ANDY ROSENBERG UPDATE

It was announced in practice Monday that Andy did pass away on Saturday November 25th. Andy was a longtime member of New Horizons. He played the viola with us, but most of us know him as the guy who allowed New Horizons to enter the 21st century. He was integral in helping us set up the web-site and trouble shooting its issues. He helped us go from paying by mail to paying online. He set up zooming during COVID, and we are still using it. He did our taxes. There’s probably so much more he did that those of us who are technologically challenged don’t even know. Whenever any one of us had a problem with technology, he was the go-to guy. And this is why every one of us knew him. We all needed him.

Andy did not want a funeral or an obituary. Likewise the family does not want any cards, texts, or emails. True to his nature Andy, was an unassuming man … a quiet thoughtful man. He loved New Horizons. And to be honest … he was one of the most significant and respected individuals of our group. He will be so missed.

JOHN BURKEY

John Burkey is the husband of Sue Burkey who plays violin with us. It has been awhile since we have seen Sue, which is understandable; family comes first. Unfortunately John originally had Parkinson’s disease and within the last 2 years he developed multiple problems. As the number and frequency of issues increased, it became apparent that recovering was not possible. He passed away Thanksgiving morning. John left behind Sue and two of his siblings. Please pray for God to provide peace and comfort to this family

Below is John’s obituary:

John H. Burkey

January 29, 1950 — November 23, 2023

John H. Burkey, age 73, passed away on November 23, 2023 at Aultman Hospital.

He was born on January 29, 1950, in Alliance, to Frank and Edna (Simmons) Burkey.

John graduated from Marlington High School in 1968. He was employed for 35 years servicing and installing elevators and escalators. He was a member of The Chapel in Marlboro.

John loved to fish and did so year round. He also enjoyed camping, hunting, gardening and riding his motorcycle with his wife, Sue.

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of 47 years, Sue (Myers) Burkey; his sister, Susan Haase; and brother, Frank.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Robert; and nephew, Glenn.  

Per John’s wishes, no services will be held.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Foundation, P.O. Box 5014 Hagerstown, MD 21740.To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of John H. Burkey, please visit our flower store.

ANDY ROSENBERG

For those of you who were not at rehearsal tonight, Jim shared that unfortunately Andy is now in hospice. This illness has progressed very quickly. Please pray that they can keep Andy as pain-free as possible, and that God will wrap His arms around Andy and his family, comforting them during this time.

Jim mentioned that the Andy and the family do not want any cards, texts, e-mails, or visits at this time. Although this is hard, it’s important that we respect their wishes.

CHRISTMAS FOR INSTRUCTORS

Hi Fellow New Horizon Members:

It’s been another exciting year for New Horizons, full of practices, improvements, performances, and even paid performances. I can’t even believe the holidays are creeping up on us.

First of all, I just want to thank all of you who either attended the 1st E. C. Church Harvest Home dinner, or donated money towards this year’s project. The church truly appreciates your generosity.

Secondly, this time of year also means showing our appreciation for our instructors. As a Christmas gift, we ask members to make whatever contribution they feel comfortable with. We will be presenting them with their monetary gift at the last rehearsal on Monday December 4. They do so much for us! It’s not just practices and performances. It’s scheduling performances, making connections in the community, keeping us financially afloat, moving equipment, writing up music parts … and much of it is unpaid. The list goes on and on. So let’s show Jim, Bev, and Cal how much we love and appreciate them.

You can either give your money to myself, Marilyn Katzmark, or Kathy Jesser. If you prefer to mail it to one of us, our addresses are the following: Marilyn Katzmark, 2058 Lavada Drive, Akron, OH 44312, and Kathy Jesser, 2943 Pepper Hill Circle, Akron, OH 44312.

So, I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s , full of God’s blessings.

Marilyn Katzmark

CARRIE CUNNINGHAM

Most of us know that Carrie had her knee replaced last week. For those of you who have gone through this surgery, I’m sure you’re more than aware of the pain involved. Unfortunately, Carrie has been experiencing shortness of breath and pain in her calf. She was admitted the Cuyahoga Falls Western Reserve Hospital Tuesday for blood clots in her lungs and a DVT. Needless to say, between post-surgical pain, calf pain, and not being able to take a deep breath, Carrie is frustrated.

It would be appreciated if you could pray for her blood clots to dissolve quickly and for her pain to be manageable. Once that’s accomplished, she would appreciate a speedy recovery. Hang in there, Carrie, we’re all rooting for you!

HARVEST HOME DINNER

It’s that time of year when First E. C. Church has its Harvest Home Dinner. The congregation gets together for a Thanksgiving dinner and members donate money to assist with either a specific project or church repairs in general. Since members of New Horizons expressed appreciation for the use of our church and wondered what they could do to help, First E. C. invited our NH members to Harvest Home last year. It was such a success that they would like to invite us again.

So mark your calendars! Harvest Home Dinner will be Wednesday November 8th at 6:00. It will be catered by the Waterloo Restaurant. There will be a signup sheet at each practice, with Thursday November 2 being the last day for the signup sheet. If need be, if being at rehearsals is not possible, text me at (330)612-5542.

Come join us! We would love to see you there!

Marilyn Katzmark

John McDowell’s Church Performance

I performed today at church. It was my first ever live and in-person before an audience of around 100.

The music is “The Holy City” by Stephan Adams. The music source was 8notes.com, which I highly recommend for anyone seeking music to play for their own pleasure and growth.

Without NHB, I would never had gained the experience needed for me to even consider this.
Thanks to Jim, Jamie, Bev and Cal!!

ANDREW CANTER

Andrew is Carrie Cunningham’s grandson. This is a little after the fact, but he still really needs prayer. He had been taking an appropriate amount of aleve and ibuprofen for an old sports injury, but unbeknownst to anyone he had developed an ulcer. A couple of days ago the ulcer perforated and he needed to be airlifted to a better hospital so that emergency surgery could be done. He was really in grave danger, especially since the e.r initially wanted to send him home. If it wasn’t for his mom refusing to take him home, and then later insisting he be life flighted to the other hospital, the outcome may have been quite different. He was just a couple hours away from being septic.

Thankfully surgery went well and he should be out of the hospital in a week, but pain management and the risk of infection is still a concern. Please pray for his perfect healing.

MEMORIAL DAY BECOMES REAL

I will say, I am guilty of never really connecting with Memorial Day. I understood it on a cognitive level but I just could not totally relate. No one in my immediate family had been in the service until my niece and son-in-law, and thankfully they have not had to go into combat yet. But I did have an uncle who did. He died at Anzio during WWII and he was just…that uncle I never knew.

I grew up twirling in parades for Memorial Day and laying lilacs on graves. The family tradition was to go to the graves of our deceased relatives and bring flowers and make sure everything had enough water. So Memorial Day in general was about remembering who died before us, whether they served in the armed forces or not.

Our performances for New Horizons have helped me to better understand what Memorial Day is all about. When I see these older people fervently commemorating our fallen soldiers, it really helps put things in perspective. I especially was listening this year as to where all the Americans were buried over seas. Where were the guys who died at Anzio buried, I wondered.

This year, something really changed how I see Memorial Day. My niece posted information on my brother-in-law’s Uncle Alexander. He died in Anzio and was buried in Sicily-Rome. Our family and their family were very close and lived in the same town, but in the 1940’s they lived 2 hours apart. Could Alexander and Paul have known each other? After getting information from a cousin about Uncle Paul, because I didn’t even know his middle name, we found out some interesting stuff. It’s doubtful Alex and Paul knew each other, but they died 13 days apart. Paul was 20 yo and Alex was 19 yo. Paul was buried in his home town, and his grave was still being watered by my sister and sister-in-law who were carrying on the Memorial Day tradition. I had probably watered that same grave years before; I just didn’t care enough at the time to remember.

They both received Purple Hearts. Paul also received a Silver Star. The below citation is what changed me. I was filled with pride, sadness, and gratitude. I could “feel” the story. He was never going to be married, have kids, and he was never going to reconcile his relationship with his dad, which is why he enlisted in the army in the first place. All of a sudden Memorial Day became very very real.

PAUL J. KELLY, 32945161, Private, Company K, 135th Infantry

For gallantry in action on 26 May 1944, in the vicinity of Velletri, (Rome, Lazio) Italy. During an attack by enemy armor, Pvt. Kelly and another comrade manned a bazooka gun and, disregarding intense small arms fire that was raking their position, succeeded in knocking out an advancing enemy tank. Refusing to seek cover, Pvt Kelly then turned his attention to an enemy self-propelled gun which was firing on his company’s position at point blank range. The courageous duel with the enemy artillery piece ended with Pvt Kelly being killed and his comrade painfully wounded. But their heroic stand so inspired their comrades that they drove off the enemy gun and broke up the enemy counter-attack.

I just want to thank all the Pauls and and Alexs that have died over the years defending our country. I feel undeserving of everything they have done. Because of them, I have had a wonderful life, a wonderful family, and freedom.