Students from the Allied Health Program at West Lauderdale High School demonstrated proper CPR procedures at the April meeting of the Center Hill Community Development Club.

    Jeremy Sharpe, Harley Madison and Tatyonia Davis incorporated a CPR dummy and infant doll in their presentation, which included demonstrating the proper techniques for administering CPR to a victim and a baby. The also provided pointers for dealing with heatstroke, frost bite, bleeding and other emergencies.

    As a devotional presentation, club member Lou Limerick provided insight on the origin of the song “His Name Is Wonderful.”

    Referencing “Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories” by Robert J. Morgan, Limerick told the story of how the song evolved from a small church in 1959. She began with the scriptural reading Philippians 2:9, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”

    “In an era when ‘bigger is better’ and success is usually measured by statistics, it’s important to remember that small churches can still do great things,” Limerick said.

    “Audrey May Mieir was born on May 12, 1916, and was a gifted pianist, inspiring worship leader, song director and choral clinician. She attended Bible college, married, and was ordained to the Gospel ministry. She was working in her brother-in-law’s church in a suburb of Los Angeles in the late 1950s, when Christmas fell on a Sunday and the church was decorated with pine boughs. The choir loft was transformed into a manger scene and the young people had worked hard on their performance of the Christmas story.”

    Mieir spoke of how she was almost overwhelmed with the fragrance, sounds, and most of all, the gentle moving of the Spirit in that small church.

    “She said that when the pastor opened his Bible and said that His name shall be called ‘Wonderful,’ it was all it took,” Limerick said.

    Mieir wrote the words and music to ‘His Name Is Wonderful” in the flyleaf of her Bible and during the Sunday evening service, taught the chorus to a group of young people who then sung it for the first time.

    “The song was well received, but a friend told her that there just wasn’t enough of it; that maybe she could write a bridge for it,” Limerick said. “Audrey went to lunch that day, ordered a hamburger, opened her Bible and found a list of names given to Jesus in the Scripture. Jotting some of them down, she returned to her office, sat down at her piano and began writing the song we know today.”

    Limerick closed by noting that although the song was inspired on Christmas Day by a traditional Christmas text, “His Name Is Wonderful” has never been specifically known as a Christmas hymn, but as a favorite of Christians around the world.

    Brother Wallace Terry closed the devotion with prayer and blessing.

    Club president Robin Doerner opened the meeting with a welcome, especially to those members who had been absent due to sickness. Doerner’s quote for the night was attributed to Granny Clampett of the ’60s television sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies,” but, in truth, is just another Southernism familiar to those in the South: “If common sense was lard, most people wouldn’t be able to grease a pan.”

    Club members provided cakes and assistance in serving at the recent appreciation luncheon for the Lauderdale County Sheriff Department.

    The county’s community development clubs provided a booth at the Business Expo held April 20, with club members providing booth personnel and a gift basket as a giveaway.

    Elaine Herber and Cathy Clearman attended the recent Sponsors Supper at the Causeyville CDC.  They were unable to attend the Long Creek event, due to inclimate weather.

    Stanley Lucky’s safety report presentation emphasized that as people get older, having a medical alert system is important to inform proper contacts of their need for emergency assistance when they are unable to get to a phone.  

    “A large number of our club members live alone,” Lucky said. “Having a product that you can wear around your neck or wrist, can bring assistance immediately instead of possibly lying hurt hoping someone will come by.”

    Door prizes were awarded and the meeting adjourned with the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance.

• Submitted by Cathy Clearman, secretary/reporter.