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Show Page - THE HERALD MAGAZINE. Provo. I'tah. 14 Wednesday. Nov 26. 1986 if wo fir Eys - .tjTOTJ EDITOR'S NOTE The flood uf aid that poured in to help the seien O'Kelley brothers, lett alone when their mother and grandfather died and their father abandoned them, astonished their local benefactors. The the bos are still waiting for the happy ending. Along the way, they've become guarded, een suspicious, having watched good will turn to resentment and misgivings. , " - ji niini.mil mma f liii . . n u owe iiiinwip pinuum in - By T A.MARA JONES Associated Press Writer The GAINESVILLE, Ga. AP) . p'Kelleys were seven abandoned boys trying desperately to scrape by. Their trailer was a firetrap. dinner came irom a can and threadbare c lothes were handed down from brother to brother to brother. The mailbox overflowed with their runaway father's bills. The Hodges were a successful young couple living on the other side of town. Active in their church and community, they had plenty ot friends, a beautiful home and the Desi oi intentions. What happened after these two families came together is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It is a Thanksgiving story about giving too much. It is a story of generosity gone astray, of hopes gone awry. "All we wanted was to be together," said Terry O'Kelley, at 19 the eldest brother. But, still, they're not. Terry was just 15 when his mother died of a brain tumor. The last thing she told her eldest son was to "take care of the boys" and feed her mongrel dog. Bill. "I will," Terry promised. The brothers ended up living with their grandfather in a ramshackle trailer on his farm, where they helped the old man till his garden and tend his chickens. In September 1985, he died of a heart attack. The boys' alcoholic father showed up long enough to sell the chicken houses for scrap lumber, clean out the bank accounts, buy and wreck a new Buick and bounce some checks he had stolen from Terry bef ore he disappeared again. He has since been imprisoned for three years on a conviction for child abandonment and theft. Dunning notices started to mount medical care, for unpaid bills farm payments, tombstones for his mother and grandfather. The 0' Kellevs were $33,000 in debt. Terry, by then barely 17. and Tommy, a year younger, quit weeks in school to work r poultry plants to make ends meet, but they never did. and last spring. Terry reluctantly placed his four youngest brothers in a foster home. A friend of Terry's working at Jack Hodge's poultry 'distributorship told his boss of the O Kelleys' plight. Curious. Jack asked to meet Terry. Bit by bit. the shy teen-age- r confided in the businessman. ferry O'Kelley didn't ask tor any tiling. The Fund for Seven Brothers was launched by the First Presbyterian Church that Jack and Martha Hodge attended. The local story, and paper ran a front-pagdonations stil ted coming in. At lust, they were modest. One woman brought by some banana pudding. Somebody donated used " furniture. A store provided blue jeans, and a barbershop ottered .free haircuts. In August, a fire sparked by faulty wiring destroyed the trailer and all the new treasures, and the it y n Thanks: ..,.,.... I i - l.i yuimnwinmiiimmiiw I y e " f F ' v M !$ jf" i yf 4- - ' X 4y ) . (continued from front) drag a group of people through something that heshe thought was important will know what I mean. "When you are the only one who has a vision of what a thing can be, it is awfully hard to be successful. It is so much better to first prepare the others so they will share your vision." Several years ago Jane Ann found a key to this in the pages of a slim volume by Antoine de Saint Exuperv entitled "The Little i! ,JU , every holiday X ' r - ... En py :jaunmuu;q ui.ii 1.1. Prince." f t A I f 'P i & ' The O'Kelley's of Gainsville, Ga., seven boys alone story attracted reporters from national news organizations. Terry. Tommy and Charles moved in with the Hodges. On weekends, they saw the "little David. 15: Jeffrey. 14. guys'' Michael, 11. and Jason. 8. "We all had fun." recalls Martha travel agent. Hodge, a Suddenly, the O Kelleys were free to enjoy childhood. There were birthday parties and matinees, cookouts and shopping sprees. Martha fed them blueberry pancakes. Jack let them take turns piloting his father's pontoon boat on the lake. Gradually, the rambunctious boys with Huck Finn grins came to trust, perhaps even love, the Hodges. "Whenever they went somewhere, they'd always bring you back a little something. They brought me a jewelry tree and a lit .le shrimp boat from a garage sale." Mrs. Hodge said. On the Hodges' fifth wedding anniversary, the boys chipped in to buy them a silver bowl engraved with everyone's name. Meanwhile, the national publicity brought an avalanche of good will. The Fund has grown to almost $100,000. The North Georgia Homebuilders' Association has built a house, at no cost to theO Kellevs. on the chicken farm A philanthropist wants to set the boys up in the poultry business Debts have been paid ott or forgiven. a The gilts keep pouring in in " ' V ' '- . . ss' ' t ' " 1 scribbling what people said into a notebook. Tommy threatened to drive without getting his license, reasoning that he could just tell the police "I'm an O'Kelley boy." The younger boys "started taking things for granted and were getting spoiled," Terry said. At one point. Charles broke out in nervous hives. "All this has caused me more problems than good." Terry said. "It puts me in disagreements with people saying. 'Do this, do that' "I thought last year was bad with me and the boys trying to get by in that trailer. But this is worse." Tern hesitated. "I hurt anyone." he insisted. "Everybody had good intentions, but they wanted to go the way they wanted to go and didn't consider us what we wanted." The Times, the local newspaper that brought the O'Kelley story to light, agreed, writing in an editorial: "Petty conflict between those competing to help at times seems to tike precedence over the welfare of those to be helped." The three oldest boys moved out of the Hodges' house about a month ago for "some peace and quiet." Terry said, adding. "We're tired of him and everyone else running our lives." They moved into a motel, then fanned out among relatives in the next county. For his part Hodge was troubled by sly hints and innuendoes that he w as using the O Kellevs. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the campaign and don't want to by the rumors. Hodge wanted out. The trust was turned over to a local bank, and Hodge is careful to point out that all he ever gained from this, besides the hurt, was a pair of donated blue jeans that fit none of the boys. Terry now says he is too "tied up in all this stuff" to work. Tommy isn't working either, still recovering after partially severing two fingers in a restaurant accident. But when he went to the drugstore for painkillers. Tommy stopped to buy Martha Hodge a box of candy. Tcrry goes to court Dec. 5 to seek custody of his six brothers. The Department of Family and Children Services says its goal is to reunite the family, but it won't say what recommendation it will make. Two foster families have expressed willingness to move into the new house with the boys, but that would mean putting ferry. Tommy and Charles into a mobile home on the lot. The Homebuilders aren't keen on that idea. "We're building a home for all of them, not a house." spokesman Johnny Lawson said. Hodge has misgivings about Terry becoming "He can't handle it." Hodge said. "I still think people are catering too much to ferry's desires, wants and needs without looking out for the vounger boys." 'i flour phis t. baking 1 v. shortening and margarine '. e. each (not light margarine 1 T. sugar 1 t. salt - I ' I i c. Hour c. tirnilv packed brown sugar I I. . Blend together with pastiv blen-der- I . I :, cinnamon IIK Kill Blend together need to add a flour, i This is enough crusted pie and 1 with spurn t.iblespmm douh tor 1 May more double pie shell 1 Irg. 16 oi.) pkg. cherrv .lello c. hut water and pineapple I j a L juice 'I c. sugar T. lemon juice c. raw ground fresh cranberries (12 oz. pkg.) I c. drained pineapple tidbits, cut in half (15' ot. cam ' c. chopped pecan nuts I . n ffiiuiH f'i'lel V 1 c. diced apple 1 c. diced orange wedges 1 pt. whipping cream I - 71 t , j . , - boilDissolve jello and sugar in add and juice; pineapple water ing Add ingreremaining lemon juice. dients mixing well. Put in rclriger- 1 'i RUT ! B Pepsi PEPSI Diet Pepsi Pepsi Free PtP9 Mountain Dew C1p)(p) SALAD c. juiee Irom pineapple beaten egg v. sugar 2 T. Hour x 1 I Thanksgiving was moved to Friday to accommodate diehard football fans who couldn't stand to miss a particular game. Nowadays the Olsens and the Bradfords vote to decide which day will work out best. DRESSING I'OR CRANBERRY SU M) l1 Practicing what she preaches, she admits that one year r 6 in pie Com- shell four with mincemeat. bine brown sugar, cinnamon and Hour, cut in margarine. Add nuts Sprinkle cvctiK ova mincemeat Bake at 425 tor 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and continue baking about 3u minutes more or until tit brown Cool. Mrcusel i '4 v. water slightlv beaten egg 1 t II. Ann. & MOUNTAIN DEW c. margarine c. chopped mils rrange apples evenly . in choosing things that make everyone happy and that you are willing to commit to doing year after year," says Jane Pi r S m Mix together and .idd i "The secret is lund-raisin- 3 large tart apples, peeled and sliced sweeten and precook apdrain juice ples until thev shrink i2 cups applesi I rounded e. mincemeat STREI SEI. TOPPING: powder t According to the fox, "(Rites) are what make one day different from other days, one hour from other hours." And it is the anticipation of these differences that makes people get excit d when they think about holidays. Stock Up Now For Holiday Fun PIE I Rl ST v. traditions. embittered Holiday recipes Vi In it the Little Prince leaves his home planet and sets out on an adventure of interplanetary travel. At last he lands on earth, where he meets a fox who teaches him about the things that genuinely matter in life. Among these is the observance of rites or 1 trouble. Their Thanksgiving tale is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. case of toothbrushes. 13 pairs of sneakers, a trip to Disney World, a car for Terry. New furniture, china. linens, a case of paper towels. About $250,000 worth of help in all, Hodge estimates. Hollywood types began hounding Terry for the screen rights and a trekked to parade of northern Georgia, including a Florida flashy, millionaire who took the boys cruising in a limousine and a Wisconsin man who sold his home in the vain hope of moving into the new house as a foster parent. The crescendo came in October, when the Hodges and seven fidgety O' Kellevs found themselves at an Atlanta political rally where President Reagan himself was hailing Jack and Terry as "authentic American heroes." To outsiders, it might have seemed the O'Kelley brothers had everything, that their happy ending had arrived. Instead, the Reagan salute brought the first hints of trouble. Hodge and the O Kelleys were leaving the rally, still basking in the attention, when one of the boys remarked. "Jack Hodge wouldn't be here if it weren't for the O'Kelley s" There were other signs, too. as the number of people whom Terry describes as bureaucrats and tried to assert control over the lives of seven youngsters who had become overnight celebrities. Terry became so mistrust! ul he began secretly taping conversations, and Charles began - ' - r- . . V , v. llV ItlM'fl I'lhllll Jane Ann Olson, Icuturcd here and on the coer, displays some Thanksgiing larc. atoi until it thu kills ,iiid fiiu to Mix in pint cieam whipped Pour into : ijuatt mold or ptex d'Nh Pull unt' set set ia it ii vppi i: MIVEMEVTPIE 1 I unbaked Him h pie shell I pt. whipping t ream Take juice drained Irom a can ot pineapple, add enough water to equal I cup Stir in egg. sugar and Hour. Bring to boil stirring conuse heavy pot or double stantly cooker tool Beat whipping cream and add to cooled topping. Mix with Itesh Inuls, (bananas, canned apples, oranges, grapes ru its 'pineapple, tidbits, pears t coarsely chopped Huts. Add dtailHl maraschino cherries lor spalk ot - GOOD AT ALL 7 WALKER LOCATIONS Through Nov, 30, 1986 AMERICAN FORK SOUTH OREM 290 Wvt Mom 1520 South State PLEASANT GROVE NORTH OREM 251 North State 456 Eo State Poad WEST PROVO 980 1 (olor SOUTH PROVO 485 South Univerjity Avenue And FAIRVIEW. UT. We41 Center 9 |