For your Friday morning reading enjoyment:
Following the destruction from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Fort Loudon resident Marcia Hartle wanted to do something to help.
So she went to organizations and businesses — from the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Chambersburg to Zody's Moving and Storage in Waynesboro — to raise $2,000 and 6,000 pounds in donations of dog and cat food in a little more than six weeks.
Why dogs and cats?
"Because I'm an animal lover," she said, explaining that she noticed a lack of coverage about Bayou Labartre in Alabama, a place she usually visits when she and her husband vacation at Dauphin Island, Ala.Overall, Hartle said the five-day trip from Oct. 14 to 18 left her in surprisingly good spirits, as she and her neighbor Jean Sowers visited Gulf Port, Biloxi and Vancleave, Miss., as well as Dauphin Island and Mobile, Ala.
"It was devastating to see all the destruction, but everyone down there has such a positive attitude," she said. "These people who have been washed out just kept on going."
People even handed her money when she was shopping for dog collars and other pet supplies for animal shelters, Hartle said.
And with a banner on the side of her vehicle that read: "Hurricane Katrina and Rita Pet Relief and Rescue," some people donated money after they saw her driving around.
Funny enough, Hartle said she and her husband do not own any pets because they travel so much for work.
Nevertheless, when she is home, she gets unannounced visitors from next door.
"Our neighbor's dogs come by to visit us every night," she said.
Isn't this typical? Doesn't it just "fit" in with the people and culture you meet on Dauphin Island?