A big welcome back to Ron Hall who has recuperated fully from his foot surgery. Also welcome back to Ashley Morris our switchboard operator who had emergency gall bladder surgery but has made a full recovery.

Get well to….

Thomas White, delivery driver, Herman Buckingham, delivery driver, Clarissa Meinhardt, our operator for the summertime, and to David Henson, sales at Ransom Motors

Condolences to out to Jimmy Goddard whose grandmother passed away in July. Also to the family of David Butler, former Brandywine employee who was killed in an accident in late July, and to Robbie Baden whose aunt passed away

WELCOME ABOARD TO OUR NEWEST EMPLOYEES!

• Daniel Proctor, Ransom Motors and Brandywine
• Miseal Avalos, dismantler at Compact Auto Parts
• Troy Smith, clean-up for the summer at Compact Auto Parts
• Daniel Vickers and William Debrel, dismantlers at Eden Used Auto Parts

We’re glad you joined us!

Here’s a recipe for a simple pound cake. It comes out perfect every time and takes ingredients most of us have in our pantry:

SAND MOUNTAIN POUND CAKE

2 ½ cups self-rising flour 2 cups sugar
4 eggs 1 ½ cups oil
1 cup chopped pecans (can be omitted) 1 cup coconut
½ teaspoon coconut flavoring 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small can CRUSHED pineapple and juice

Mix all ingredients well in large bowl. Pour into greased large bunt pan or pound cake pan. Cook @ 325 for 1 hour and 20 minutes (be sure to preheat your oven)

GLAZE:
1 ½ cup sugar
3 teaspoons coconut flavoring
¾ cup hot water
Boil all 1 minute. When cake is done, pour glaze over cake while still in pan and return to oven for 3 minutes. Let cake cool completely in pan before removing.

And here’s a couple of photo ops we couldn’t pass up!

Here is Joe Yates and Walter, snapped right before Joe was taking his son to see his new college and attend orientation. You must be so proud, Joe!

Here’s Arthur Ivey, Save More delivery driver, assisting Steven “Smitty” Smith with loading a part on to his truck. Two long-timers, both Smitty and Arthur have been with Save More for 28 +/- YEARS!!! Wow, congratulations to you both!

This photo, shot about 30 years ago, is a photo of somebody special’s wedding. The groom and best man still work at Brandywine, anybody know who these handsome guys are???

A big THANK YOU goes to Tucker Connick who is an avid gardener every summer and who brought us a bunch of yummy vegetables again this year, thanks Tucker!

And thank you to everyone for another great month! We’re slowly winding down on the clunkers and wish to thank everybody once again for all the hard work. We are successful but wouldn’t be where we are today if not for our employees. Thank you from the Meinhardt family.

Many of us work outside and it is often hard to avoid working or walking in the tall grasses out in the yard. Here are some tips about identifying, treating and preventing chigger bites. Read on….

Depending on where you live and how much time you spend outside, you may or may not know much about chiggers…
If your kids spend a lot of time outdoors in the spring and summer, either hiking, camping, or simply playing in the backyard or park, then you are likely just as familiar with chiggers as poison ivy and ticks. Or even if you don’t know what a chigger is, you probably know about the very annoying itchy red bumps that they leave behind.
Facts About Chiggers

Chiggers, which are also called harvest mites or red bugs, are very small and can not usually be seen without a magnifying glass or microscope. Their ‘bite’ also isn’t usually noticeable, which is why you usually don’t even know you were around chiggers until you start itching and notice the rash about 12 or 24 hours later.

Once on your body, they typically move around looking for a good place to feed, which is usually a thin layer of skin. They will also begin to feed if they reach a barrier, such as the waistband of your clothes or your armpit.

But chiggers don’t even really bite you in the traditional sense, like a mosquito does. Instead, they attach themselves to your skin, inject saliva with digestive enzymes that helps to break down your skin cells, which the chigger drinks. It is these enzymes that cause the itchy rash.

Although chiggers can stay attached to your skin for several days and continue eating, they are very easily brushed off and are usually knocked off once you begin to scratch the rash or take a shower or bath. That is why it can be a good idea to have your kids take a quick shower or bath after they have been playing outside in any type of ‘wild’ areas of your neighborhood. Another good reason is just so you can wash off any insect repellent that you had put on.

Myths About Chiggers
One of the biggest myths or misconceptions about chiggers is that they can burrow under your skin and drink your blood. This leads to the common treatment for chiggers of putting clear nail polish on chigger bites to suffocate the chiggers. Since chiggers don’t actually burrow under your skin, this ‘treatment’ is unnecessary.

Treatments for Chigger Bites
While nail polish isn’t a good treatment for chigger bites, anything that can help control the itching can be helpful, including:

• Take a bath or shower as soon as possible after any possible exposure to chiggers
• Apply your favorite OTC anti-itch medication, such as hydrocortisone, Calamine lotion, Sarna, oatmeal baths, etc.
• oral Benadryl
• a prescription strength steroid cream

Although chiggers in North America don’t usually carry any diseases, the bites themselves can get infected.

Avoiding Chigger Bites
Since not going outside and being active is not good advice and unlike poison ivy, it is hard to spot and avoid chiggers, it is important to learn other ways to avoid chiggers and chigger bites. This can include avoiding wearing clothing that put you at risk for chigger bites, such as sandals without socks, sleeveless shirts, and shorts. Instead, wear long pants made of tightly woven fabric, long sleeved shirts, and high top boots or shoes. As an added defense, it can help to tuck your pant legs into your shoes or boots.

Insect repellants are another good way to help you avoid chiggers. In addition to applying it on your exposed skin, it can help to apply your insect repellent around your ankles, wrists, neck, and waist, which is where the chiggers often gain access to the rest of your body through your shoes, shirt, pants, and shoes. (We hear Avon’s “Skin So Soft” is used as a strong insect repellant for ticks)