August 2019

Wed
07
Aug

Annual WHOO ride August 17

Brandi (Vorwald) Burrow (back, right) was diagnosed with breast cancer last winter and is nearly halfway through her biweekly chemotherapy treatments.  Once those are complete, she will be receiving 33 treatments of radiation, Monday through Friday in Waterloo.  This years annual WHOO (We Help Our Own) ride will be in support of the busy mother and her family, (clockwise from top right) children, Rowen, Brandi, Jace, Leryn, Cael, Tylen, Ayden and Brandi’s husband Jeff.

 

Annual WHOO ride August 17

 

 

By Meagan Molseed
mmolseed@thefayettecountyunion.com

 

 

“I am really amazed by all of the help we have received,” Brandi (Vorwald) Burrow said softly.  “So many people have done so much to help us get through this, and I am so truly grateful.” 

As Burrow sits at the table, her voice still carries its usual vivacious resonance.  It’s only after talking for a little while that the tiredness begins to seep through her perky demeanor.   

“I try and keep going and sometimes that’s my only option,” said the mother of six, who was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Christmas last year.  “There are days I don’t feel like doing much, which is really out of character for me.” 

Burrow’s cheeks are flush with color, giving a striking pink contrast to her black head wrap, which she wears regularly after she began losing her hair, as a side effect to her cancer treatments, just a few months ago.

“It has worn me out, but not quite as bad as I thought it would,” said Burrow of her diagnosis as subsequent treatments.  “I have had so much help from people bringing me meals, sending me cards.  Even people I don’t know very well, have stepped up to help in some wonderful ways.” 

Two of those people are Mark and Rose Harberts of Elgin, the organizers behind one of our community’s valuable fundraisers, the annual WHOO (We Help Our Own) motorcycle ride.  

“They contacted me just last month and mentioned organizing the ride for me and our family,” Burrow said with a smile.  

“I am not someone to ask for help, and at first I wasn’t sure what to think about it,” she continued.  “When Mark and Rose told me who they have helped in the past, I felt like I was in good company and I was honored they thought of me.” 

Late last year, Burrow was preparing to open a second-hand shop in West Union while adjusting to life with two college-aged boys, a busy three-year old, and three boys right in between when she felt a lump in her right breast.

“Life is always busy,” the veteran mother said.  “The boys are running from one sport to the next, and trying to balance it all could be a bit tricky!  Sometimes it’s hard to find time for your own care.” 

While the lump did concern Burrow a bit, she quickly forgot about it as the school year progressed.

“I had a pain in my right breast for a little while, and that’s when I felt the lump,” she recalled.  “I thought I felt a similar lump on my left breast, so I decided it was no big deal.  Eventually the pain went away, so I just kind of forgot about it.” 

It wasn’t until a few months later, at her regular exam in December, that Burrow learned just exactly what the lump was.

“My doctor felt it almost immediately and asked if I’d noticed it before,” Burrow explained.  “I had kind of forgotten about it, but all of a sudden it was something I was worried about again. “

A biopsy was ordered and six days later the West Union woman heard the heartbreaking news.  She had breast cancer.

“I had a feeling,” she said quietly remembering the first time she heard her diagnosis.  “I’m normally a very optimistic person, but for some reason I just felt that it would come back with bad news.” 

The next few weeks were a blur for the Vorwald family as Brandi, her husband Jeff, and their four oldest children, Tylen, Jace, Cael and Ayden dealt with the diagnosis. 

The two youngest children, Rowen aged six and Leryn, age 4, were a little too young to grasp exactly what was happening.

“We didn’t want to confuse anyone,” said the doting mother.  “At that time, we weren’t sure what this all meant in the long run, so we decided to share the information with them as needed.” 

Upon her mastectomy, the doctors discovered two tumors, the larger one showed no signs or risk of spreading, the second, smaller one was concerning to the oncologists, showing high risk of spreading.

“It was at that point that we learned I would need to start chemotherapy, and then radiation,” said Burrow.  “It was definitely not what we had hoped to hear.” 

Wed
07
Aug

Things are looking bright at St. Peter's Church

Workers from Cathedral Crafts out of Winona, Minn., get started replacing the 28 stained glass windows in St. Peter Lutheran Church in Eldorado. The windows had been removed in March and transported to the Cathedral studio for restoration work. They arrived back last week.

 

Things are looking bright at St. Peter's Church

 

By Jack Swanson
jswanson@fayettecountynewspapers.com

 

Parishioners at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Eldorado will be finding it easier to see the light in the coming days.

The historic church with its iconic twin towers is in the process of having all of its 28 stained glass windows restored.

The project started in March when windows were removed from their housing with sashes intact and transported to Cathedral Craft Studio in Winona Minn., where the windows were repaired, restored and protected.

Last week the windows were returned to the church to begin the process of reinstallation.

For Cathedral Craft crew foreman Jason Petersen, the reinstallation is business as usual.

“This is a normal project. We usually do entire churches all across the Midwest. This is a typical early century church,” Petersen said of the structure built in 1911.

He related that Ford Brothers of Minneapolis, Minn., made most of the windows as evidenced by a label that is embossed in one of the windows.

“We see a lot of their work around this area. They were known for nice figurative painting and a lot of detail especially in faces and hands,” he pointed out.

The two windows at the back of the altar though are thought to be several years older and are a stenciled design rather than mosaic style. Church lore has it that the two windows actually came over from Germany before the main church was built.

Petersen, who also works in the studio, likens the restoration work to putting together a puzzle.

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