As a member of the newly formed Crenshaw County Domestic Violence Task Force, Curtis Petrey is attending the Alabama Faith & Community-Based Development Conference at the Montgomery Civic Center on Oct. 21 and 22.

This is a part of President Bush's Faith-Based Initiatives.

Governor Riley has proclaimed each October as domestic violence awareness month. This year, the week of Oct. 17-23 will be highlighted as a time of domestic violence awareness through faith communities.

Domestic violence is an escalating problem in Crenshaw County. As of August 19 this year, there were 59 domestic violence calls to the Sheriff's Office and 49 domestic violence arrests for the year 2004 in Crenshaw County. The Task Force has brought 10 county agencies into a coalition to deal with the problem on a unified basis. Public awareness is an important step in addressing this social ill.

Ninety-five percent of victims are female. In the United States, statistics say that every nine seconds, a woman is abused. Alabama has several shelter programs. The nearest one to Crenshaw County is the Family Sunshine Center in Montgomery. The center's crisis line is 334-263-0218.

The statewide domestic violence hotline is 1-800-650-6522.

Crenshaw County Circuit Clerk Ann Tate is the Chairman of the Domestic Violence Task Force.

Anyone interested in becoming involved in this work can attend the next meeting of the Task Force will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 5 at the Courthouse.

Petrey hopes to learn more at the conference about how to establish a shelter for abused women and children in Crenshaw County. The conference is designed to teach community leaders how to best access government funds in the most ethical and strategic ways possible. Speakers are Dave Mills, top grant writer for We Care America (largest recipient of the HHS Compassion Capitol Fund), Dr. Tony Evans, Bob Woodson and others.

Some of the conference sponsors are The Governor's Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives, The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, HUD, FDIC, Alabama Housing Finance Authority, Alabama Securities Commission, Alabama State Banking Department, Fannie Mae, USDA and many others.

Petrey should profit greatly from the conference in his capacity as a member of the Crenshaw County Domestic Violence Task Force and also as Mayor of Petrey.

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The Northeast Crenshaw Volunteer Fire Department held its monthly meeting at the Petrey Community Center on Oct. 14.

There were 14 members present.

Chief Tommy Petrey is in the process of obtaining a tank and pump for the brush truck, which was given by Sheriff Charles West. A workday for the fire station was set for Saturday, Oct. 23 beginning at 8 a.m.

The first fundraiser for the volunteer fire department will be a Flea Market at the Petrey Community Center on Saturday, Nov. 20. One of the items for sale will be Boston butts.

The next meeting will be at Helicon on Thursday, Nov. 11.

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Mrs. Eula Mount, mother of Mrs. Tommy Petrey (Kathy), passed away last week. The funeral was held at Turner Chapel in Luverne on Sunday.

(See obituary.)

Mrs. Mount's mother (Kathy's grandmother), Mrs. Elizabeth Watson, was in the hospital last week.

Please pray for Kathy and her family.

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Petrey is all lit up at night now!

We have seven new streetlights.

Also, there are new tables and chairs at the Community Center and other improvements have been made.

Thanks to all who helped at the last workday.

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Correction: The Low Impact Aerobics class will meet on Mondays and Thursdays (not Tuesdays) at the Petrey Community Center, from 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. beginning Nov. 8.

The "Petrey Girls" (W. L. Petrey Wholesale Co.) are sponsoring this class as a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. The cost is $20 per month.

The annual Heart Walk will be held at E. L. Turner Park beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9.

Call Jenny Worthington at 335-6582 for more details about the Heart Walk and the Aerobics class.

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Laura Elliott attended the Board meeting of the Alabama Community Education Association on Oct. 8 at the Gordon Persons Building in Montgomery. The meeting was for the purpose of making plans for the upcoming conference in the spring.

The Board members had their picture taken with Governor Riley. The picture will be used for publicity for the Community Education program.

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Samantha Petrey, granddaughter of Lawrence and Margaret Petrey, was the senior Homecoming attendant at Crenshaw Christian Academy last Friday night. She is the daughter of William and Neva Petrey of Luverne.

Lawrence and Margaret attended the special assembly program at CCA in the afternoon in which all the attendants and Homecoming Queen were presented in their evening gowns.

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Scott and Laura Elliott hosted a cookout Saturday night. Those attending were Ashley Meadows, Tony Queen and daughter Kara of Alex City, Tara McLaney and Scott, Kristin and Lara Leigh Kelley.