Kasey Kayne takes checkered flag at Atlanta. See Sports, Page 7
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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Holiday just another day at work for some BY KARISSA MINN Staff Writer
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE
Dr. Nelson Weller and his wife Elaine hold a picture of his family tree at their home in Thomasville. Weller’s investigative nature has led him to work tracing families history of inherent diseases.
TRACING HISTORY
On Labor Day, most Americans celebrate their work by taking a break from it, sometimes making trips to the beach or hosting backyard cookouts. Not everyone had the day off on Monday, though. While media outlets stayed open to cover the news, other local workers strove to make sure that there was no bad news to report. Derek Medlin, battalion chief with Thomasville Fire Department, said that Labor Day is treated like any other day at his workplace, with no special scheduling or time
off. “Whichever shift is working that day works,” Medlin said. “It’s basically just like any other weekend.” Firefighters can use vacation time over Labor Day weekend, but no-one at Medlin’s station took that opportunity. He said that they just get used to not always being home on holidays. “It’s in back of your mind, and you’d love to be able to be with your loved ones, but we knew coming into this job and this profession that this was going to happen,” Medlin said. Hospital workers are
See HOLIDAY, Page 6
Local genealogist helps researchers identify inherent diseases BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
When Dr. Nelson Weller took an aptitude test nearly 40 years ago, the exam said he would be best suited as a detective. In a way, that is exactly what he has become. Weller, now in his 70s, earned a doctorate degree five years ago in Genealogy that allows him to put his innate detective skills to work tracing a family’s history in order to detect inherited diseases. “In January, I spent 100 hours on one family,” Weller said. “It takes time. I started digging on my own family and branched out to others over the years. When a doctor asks me about my parents and grandparents, he doesn’t expect what he gets. I can recite back to my greatgrandparent and what all of them died from.” Since his graduation from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio, Weller has been working with Dr. Anthony Bleyer, a nephrologist at Wake Forest University Medical Center, who
‘Dr. Weller has helped us to identify family members with this disease through his genealogic research on our families.’ — Dr. Anthony Bleyer
is interested in inherited medical conditions. Weller, who is also a volunteer chaplain, said he is currently looking into the history of 10 families to try and identify genetic causes of certain diseases. “When [Bleyer] identifies a patient, I’m given what they will tell us about their family,” said Weller. “I find as many of the family as I can. The broader the base, the better blood samples and DNA we can get. It’s a minor part in research, but it identifies who’s who.” Dr. Bleyer was studying a dis-
ease that causes both gout and kidney disease that leads to a person needing dialysis at middle age. By taking key pieces of family information like names, dates and places of birth, Weller helped identify a genetic cause to the disease. “Dr. Weller has helped us to identify family members with this disease through his genealogic research on our families,” Bleyer said. “This has helped us to identify the genetic cause of one of these diseases, leading to hopes for a treatment and a cure to future.” Weller first got the notion to investigate family lineage in 1948 when he wanted to know more about his grandfather. When his own family couldn’t give him the answers he was looking for, Weller took it upon himself to do a little digging. As it turned out, he unveiled a secret mystery that his grandfather was actually illegitimate.
See HISTORY, Page 6
Hospice offering grief support groups BY KARISSA MINN Staff Writer Beginning this month, Hospice of the Piedmont in High Point will offer two grief support groups designed to help adults and children in the community cope with the death of a loved one. “They are free,” said Kimberly Hines, marketing associate with Hospice of the Piedmont. “The only way that’s possible is because we’re a nonprofit — because of all the support from the community.” Both support groups meet at the Hospice of the Piedmont office at
1801 Westchester Drive in High Point, and they range in size from six to 10 participants. Remembering My Child is a group for adults who have experienced the death of a child. It will meet for seven consecutive Mondays from 3 to 4:30 p.m., beginning Sept. 14. It also will gather at the Hope for the Holidays workshop on Nov. 10 from 6-8 p.m. “No-one expects that their child will die before them, and this is what makes it so heartbreaking for parents in a group like this,” said Jan Hoff-
See GROUPS, Page 6
American Red Cross urges citizens to prepare for disasters BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
A recent study released by the Red Cross show that most Americans are taking precautions to avoid getting the much-publicized H1N1 virus, otherwise known as the Swine Flu. The study also says that just 12 percent of the same people who were surveyed have made plans to prepare for a disaster such as a fire, flood or storm. With September designated as National Preparedness Month, the High Point-Thomasville Chapter of the Red Cross is urging citizens to not only prepare for a new flu strand but any other emergency that may impact
DIVE IN
their lives. “You are your best defense against emergencies,” Bob Ziegler, Executive Director of the High Point-Thomasville Chapter, said. “The Red Cross can help you take simple steps to prepare yourself and your loved ones for emergencies ranging from severe weather to a flu outbreak.” One of first things a household can do to prepare for an emergency is make a preparedness kit with enough supplies to last three days in case of power outages or a need to evacuate. Supplies should include water, equal to a gallon per person per day, non-per-
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A diver completes his routine cleaning and vacuuming of the pool bottom in the North Carolina Zoo’s polar bear exhibit. The zoo is open daily for visitors.
TIMES PHOTO/TOM GILLESPIE
See DISASTERS, Page 9
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