For their June meeting they visited Laura and David Turner at their shop in Conroe, Crossroads Antiques, for an hour of nibbling on coffee cakes and browsing through the shop, which specializes in Victorian antiques.

Then as a special treat they were invited to tour the Turners' home to enjoy their antique finds in a home setting. Laura was generous in sharing stories of how they found many of the pieces, and answered questions about everything from porcelains to rare doll furniture.

After an hour of happily exploring the Turner's choices, the group moved to China Lake for lunch and more talk about antiques.

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Doris Wright thought she was meeting friend Dorothy Lynch for lunch, but when she got to Hunan Village in Conroe she found 18 friends there to sing "Happy Birthday" and wish her many more.

Her grandson who joined the party, looked at the tables filled with well wishers and said, "Grandmother, are all of these your friends?" She assured him they were. There wasn't a gate crasher in the bunch.

A friend asked her if she was excited, and she replied, "The only time I was more excited was when I met Eddy Arnold." Her friendship with Arnold, a western singer of renown, continues to this day.

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The youth group at April Sound Church completed a successful fundraiser to help with expenses to attend Big Stuf Camp, a non-denominational camp in Panama Beach, Florida. This year the theme will be "Others First."

In addition to selling tickets for a barbecue dinner served after a recent church service, the energetic youth auctioned themselves off for a number of services, ranging from baby sitting to grocery shopping. They had some enthusiastic bidders.

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The youth group at April Sound Church, grades 7 - 12, have bridged the so-called generation gap. In an innovative program, the young people asked older members of the congregations if they might adopt them as a special friend, and they have remained in contact throughout the year.

At Easter time they sent resurrection eggs which contained special tokens. For Mother's Day their special friend received a bookmark. Father's Day brought a card with a blunted nail asking the man being honored to put it in his pocket as a reminder of the friendship.