Octorara townlively.com
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXXIV • NO 39
I “ will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.” Psalm 7:17
Yurick hopes to inspire others with new podcast BY FRANCINE FULTON
With no definitive plans for after graduation, he enlisted in u r m i s s i o n i s t o the Army and completed basic normalize sobriety training at Fort Sill in Lawton, a n d i n s p i re t h o s e Okla. He then went to Fort Bliss who are self-medicating in a in El Paso, Texas, for Advanced harmful way,” said Joe Yurick, Individual Training, graduating who recently started a podcast with honors as a Patriot Missile titled “This Sober Vet,” which System operator/maintainer. features firsthand stories told He was deployed overseas by veterans who have overcome as part of Operation Enduring issues with addicFreedom and tion. His goal is for O p e ra t i o n I ra q i listeners to think, Freedom, serving “All we are doing in Qatar, Baghdad “If these veterans is planting seeds got through it and and later Kuwait. are sober, maybe I “Our main mission of inspiration could do that.” was to protect and hope.” Yurick , who is central command,” c e l e b ra t i n g t w o he explained. “A and a half years of Pa t r i o t M i s s i l e being sober, recently completed launch (shoots down) enemy the first recording of the podcast, aircraft out of the sky.” themed “Joe’s Sobriety Story,” He was honorably discharged during which he provides listen- in 2004 and did not choose to ers with biographic information. re-enlist despite a promise of His co-host for the podcast being stationed in Germany. “I is Theresa Thomas, a mental came back with my limbs and my health therapist who served with sanity, so me and Uncle Sam were Yurick in the United States Army. square,” he commented. She will also co-host upcoming He said his drinking began podcasts. in high school and it continued Yurick is a 2000 graduate of through his service and when he Octorara Junior-Senior High returned. With the help of his School, where he describes himself wife, Katelyn, he decided to give as having been the “class clown.” up the drinking for the sake of his “Every classroom was an audience, family. and I had my own desk in the To celebrate his sobriety, he in-school suspension room,” he would go on Saturday morning joked. hikes wearing his rucksack. “I
BY ANN MEAD ASH
Joe Yurick
would rucksack 4 or 5 miles in the woods, hoping for inspiration. I challenged God, (saying), ‘Here I am sober. Please use me in whatever way You can,’” Yurick recalled. “I turned this corner that I had hundreds of times
and heard in my mind as clear as day, ‘This Sober Vet.’ I started brainstorming and (thinking) a podcast is a cool idea.” He then solicited the help of Thomas, his veteran colleague, and rented out recording space
On Saturday, Dec. 14, as part of the Wreaths Across America (WAA) effort, which places wreaths on the graves of those who served in the military, 3,000 wreaths will be distributed to cemeteries in the Pequea Valley and Octorara school districts. This is the sixth year that Gap resident Paula Diem has coordinated the project, which involves Pequea Valley schools, the Gap Fire Company, and about 100 members of the area Boy and Girl Scout organizations. “This year, we are honoring the Scouts who are our feet on the ground,” said Diem. The Scouts will be honored during a special ceremony, which will be held at noon at the Pequea Valley Intermediate School (PVIS), 166 S. New Holland Road, Kinzers. The 30-minute ceremony will feature a speaker, wreaths presented by eight veterans, and a 21-rifle salute. Representatives of Parkesburg VFW Post 4480 will present the colors, and Pequea Valley High School (PVHS) sophomore Spencer Groff will play taps. The event is free and open to the community.
See Podcast pg 6
See Wreaths Across America pg 3
Picture-Perfect
400 Long Lane at Marticville Road (Rt. 741 & 324)
717-872-9311
www.cherryhillorchards.com
• Trees • Wreaths • Garland • Greens
more for your decorating! PLUS lots Mon.-Sat. 8-6
R113087
FRASER FIR POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER NOV. 27, 2024
PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Engle Printing Co
Postal Patron
OCC
“O
Honoring veterans by decorating graves