs of shoes,” he said. “We're up to 160 blouses.”
He said the love of his life always looked beautiful.
“She would have been well-dressed whether she was working in the garden or having dinner at the Captain's table,” he said.
He'll trek to Goodwill on his and Joan's big day hoping “to make it somehow meaningful for her.”
THAT FOLDED-UP CASH Art Clark found just outside the Exchange Bank branch in Rohnert Park was never claimed.
Art, who's 72, didn't count it before turning it in because he didn't want to be tempted even more to just pocket it.
Turns out it was $80. The bank returned it to Art and he gave it to the Salvation Army.
LIGHTS ON:There's an easy way to find the best holiday light displays in Sonoma County, and also to let connoisseurs know they should drive by and see the house and yard decorations that you or a neighbor have created.
Check out the PD's interactive holiday lights map at pressdemocrat.com/lights. You can add your address or the address of any fantastic holiday display you've seen.
You can even post a photo of the decorations. I'd put up a picture of our house but the festive magnificence of the green porch light isn't captured in a photo.
HE'S ALL WRITE: As readers contemplated education writer Kerry Benefield's story on threats to the teaching of cursive handwriting in grade schools, long-retired teacher Carolyn Williams recalled a kid whose penmanship was quite atrocious.
“It was very small, very cramped,” recalls Carolyn, who taught 25 years ago at the former Delta 3R, a private school in Santa Rosa. She implored the sweet and otherwise high-achieving lad, “Could you spread it out? Give it a little flow?”
He could not.
His ex-teacher is pleased to know that Dane Jasper, the uber-sharp founder of Sonic.net, turned out OK even so.
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.