BY JAYLYNN LESLIE GRAY
Enquirer Contributor
The streets were windy and snowy, but students and faculty from Elder High School were fortified with rakes, leaf bags and hearts of goodwill.
Their assignment last weekend was to help the Price Hill elderly and handicapped with yard work such as raking leaves, moving porch furniture into garages for the winter, or any other odd jobs that might need to be done. Faculty members climbed ladders to clean gutters.
''The weather is never nice for Prepare Affair. It was extremely windy last year,'' said Roger Auer, co-chairman of the religion department at Elder.
Mr. Auer introduced ''Prepare Affair'' to the school about five years ago as part of People Working Cooperatively (PWC). Elder is a PWC satellite for the Price Hill area.
''It gives me a good feeling inside to be able to give back,'' said junior John McKiernan, 16, of Delhi Township.
For some students, volunteering helps fulfill school-required service hours to the community. Senior Brendan Walsh, 17, of Green Township said he chose Prepare Affair for another reason: ''I like to take advantage of opportunities to help other people.''
LuAnn Sullivan, 42, and her grandmother Eva Roeck, 98, of Price Hill, were glad to see the Elder students Saturday morning. ''The repairs on the house had gotten overwhelming,'' said Ms. Sullivan.
''PWC helped winterize the house by cleaning the furnace, doing plumbing repairs and supplying insulation. They're amazing.''
Ms. Sullivan was especially thankful for the yard work. ''My grandparents bought this house over 50 years ago, and there are a lot of memories,'' she said.
''When I was younger, the whole family was out in the yard every weekend in the summers. There was a really nice tree out there, and I remember that's where the tubs of pop and beer used to be.''
''This house is probably close to 200 years old,'' she said, pointing out what used to be dairy land. ''My grandmother's father used to deliver milk to this house as a child.''
Junior Justin Kernen, 16, of Green Township carted a bag of leaves half his size out of a yard a few blocks away. ''This bag must weigh 200 pounds,'' he said.
''These boys are wonderful,'' said an elderly homeowner who lives alone and was unable to complete the yard work by herself.
Published Nov. 14, 1996
