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The Davidson Leader is available at these fine retailers: Davidson – Stedmans, Shell, Riverbend Co-op Gas Bar and Food Store, The Davidson Leader; Craik: Palliser Plains Co-op Food Store; Kenaston: KC Distributors.

DAVIDSON—A toothbrush may not seem like much, but for children who don’t have one of their own, it’s a great gift.

It means they don’t have to share one.

From Oct. 3 to 10, Bonnie Jean Low and Dave and Colleen Spelliscy had the chance to witness the joy the gift of a toothbrush, or a pencil and paper bring to children who have nothing.

They recently returned home to Davidson from The Gambia, a small West African country, where they distributed 1,891 shoeboxes on behalf of Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child.

Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian organization that puts into practice the Bible story of the Good Samaritan. It provides aid to hurting people in need due to war, poverty, disaster, famine, disease and persecution, regardless of race, religion, culture, gender and socio-economic standing.

Operation Christmas Child is a hands-on project that brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoeboxes packed by Canadians. It is one way to remind children suffering as a result of war, poverty, famine, disease, and disaster that they are loved and not forgotten.

The shoeboxes are collected from across Canada and are filled with toys, hygiene items and school supplies.

It doesn’t seem like much, but the Spelliscies and Low can attest to the joy and excitement the shoeboxes bring to their recipients.

Dave says people have a sense of how spoiled and lucky children in North American culture are, but distributing shoeboxes to children who truly have and expect nothing is really an eye-opener.

“You go there (Africa) and what our kids take for granted, they couldn’t even imagine,” Dave says.

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GIRVIN—Thanks to Harold and Marilyn Riecken’s threshing bee, Francis Cool was able to check another item off his bucket list.

Last Sunday, Oct. 21, Cool finally got a chance to operate a binder.

With Harold’s son Chris at the wheel of the tractor, pulling the binder, Cool took a pass in the field of oats, sitting on the binder’s small metal seat between the reel and side discharge, every so often maneuvering the binder’s pedals to kick a few bundles of oats to the ground.

“I loved it,” Cool said afterwards. “It was a rough ride,” adding he had appreciation of folks who rode the binder when they were pulled by horses.

Harold says the binder isn’t difficult to operate, it just needs to be tripped once four or five bundles are on the carrier so the bundles slide off to the ground.

Operating the binder when a team of four or five horses pulled it, Harold says, is a different scenario. He wonders how farmers back in the day were able to manage that.

Operating a binder, stooking bundles, pitching bundles, and loading a rack were some of the old-time harvest chores people had a chance to try at the Riecken’s farm west of Girvin last Sunday.

They held a threshing bee giving people a chance to relive harvests of old or to try something new.

To read the full story, you’ll need to subscribe. Phone 306-567-2047, email davidsonleader@sasktel.net or click the Subscribe button.

To read the full story, you’ll need to subscribe. Phone 306-567-2047, email davidsonleader@sasktel.net or click the Subscribe button.

The Davidson Leader is available at these fine retailers: Davidson – Stedmans, Shell, Riverbend Co-op Gas Bar and Food Store, The Davidson Leader; Craik: Palliser Plains Co-op Food Store; Kenaston: KC Distributors.