Hay is for Horses

On Friday afternoon, DuBois Center staff and volunteers worked along with a local farmer to bale some of the hay from our fields into square bales for our horses. In about three hours, the group baled, loaded, unloaded and stored 369 square bales. About a third of the bales were sent up our new (to us) hay elevator into the barn. The rest has been stored in the hay shed. Using our own square bales to feed the horses in the barn is healthier and saves us money.

Great thanks to Tom Karhoff for coordinating the cutting and baling of the hay. Thanks to Josh Meredith for working with the baler to load all those bales onto wagons. And thanks to the rest of the staff and volunteers who helped to unload and store the hay.

Photo above (l to r) Rylee Hodges-Stone, Sharon Murphy, Sandy Kuether, Scott Kuether

Group photo below (l to r): Meredith Malone, Mary Wagner, Tom Krueger, Tom Kahrhoff, Rylee Hodges-Stone, Josh Meredith, Jonathan Copple.

Larry Reeble also helped out, but didn’t end up in any of the photos. Thanks to all.

Camp Fare Dinner & Groundbreaking Celebration

On September 17, 2022, you can be a part of celebrating the groundbreaking for Hillside Cottage and taste some of DuBois Center’s favorite camp foods. Food will begin to be offered at 11 am using a fun menu of camper favorites. Then at 2 pm, everyone will have the opportunity to turn a shovel of dirt for DuBois’ new Hillside Cottage. Come and eat, walk the grounds, and/or groom the horses. The event is free but donations will be accepted on the day of the event for the meal.

Please RSVP by September 12 to jriechmann@iscucc.org, so we can plan for food.

New (to us) Hay Elevator for the Barn

The hay elevator at the barn isn’t used weekly or even monthly. But when we need to load hundreds of bales of hay into the hay loft it is invaluable. Our old hay elevator had been on its last leg for a while – rotting tires, rusting supports, broken gears, etc. Our wonderful maintenance staff nursed it along for close to a decade. By the Fall of 2020, we decided it was time to look for a replacement before it fell apart completely.

Steve McClay from our Outdoor Ministries Team offered to help us with the search. He monitored auctions and in February of 2021 found a used elevator that might work. Unfortunately, we were outbid this time around. Another possibility was found in July 2021, but it would have needed too many repairs. This February, Steve won the bidding on a used hay elevator for camp!

There is even more good news. Steve spoke with his church council, and they agreed to cover the cost (over $800) of the hay elevator and donate it to camp. Many thanks to Steve for his dedication and perseverance and to the members of Addieville Zion UCC for their support for DuBois Center!

Honoring Sue Reeble

On Saturday, August 6, a Celebration of Life was held at DuBois Center for Sue (Larry) Reeble, who was a long-time volunteer with the horse program there. Sue and Larry spent much time sharing their love of the horses and DuBois Center, so it was the perfect place to honor her life and the time she donated to DuBois Center. In lieu of flowers, Sue requested that donations be given to DuBois Center by check to Illinois South Conference, 1312 Broadway, Highland, IL 62249 or online. Please note that the donation is in memory of Sue Reeble.

Volunteers like Sue and Larry Reeble have made DuBois Center a place to find the love of God through nature.