One 4 burner electric stove, $75; push mower, $75; riding law mower, $150; china cabinet and dining room table with 6 chairs, $300. Call 748-4147 after 6 PM.

Western apparel (used) for women starting at $5.00 and up OBO, brand name shirts, pants, boots, hats, belts & buckles. Also, PAGEANT dress for sale, Gorgeous detail, toddler size 3-5, Effingham. Call 659-8950.

6’ x 12’ enclosed trailer with ramp, rear door, and side door. Full height. $1600. Call for more information, 596-8870.

Sports

• The Pooler Recreation Department is now taking signups for football and cheerleading for the 2006 season. You can signup Monday thru Friday from 9am to 5pm. Cheerleading signups will end on July 21st. THIS WILL BE THE LAST DAY. Football signups will end on July 28th. For more information, call the Pooler Recreation Department at 748-5776.

• 21st FITNESS PRO HILTON HEAD FIRECRACKER 5OOO

The 21st Annual Fitness Pro HHI Firecracker 5000 Road Race and Family Fun Walk will be held on Tuesday, July 4 at 8:00am from the Mall at Shelter Cove. The Fitness Pro Firecracker 5000, is the largest and oldest road race in Beaufort County. Over 900 runners and walkers of all ages and ability from across the United States annually participate in this fun, healthy, family event.

The 5K (3.1 miles) Firecracker 5000 course starts and finishes behind the Mall at Shelter Cove and takes participants through the fast and flat roads around Shelter Cove Harbour. The festive post-race celebration features live music, fresh fruit, ice cold refreshments, door prizes and more. A percentage of proceeds from the event benefits two local charities: Hilton Head Aquatics and The Hilton Head Runners Club.

The 21st Annual Fitness Pro Firecracker 5000 is sponsored by: Harbourside Bank, Beaufort Memorial Medical Services, Savannah Hilton Head International Airport, Wild Wing Cafe, Nationwide Insurance, The Island Packet, Mortgage Network, Piggly Wiggly at Shelter Cove, Adventure Radio Group, Papa Johns Pizza, Hilton Head Diner, Jim & Nicks BBQ, Moe's Southwest Grill, Haber Vision, Pepsi, Coastal Sport & Wellness and Clear Mountain Water.

Applications are available now at all sponsor locations. Everyone regardless of age or ability is encouraged to participate is the event. The first 1000 participants will receive an Fitness Pro Firecracker 5000 T-shirt. To register on line visit our web site at www.bearfootsports.com or contact Bear Foot Sports at 843/379-3440.

High School Sports

By C. Edward Wilson

Savannah Olympic Yachting Reunion set for July

The Savannah Sailing Center will hold a 10th anniversary reunion for staff members and volunteers from the 1996 Olympic yachting events on July 22nd. The sailing events in Savannah had more than 300 staff members and over 1,500 volunteers. The sailing event was the only live event delegated to Savannah during the Olympics.

The cost will be $50 per person and includes lunch and an evening reception at the Savannah Riverfront Marriott beginning at 6 p.m. For registration and additional information, visit the reunion Web site at www.savannaholympics06.org or send an e-mail to savannaholympics06@yahoo.com.

Proceeds from the reunion will benefit the Savannah Sailing Center, Savannah's legacy organization of the 1996 Olympics. The Center was created in 1993 and played a large role in the 1996 Olympic yachting events by training all of the on-water volunteers and hosting more than 10 international regattas, including the 1996 U.S. Olympic Yachting Trials.

Braves sign Savannah native

The struggling pitching staff of the Atlanta Braves made a crucial decision recently by bringing home a local standout pitcher. The staff, one of the worst in the major leagues, are giving a mid-90’s draft choice a chance to turn around its misfortunes. Former Windsor Forest High School standout Jason Shiell is returning home to the state of Georgia.

The Atlanta Braves signed Shiell on Thursday and assigned the 6-foot right-hander to Class AAA Richmond (VA). Shiell, a 48th-round draft choice by the Braves in 1995, had been pitching for the Somerset (N.J.) Patriots in the independent Atlantic League. The 29-year-old Savannah native posted a 3-2 record with a 2.92 ERA in nine starts for the Patriots this season with 32 strikeouts in 52.1 innings.

Shiell was named to the Georgia Guardian’s All-City first team as a pitcher. The paper, which was owned by the Savannah College of Art and Design, is no longer in existence.

Shiell has 20 games of major-league experience with the San Diego Padres and the Boston Red Sox. He was 0-0 with a 27.00 ERA in three appearances with the Padres in 2002 and 2-0 with a 4.63 ERA in 17 appearances with the Red Sox in 2003.

The Red Sox had him in their big-league camp in 2004, but he was plagued by arm trouble. In nine minor-league seasons, Shiell is 36-30 with a 3.55 ERA in 218 appearances.

Wild Times Outdoors

Wings Like Eagles

Taking kids hunting and fishing.... a whole new meaning...

By Craig Turner

Boy and Dad go hunting. Boy shoots moose. Boy feels like a man. This story, which might seem like the outline for a Hollywood script, was played out in real life. The boy and his dad traveled from Idaho to Alaska for the hunt. It was the first time the boy had been moose hunting--a lifelong dream. Ready for the lump-in-your-throat part? The boy has had a heart and two kidney transplants. He's only 13.

"He's a different kid now, his confidence level is up," says Larry Semore of his son, Stephen, after the hunt. "He's more hopeful for his future than ever before." On that trip, says Dad, "He became a man."

Becoming a man, or a woman, is a process nearly every

child takes for granted, but some cherish merely the thought of living past their teens. Call them kids with a terminal illness or life-threatening diseases, disadvantaged youths--whatever the label, these kids live a life in and out of hospitals hoping for something, anything, to look forward to.

A number of organizations have sprung up in the outdoor community in the past seven or eight years that specialize in providing just that. Off-shoots of the well-known Make-A-Wish foundation, they offer hunting, trips and other outdoor experiences to kids who battle life-threatening illness or are severely disadvantaged. If all goes well (and, remarkably, it usually does) the kids end up with not only a hunting or fishing trip but also a life-long memory to draw strength from.

Catch-A-Dream, Hunt of a Lifetime, Special Youth Challenge Ministries, Benefit4Kids, Safari Wish, Buckmasters Life Hunt and other groups use their resources to grant wishes for outdoor experiences. They are taking up where Make-A-Wish left off in the late '90s when, under pressure from animal-rights activists, it stopped offering hunting trips. However, today many Make-A-Wish chapters often refer kids to hunting-specific organizations.

The job is big, but the founders of these groups all seem to have a personal story that motivates them and a dedication that goes beyond mere philanthropy.

"Bruce Brady's favorite Bible verse was Isaiah 40:31," says Dr. Marty Brunson, point man for Catch-A-Dream, a nonprofit conceived of by the late outdoor writer and sculptor Brady. Brunson quotes: "'But those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall soar on eagles wings; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not be faint.'" Brunson sums it up this way: "Our tool is booking trips; our mission is hope."

Hope is the recurring theme in any conversation with those who grant hunting wishes to kids. Though not all are faith-based in the official sense, many try to encourage kids and families in the area of faith as well as providing hunts that truly are "the hunt of a lifetime."

Tina Pattison and her husband formed a group with the Hunt of a Lifetime moniker in honor of their son, Matthew, who died of cancer at age 19. He wanted to hunt moose in Canada, and his parents contacted Make-A-Wish. Turned down, they started contacting outfitters and suppliers to solicit help.

Soon, donations of airfare, food, nursing and a free hunt all came together. Matt got his wish and bagged a moose with a 55-inch spread. The successful hunt came just six months before he passed away in April 1999.

Determination is a common trait among wish-granting organizations. No one wants to deny a kid a dream because of lack of funds or resources. "We never want to turn a kid down," says Gene Rurka of Safari Wish, a program of the Safari Club International Foundation.

Few organizations have had to. Benefit4Kids has put together 21 trips since 1998. Catch-A-Dream has granted 40 wishes since January 2002. Buckmaster's Life Hunts has done 112 since 1998. Safari Wish conservatively estimates several hundred experiences have been put together by its many local chapters since 1996.

To pull off these hunts, organizations depend almost wholly on donations: services and tags from outfitters; flights from airlines; frequent flyer miles from individuals; guns and ammo from manufacturers; clothes and gear from retailers; and cash from individual donors.

The list of outdoor companies that support the wish programs reads like an industry trade show listing: Wal-Mart, Mossy Oak, NRA, Connecticut Valley Arms, Bass Pro Shops. A complete list would include companies of every size and function in the outdoor industry.

But sometimes it takes more than donations. One of the great challenges with granting hunts is time. Kids often have precious little time to waste, but hunting is not available year-round--seasons must be open, tags acquired and schedules arranged. Exceptions can be made, though.

In an unprecedented move last year, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission granted a Mississippi boy permission to hunt deer several weeks before the official season opened, recognizing that his time was short.

To get the wish-granting process started, a parent or legal guardian usually needs to fill out an application. Most groups have them posted on their websites. With physician approval and acceptance by the organization, kids can realize their dream of hunting. And trips are typically "soup to nuts," in the words of SCI's Rurka. Families needn't worry about any expenses.

Different groups have different criteria; some limit age to under 21, others to 18. Some specialize in kids with "life-threatening illness," some expand that to "life-limiting." But even these guidelines aren't hard and fast. "Basically, it's just up to the board," says Brunson. In the business of hope, circumstances matter more than statistics.

WANT TO HELP WITH A WISH?

The biggest issue in the wish-granting business is "resource sustainability." In plain language, that means donations. Gifts of money, air miles, land use, equipment, clothing, transportation, meals, outfitter services, even taxidermy, are what keep wish programs alive. A close second, however, is simply getting the word out that these organizations are around.

"If I could put one thing in people's minds it would be to let the medical community know that groups like us exist," says Steve Pray of Benefit4Kids. "For us to go out and search for kids. . .we can do it, but if we can get the medical community working with us, we can be more effective."

That sentiment is echoed by David Sullivan of Life Hunts, but he also says that getting the word out is harder than one might think.

"The hospitals and clinics for the most part do not welcome us with open arms. With fear of losing funding from wealthy anti-gun and anti-hunting contributors, they either make us take the back door approach or do not help at all," says Sullivan. "Recently I had someone threatened with their job if they ever mentioned our program to another child at the facility again. And we had already taken several children from the place and made their greatest wishes come true. What a shame that we may never get another one from there."

www.benefit4kids.org

Buckmasters Life Hunts

www.huntofalifetime.org

Special Youth Challenge

You can contact Craig Turner at spiritnewpapers@aol.com, or

gaplantationproducts@yahoo.com, or on his cell phone, 658-1936.