A Close Call: A Wake-up Call
Carol Opdyke, Pulpit Guest
From a momentary personal encounter with the dark under-belly of our society, Carol Opdyke reflects on how it and other deplorable events that we’d rather not remember have reawakened an impulse toward compassion and are informing who she is becoming.
Carol Opdyke, whose family roots in St. Lawrence County go back to the earliest settlers
of Gouverneur and Waddington, began life here in Canton on Crescent street, but during
her teens she was a farm girl and graduated from Madrid-Waddington Central. After
leaving briefly for her college years in Albany, she returned and taught Latin and French at
Norwood-Norfolk. Then, in retirement she continued as an Adjunct at SUNY Potsdam, for
a total of 50 years in education. During this time she took countless students on trips
abroad…. to Canada, —–(yes, a foreign country to many of our area kids!!)— Mexico,
Venezuela, Martinique, and Italy. She and her husband Tim also hosted several students at
their summer condo in Colorado beneath the Continental Divide. Carol visited England
and Switzerland with friends, experiencing travel by hovercraft, cog railway, gondola and
did a bicycling tour in France. She loves the outdoors, having hiked in the Adirondacks
and Rocky Mountains, and has done a lot of cross-country skiing, and gardening. While
still teaching, she renovated her family farmhouse into a Bed and Breakfast, which she
operated for 19 years. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the St. Lawrence County
Historical Association. Her current passions are painting barn quilts and taking piano
lessons with Betsy. Though she resides in Norfolk, it seems many of her present interests
have returned her to Canton, where she began her journey.
Social Hour Hosts:
- Dave Nelson & Rebecca Pickens
- Mary Michalek
Greeters:
- TBD – Can you help?
Sunday worship is being offered in dual platform, taking place in person and via Zoom this Sunday. Instructions to participate via Zoom can be found here.