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By Bonnie Bartel Latino

Columnist

Until recently, the ECHS Class of 1966 has been worried sick about our classmate, Emilie Wood Mims, who moved to North Carolina 15 years ago with her second husband, Glenn Edward Biggs. Ed grew up in North Carolina and attended Appalachia State, which is now a University in Boone, NC.

The couple have become mountain people in the best sense of the word. A gentleman, who also lives on Moonshine Mountain, above Em and Ed’s home, recently said on Facebook that “Emilie is one of the nicest women on the mountain.” She was a cheerleader for three years here at ECHS and always had a smile for each  classmate. Like her Mama, who served two terms as Mayor of Atmore, she never met a stranger. Emilie’s classmates have come to love Ed Biggs as if he were our classmate, too. The Class of 1966 has one bodacious big heart.

Joe Mitchem, who now lives in Birmingham, called me Saturday, and we talked how we both feel led, or perhaps called is a better word, to start this fund raiser. I hadn’t been able to speak with Emilie by phone until Sunday. It was important to Joe and I that Emilie and Ed chose two charities they know to be reputable and on the scene where they are truly helping where needed. Both of their charities meet those requirements.

Of course, they chose Samaritan’s Purse, to which many Atmoreans have already made generous donations. Is there anyone left on God’s good earth, who doesn’t know that Franklin Graham is the “Christian Genius” (my term) behind this worthy organization? What most probably don’t know is that Ed Biggs went to Appalachian State (now University) in Boone, NC, where Mr. Graham was a classmate. In fact, people have always said the two men look alike. With all the Samaritan’s Purse volunteers on the mountain, Ed is having way too much fun taking pictures with more than a few of them while teasing that Franklin was never as good looking as he is.

I asked Emilie about the situation there for displaced animals and even house pets. It seems that many people who’ve lost their homes and everything they ever owned feel compelled to turn in their pets to shelters with no hope of ever seeing them again. It’s a painful, but unselfish, act of agape love so their precious fur babies can be taken cared of and loved without all the chaos people and animals in the mountains of NW ‘Carolina are experiencing — and will be for years. These pets are likely going to be re-homed in other parts of nearby states. Emilie recommended our animal charity of choice be Yancy County Humane Society in Burnsville.

We invite any one, who would like to join the ECHS CLASS of 1966 in our fundraiser we are holding to give thanks that God spared Emilie and Ed’s lives, their home, and their four-legged baby, when so many others weren’t as fortunate.

This is our game plan, which I’ve tried to streamline and make it easy to donate to such worthy organizations.

Choose which charity (or both) you’d like to donate to, both are tax deductible organizations. Yes, the animal shelter is a 501c3. Make checks out to Samaritan’s Purse/Burnsville, NC and/or make a separate check for the animals to

Yancy County Humane Society/Burnsville, NC.

I recommend dating all checks November 1, 2024, as I am going to bundle and mail all of the checks to either the appropriate charity OR to Emilie and Ed and ask them to present the checks to the appropriate charities. As you can imagine there is a BIG problem with mail delivery without proper roads. But doing it this way, the USPS does not become the problem of the donors.

Mail checks MADE OUT TO THE APPROPRIATE CHARITY(S), BUT ADDRESS YOUR ENVELOPE to: Bonnie Latino, 304 E. Laurel Street, Atmore, AL, 36502 If you want to mail them when you write them, GO AHEAD, but remember, I will hold them until around November 1st.

We want this to be a joyful Thanksgiving gift to the folks and four-legged friends in the mountains around Burnsville, NC — from the people of Atmore, ALABAMA.

Feel free to share this information on your Facebook page or in your church newsletters as soon as possible. Please and thank you.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Bartel Latino

Class Secretary, ECHS ’66