Nice write up in local newspaper about me, my hunting trip and how we are trying to help others get back out and enjoy hunting and the outdoors:
> > For his Father: Siple nabs eight-point buck on hunting trip made possible
> > by ministry
> >
> > By Larry McGuire
> >
> > Of The Spirit
> >
> > CLOE — Duane Siple of Cloe thought that the things he loved about his
> > life would always be the there for him — family, friends, hunting and
> > sports.
> >
> > But six years ago, Siple’s life came crashing down when he was diagnosed
> > with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (
ALS), which changed his life forever.
> >
> >
ALS is a form of motor neuron disease and is sometimes called Maladie de
> > Charcot, a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the
> > degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous
> > system that control voluntary muscle movement.
> >
> > The condition is often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease in North America,
> > after the New York Yankees baseball icon who was diagnosed with the
> > disease in 1939 and died from it in 1941, at age 37.
> >
> > Betty Siple, Duane’s mom, explained how much of an effect the condition
> > had on her son’s life.
> >
> > “He was first diagnosed in March 2004,” she said. “The first signs
> > involved his speech slowing down. Duane worked on the railroad and called
> > me from work in January of that year, and if I hadn’t known better, I
> > would have thought he was drunk. Customers of the railroad began to
> > notice that his speech wasn’t what it was.
> >
> > “The railroad officials told Duane that he needed to take some time off
> > and find out what was going on,” she added.
> >
> > Betty explained that Duane saw a neurologist and had a lot of testing
> > done and was diagnosed March 29, 2004, with
ALS.
> >
> > “With
ALS, your nerves no longer connect with your muscles,” she said.
> > “His mind is just as sharp as it ever was. It’s his body that has
> > failed.We get him out, we take him out shopping and to eat, but Duane
> > missed the one thing that he loved most, which was deer hunting.”
> >
> > Paul Thompson, pastor of the Cloe First United Methodist Church, along
> > with other church and community members, recently held a fund- raiser
> > which was sold out before it was advertised. The money raised assisted
> > Duane in paying for a hunting trip, so he could return to the woods and
> > go on a deer hunt.
> >
> > Thompson explained that the hunt was sponsored through the organization
> > Answering Prayers, Steve Lecorchick Ministries, Inc. located in Northern
> > Cambria.
> >
> > “This is all about people like Duane who others say have disabilities,
> > and Lecorchick disagrees,” Thompson said. “People helping people is what
> > his ministry is all about.”
> > Lecorchick’s minsitry is non-denominational and non-profit, which grants
> > hunting and fishing trips around the globe, to the terminally ill and
> > qualified handicap people, through the love of God.
> >
> > Thompson said that Duane’s hunt was held Dec. 18 and it was just perfect.
> >
> > Duane said — through his Dynavox computerized voice machine — that for
> > that one day, he was happy to be out hunting with his buddies again.
> >
> > “For this one day, I was one of the guys again, just going hunting; not
> > worrying about being sick or any of the daily problems that we all
> > experience,” Duane said. “To this very day, I don’t consider myself to be
> > disabled, because I can still do a lot of things, I just do them
> > differently.
> >
> > “I prefer to use the term differently-abled instead,” he explained. “I
> > want to dedicate this hunt to my dad (Tom Siple who passed away in
> > November of 200
. Dad, this one is for you.”
> >
> > Thompson said the group who helped Duane with the hunt got him set up at
> > Monarch Mountain, which is an area hunting reserve, and an hour-
> > and-a-half later, the deer began trickling in.
> >
> > “They were real nervous when they knew that we were there,” Thompson
> > explained. “There were some does, and then there were some smaller bucks
> > that came in. It was a little while before the big bucks started coming
> > in.”
> >
> > Betty Siple said it had been four years since Duane had been out hunting.
> >
> > Thompson explained that Roger Farmery, Mark Hildebrand and himself
> > decided in mid-November that they wanted to plan a hunting trip for
> > Duane.
> >
> > “We started doing the legwork, and we found out that it was a lot of
> > legwork,” Thompson stated. “There was money in Steve’s (Lecorchick)
> > ministry to pay for the trip, and after the fund-raiser, we replaced that
> > money.
> >
> > “The excess funds went into the Tom Siple Memorial Fund to help pay for
> > hunting and fishing trips for those who are disabled in some way,”
> > Thompson said.
> >
> > Duane used his dad’s gun to bring down his eight point buck with one
> > shot.
> >
> > Betty said Duane’s Dynavox is a big help in being able to communicate
> > with him.
> >
> > “I can do anything you can do with a laptop with my Dynavox,” Duane
> > added.
> >
> > Thompson said that they’re now hoping to arrange a hunt or fishing trip
> > for Danny Stahl of Covode, who suffered a head injury in a traffic
> > accident that occurred 20 years ago on Christmas eve.
> >
> > Thompson said they are currently collecting funds to purchase a four-
> > wheel drive wheelchair which would give better access into the woods for
> > a disabled person on a hunting or fishing trip.
Article in paper about me 
Re: Article in paper about me 
