BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Arthur "Cowboy" McNeil said he used to spend his holidays with Jerry Springer. Whether the topic was fashion-impaired cross-dressers or repentant adulterers, Mr. McNeil's television would be tuned in.
"I just like dirt," the 72-year-old Madisonville man admitted bashfully.
But then he heard about Little Brothers. The non-profit, international group -- which has a local chapter in Mount Airy -- befriends elderly people, visiting them at home, holding holiday celebrations and organizing outings to ballgames and parks.
After having "a beautiful time" at a Little Brothers-organized St. Patrick's Day party, Mr. McNeil was the first to show up Saturday for an Easter brunch at the group's Colerain Avenue office.
"I'm a loner and usually not one to mingle," said Mr. McNeil, who lives alone in the same house his family moved into in 1937. "But this place is really uplifting to me," he said.
Like Mr. McNeil, most of those served are "isolated elderly." Today, Little Brothers volunteers will take holiday dinners and Easter baskets to more than 200 elderly people in Greater Cincinnati. "I've always enjoyed working with the elderly -- every person has a fascinating story to tell," said Mary "Yogi" Wess, whose husband, Randy Yauss, heads the Mount Airy chapter. "You get so much more than you can ever give," she said.
The couple has spent every holiday at Little Brothers events, creating a family tradition of community service. "We don't do holidays any other way," Ms. Wess said, smiling at her two daughters.
That's something Ralph Vallard appreciates. "Everyone here has become my family," the 71-year-old Milford man said.
