Two new presents delivered and another taken away

Mother and daughter gave birth at Carson-Tahoe Hospital on the same day Friday.

Sandra Stuke and Kira Woodward were both due July 5, but their babies showed up a week early.

Sandra is 38 and Kira is 21 and both work at Puff and Stuff Day Care in Carson City.

According to Cathy Saburn, who is in charge of the day-care while Sandra is away, Kira worked right up until Thursday.

"They've both had false alarms, and we though they might not have them on the same day," Cathy said. "But it looks like they are both there."

Early Saturday morning 40 members of the Carson High School Choir returned home from a singing tour of France.

The teenagers left 3:30 a.m. June 20 to help kick off the yearlong 60th observance of D-Day and the liberation. Penny McClean said they flew back in to San Francisco at 9 p.m. and their bus arrived at about 2 a.m. on Saturday.

Penny's granddaughter, Andie Anderson, participated in the eight day tour which featured performances at World War II battlefields in Normandy, including Omaha Beach.

Penny says Andie won't be here long. She and her parents, Scott and Kelly Anderson, are driving down to visit Cal State Fullerton. Andie graduated from Carson High last summer.

Choir director Stewart Peeples and about 20 other adults accompanied the teens on their trip.

Nevada Appeal intern Megan Downs is in Washington D.C. visiting her friend and last summer's intern Samantha Frederickson.

Samantha is interning with the Student Press Law Center at George Washington University.

Both Megan and Samantha are Don Reynolds School of Journalism students at UNR.

Carson City's Eugene Collins spotted Lt. Gen. John P. Abizaid testifying before Congress on Wednesday.

The general is a Coleville High School graduate who is in line for command of all U.S. forces in the Middle East.

"I saw him at the hearing," Eugene said. "So far, I'm really impressed by that young man."

Appeal sports writer Dave Price did a great background piece on the general in the April 9 edition of the Appeal. Those of you with Web access can check it out at nevadaappeal.com.

Verne and Fern Butterfield came by the office looking for their cats. While I've dealt with lost pets before, the Butterfields were just looking for photos they submitted of two cats.

They had bad news. One of the cats, Punkin, died recently at the ripe old age of 14 years. Punkin belongs to Glenda Dazy.

The other cat, a black and white with a milk moustache, is still very much alive.

The Butterfields are longtime Carson City residents. Fern lived in Susanville and Verne lived in Fallon when they met 46 years ago. She was visiting a friend when she met Verne.

They moved to Carson shortly after they wed.

Dayton resident Ramona Nieubuurt has written the inspirational book, "Know Ye Thus."

Ramona has lived in Dayton for 13 years, but it was a year and a half ago that she started keeping a journal.

"What God told me, unbeknownst to me, started last February," she said. "After nine months I looked at my journal and God led me to pull out certain sentences and after a while it started making a story."

Ramona says she started keeping her journal when she started receiving visions and dreams.

"I picked up my bible and read it and then started writing the journal, all in King James Script, which I wouldn't do myself."

The book is 140 pages and she published it through First Books Library.

"It went really well," she said. "They came out a couple of weeks ago with 50 books."

Anyone wishing a copy should write Ramona at PO Box 2304, Dayton, NV, 89403.

Ramona has been married to John for 18 years. They have son, Joshua.

Alice Markiewicz stopped by to place a classified ad on Friday. She and her husband, Carl, moved to Carson City nearly three years ago to be close to Carl's daughter.

Alice says she reads everything in the newspaper every day.

Kurt Hildebrand is acting city editor at the Nevada Appeal. Reach him at 881-1215 or e-mail him at hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com