iVL Page 17 SING Cross City First Assembly of God will be having a gospel sing Saturday, February 2nd at 7:00 PM. The Church is located on Highway 351 North. Everyone is welcome. Pastor Parsley invites everyone to come. UKRANIAN SINGERS RETURN TO FELLOWSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH IN STEINHATCHEE Thursday, February 7th Call Pastor at 498-5205 for more information ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE AT MCCALL'S We have barely put away the Christmas decorations and the season of Lent is upon us. Lent is not a happy season like Christmas. Lent is a time for introspection, a look within ourselves. Lent is a time to take inventory so we may root out the sin that so easily sneaks into our lives. The practice of applying ashes as a sign of our repentance can be traced back to the sixth or seventh centuries. On February 6th, the start of Lent, a day known as Ash Wednesday the faithful will gather in God's house acknoledg- ing our iniquities and having the ashes applied as a sign of their contrition. Let us come together, as brothers and sisters in the faith, as we celebrate this somber day, this somber season. The imposition of the ashes will follow a brief service at 6:00 pm at McCall's Chapel United Methodist, located at 7755 South State Road 349, at the southern edge of Hatchbend. Our telephone number is 386-935-0595. Cross City Pentecostal Holiness Church We are a reaping church! Church New Gospel Sing with The Walkers From: Perry, Florida Saturday--February 2nd 7:00 P.M. You will be blessed Come join the Celebration Information: 498-3929 Everyone Welcome! 2-- n www. dcadvocate. net d. ANNUMTALT WOMEN N1~ THET-~i OUTDhOORS BEACHGOERS WHO STAY HIGH AND DRY MAY STAY HEALTHIER GAINESVILLE, Fla. Attention snowbirds and spring breakers: Beachgoers who stay high and dry may have healthier fun in the sun than those frolicking on wet sand or in the water, according to a University of Florida veterinary researcher. "Our objective was to understand whether beach sand could pose a health risk to beachgoers," said Tonya D. Bonilla, a doctoral student in the UF College of Veterinary Medicine's department of infectious diseases and pathology who studied three South Florida beaches over a two-year period to see whether human health risks appear to increase based on the level of sand exposure. "What we found was that there was no increased health risk due to exposure to sand on the upper beach," Bonilla said. "However, the longer the period of time people spent in the water and in the wet sand, the higher the probability that they would experience some gastrointestinal illness." Bonilla's research was conducted at Fort Lauderdale Beach, Hollywood Beach and Hobie Beach. There were 882 respon- dents who participated in the pilot epidemiological study and 609 who participated in the control group. Beachgoers were made aware of the study and, if willing to participate, were given a survey form to complete four days after their beach visit. The questionnaire focused on type and duration of beach activity and inquired whether participants became ill during the four days after the beach visit. The con- trol group consisted of people randomly chosen from the gen- eral population who had not visited a beach in at least nine days. Jay M. Fleisher, Ph.D., an associate professor in the College ol Osteopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University, ana- lyzed the epidemiological data collected in the study. "Our findings suggest that there is an increased risk of ac- quiring gastroenteritis the longer a bather either sits in the wet sand or stays in the water," Fleisher said. "The probabili- ty that an individual will become sick increases over expect- ed non-exposure rates from six out of 1,000 people for a 10- minute exposure to approximately 12 out of 100 people for a two-hour stay in the wet sand. "For exposure to water, these rates increase from seven out of 1,000 people affected over expected non-exposure rates for a 10-minute stay to approximately seven out of 100 people ex- posed for a 70-minute stay" Fleisher added. "Both show a clear dose-response relationship in risk with increasing time of exposure. These estimates of increased risk might seem,, small, but when one considers how many people use this beach in the course of a year, we can end up with a substan- tial public health problem." While fecal indicator levels in the near-shore waters of South Florida's recreational beaches are routinely monitored, sand samples from the surf zone the wet sand and the upper beach are not. Beach sand may become contaminated by gull droppings and other sources of fecal-derived organisms that then diffuse into wet sand and water, said Bonilla, whose re- search was published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. Her work, part of her master's thesis worknat Nova Southeastern University, was fund- ed by a grant from the Environmen- tal Protection Agency. She has con- tinued her water-quality work at UF, where she is pursuing her doctoral degree. "At this point, we don't know whether the increased health risk is due to pathogen exposure," Bonilla said. "To really understand this, a nationally published more comprehensive and targeted epidemiological approach is need- ross City. ed." one day only Helena Solo-Gabriele, Ph.D., a pro- fessor of environmental engineer- ing at the University of Miami and a collaborator in the National Sci- ence Foundation's Oceans and Hu- man Health Center, is working on understanding how fecal indicator levels correlate with pathogen lev- els in her own research. Her work primarily focuses on environmental measurements; specifically of mi- crobial indicators in water. In addition to evaluating the poten- S tial human health effects of mi- crobes from beach sanilds, Bonilla's paper provides new information concerning the reservoirs and sources of fecal indicator bacteria, Solo-Gabriele said. "This study emphasizes that beach sands serve as the most significant layl reservoir of fecal indicator bacte- ria, and shows that the situation is not isolated to one specific beach, but can be widespread across re- gions," she said. "Bonilla and her collaborators provide a mechanistic explanation for the potential spread gull droppings and subsequent dis- tribution through natural diffusion "*1" in the environment, as well as by people walking on the beach. The suggestion of an association be- tween fecal indicator levels in sand and illness rates among humans is very significant and points to the need to conduct more comprehen- sive studies of beach sand." AIRBOAT FISHING EVENT It's time to get signed up for the Women in the Outdoors an- nual airboat fishing event. If you have never done this, it is a lot of fun and you get to meet new friends who like the great outdoors also. For the ones of you who are new; you have to first register for this event. The cost is $55.00. This includes a social on Fri- day night, February 29 starting at 6:00 pm at the Trail Riders Club in Cross City. At this social we will have a wonderful country dinner, a silent auction on some wonderful WITO items, a raffle and games and a chance to meet everyone who will be going fishing on Saturday and the boat drivers. This social on Friday night is for anyone, the cost is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. Then on Saturday, March 1stwe will meet at Shired Island Park at 7:30 am to start a day of fun fishing and boat riding. You will be treated to lunch at noon and then finish the day out fishing. Saturday's event is for women only This also entitles you to a one year memebership to the Women in the Outdoors, and a one.year subscription to the WITO magazine. WITO is one of the fastest growing non- profit conservation organizations in the world. This is not a fishing tournament. This is an event to introduce women'to the exciting world of fishing and the outdoors. You don't have to be a first time fisherwoman to do this; any lady can join. Last year we gave out prizes for the lady who caught the biggest redfish and trout. If you are interested, call Marie Hunt at (352) 542-7917 or (352) 578-4042 for a form. You may pick up a form at Creekside Farm Supply or Freedom Craft Airboat Shop. Signup dead- line is February 18. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF STEINHATCHEE NEWS During the month of January we celebrated the births of Freddie Hiers, Anna Ellison, Timothy Holden and Tray Mitchell. Now I could be into meddling if I told you their ages, huh? We had only one anniversary this month. We hon- or our Pastor and Sarah as theytcolebrate their 21st anniver- We were so happy to see our many visitors on Sunday! Please come back and visit with us again for big smiles, hand shakes and some GOD filled hugs. So glad to see Carolyn Mitchell's parents, Pastor Paul and Lucile Day from Cairo,,Georgia. He has been in the LORD'S service for 52 years. Pastor Day pas- tor ed a church in Cross City for seven years. We are looking forward to our Valentines Day Dinner on Feb- ruary 12. It will begin at 6:30 PM. in the fellowship hall. Please sign up if you would like to attend.Alsb, to our ladies ...would you please bring a dessert to share? Please let Mar- cia know if you will do this! We can all sample your favorite recipes!Yummy for our tummy! We had two specials in song Sunday morning. Mitch Mitchell sang from his heart, singing "What a Friend We Have in JE- SUS" AND a favorite of all, "How Great Thou Art"!In the evening service we heard Libby Gray, Jessica Downey and Donnie Morrow singing, "I'm Still Amazed". Ok, choir mem- bers remember our choir practice every Sunday at 4:45 p.m. As we move on into the New Year, let's remember...The best things in life is free!! When we count our many blessings:it isn't hard to see that life's most valued treasures truly are free. For it isn't what we own or buy that signifies our wealth. It is the special gifts that have no price, our family friends and good health but most of all having JESUS in our hearts and walking through life with HIM .You've achieved nothing until you find GOD! Lots of love, prayers, blessings, hugs and smiles! Sandy Cole- man SHRINE CLUB BREAKFAST 1/2 MILE NORTH OF FANNING SPRINGS ON 26! Will be serving eggs; grits, gravy, sausage pancakes, biscuits, bacon, milk, orange juice, tea and coffee! All you can eat for $5.00!! February 2,2008 Proceeds benefit Suwannee River Shrine Club and are not tax-deductible! Pure Cane Syrup for sale I JOSEPH LITTLE CONCRETE SERVICES, INC. Specializing in Foundations -- Driveway Sidewalks -- Patios Licensed & Insured License #0404 Phone (352) .498-0649 Cell (352) 210-0415 The Dixie County Advocate Thursday January 31, 2008 tt