The gala event held at the Dante Club was a hit. Every year the Kiwanis (Divisions 7 and 44) throw this beautiful party. The Who’s Who in Sacramento’s charity culture arrived in elegant ball gowns and suits. The crowd is diverse. Some wealthy, some not. They all have one thing in common; the Kiwanis Family House. The luxury of this event seems far removed from the day-to-day struggle of people staying at the Kiwanis Family House. Is this just another party masquerading as a fund raiser? As the prime rib was cleared away Bill Hooper, President of the board of directors for the Kiwanis Family House, took the microphone and gave us a quick history of a couple . . . Vern and Leona Bright. V

Most of us have at least one person in our family who has served in the military during wartime. These men and women live amongst us, some suffering more than others, some not suffering at all. As they age their sense of self worth comes into focus, and they struggle to explain themselves to younger family members. Talking about traumatic events experienced during war is stressful and exhausting. So the question is “Should we dredge up old painful memories? Are our grandfathers and fathers too old to heal?” Apparently Frazier Sheppard and Laverne Shimanek feel you are never too old to heal. Sheppard (US Army, Vietnam) and Shimanek (US Marine, Korea) are both veterans of war and now they r