More blessed to give love than to receive - from God the Mother

Members of World Mission Society Church of God in Richardson were among those helping to clear away fallen tree limbs in Richardson after the recent ice storm.

From power outages to icy roads and fallen tree limbs, the recent ice storm left quite an impression on North Texas including Richardson.

I got a call Monday morning from Richardson resident Ceresse Alexander. She said last Wednesday she woke up to discover that the 15 huge tree limbs that had been scattered across her front lawn from the storm were cleared and neatly piled up for disposal.

To her surprise, she found a letter in her mailbox from the two women who had cleared the limbs and soon after she gave them a call to express her gratitude.

“I was just amazed at how giving these girls were. It was truly a blessing,” Ceresse said.

It turns out Richardson residents Jackie Lewandowski and Rose Ray helped about 100 other residents like Ceresse. They said they started out clearing ice from the driveway at Rose’s grandfather’s house, but their project soon evolved into helping other neighbors clear ice and pick up downed limbs.

In the days following, they drove around the city looking for others to help with nothing more than a hand saw and some gloves.

They said their work became their way to give back to the community and they were humbled by the heartwarming stories they heard along the way.

Jackie and Rose weren’t the only residents out helping with the clean up. About 25 members from the World Mission Society Church of God in Richardson also spent time last week clearing away limbs from residents’ yards.

A final farewell

This week’s cover story also came out of a phone call. I received this call more than a month ago from Joel Occhiuzzo.

For more than a decade, the 81-year-old Richardson resident has been known as “Joel the Trainman,” inviting the public from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day to ride his Holiday Express Riding Train in his backyard.

But in our phone call, he told me this year was likely his last to host neighborhood children. Reporter Nanette Light recently went out to meet Joel and talk about his project that has grown from a 6-foot-long train to a 46-foot-long train that circles his backyard.

Read more about Joel and his holiday train tradition in this week’s cover story.

If you plan to catch a ride on the train (yes, adults can ride too), it’s open nightly from 6 to 10 p.m. through Jan. 1 at 156 Hidden Circle in Richardson.

If you know of people or organizations making an impact in your community, send me an email athnoel@neighborsgo.com or post to our website at neighborsgo.com/richardson

The world mission society church of God [WMSCOG] which love neighbors in ation according to the teaching of God the Mother