With rain and 80s, humidity has been high in our hometown although fall officially starts on Tuesday, Sept. 22, begging for some cooler days-can frost be far away?

You recall that last week I began talking about late Plain Talk pressman Johnny Ball and his son, Jody Ball, who now lives in Atlanta and is getting support for a mission to Africa.

Johnny Ball died of cancer in June 1982. I recall that he loved country music, especially George Jones, and over the years had practically mastered every aspect of newspaper production from operating a line-a-type machine to setting words in lead to running the press.

Jody says that Johnny Ball's mother, Geneva Ball, was the only grandparent he ever knew. She was 92 years old when she passed away August 13, 2005. She had three other children, besides Johnny. Her youngest daughter is Denise, married to Ronnie Depew. They have a son named Jarrett. Geneva's daughter, Janice, married Jimmy Fred Ramsey, and they have four children: Craig, Mark, Michelle, and Jennifer, all of whom have children of their own. Jody's Uncle Dewey (Dude) Ball, who was named after his father, married Emily Williams.

I recall Jody's mother, who was Doris Stykes, and called her on Friday. You may recall her from the 20 years she worked with Doctors Nathan Ford and Bill Henry and retired in the early 1990s. Doris was working at American Enka, when she met Johnny Ball and they married in 1958. Jody was their first child and four years later Andrea came along. In the early 1960s Johnny joined the Plain Talk. In the Morristown Stykes family there were 8 brothers and sisters, but one sibling died as an infant. She had four brothers, but three of them have passed away in the last several years. Her surviving brother, Keith, lives not too far from Jody in Kennesaw, Georgia, with his wife, Charlotte. They have three grown daughters with families of their own. Two of them live nearby, while the oldest lives in Athens, Georgia. Deceased are brothers Wayne, who lived in New York, and John, who moved to Newport from Conyers, Georgia, not long before he died. He had a son and a daughter. Jody said that Edwin, who was the baby, lived in Warner Robbins. He divorced after a brief marriage many years ago and was the father of Katie Stykes. Living in Newport is Doris Ball's sister, Alyce Moore. She is married to Tunney Moore. They have three children. Their daughter Mitzi and her late husband James Munsey were missionaries for twenty years in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. You may recall that Mitzi and her children returned to Newport, when James passed away quite suddenly from a brain tumor in 2001. Mitzi has since remarried to Gary Satterfield. Her son, Matthew, now lives in Nashville where he plays mandolin and sings in a bluegrass band. I know Shannon Moore best. He is a financial specialist at National Bank of Tenn. and unfortunately suffered from the flu last week. Mitzi's daughters, Laura and Rachel, live in Newport with their mother and stepfather. Sisters Mary Carson and Margie Helton both live in Morristown and are widowed. Sister Jane Smith resides in Cleveland, Tenn. with her husband Wayne.

In addition to this update on the family, Jody told me about some of the volunteer work he's been doing for almost two years. Jody says, "In Kenya, God has called me to preach my testimony and spread God's word of love, respect and service. My testimony is one of survival from a laundry list of diseases, disorders, and abuse. It was God's love and God's plan that kept me alive through numerous brushes with death since the year 2000. New Years 2008 I decided drinking myself to death wasn't working out real well and that I might give sobriety a try. I understood AA to be faith based and I was afraid that wouldn't work for me so I chose instead to begin a gratitude journal. Something I had heard Oprah Winfrey talk about. I have to keep reminding myself that it is not all on me" -this ongoing struggle. "My gratitude journal started off as a way to remind me at the end of the day just what all I had to be thankful for that day. It was most instrumental in the first 6-8 months or so. The first 2-3 months entries always began with 'I'm glad I didn't drink today.' Eventually the first entries began to read 'I thank God for giving me the strength not to drink today.' It was probably 4 or 5 years ago that I heard Oprah talk about gratitude journals on her show. I rarely watch Oprah, but the idea of the gratitude journal struck me as such a good idea I guess I never forgot about it. Later it did become a place to write my thoughts of the day, too, and I would often work out any issues I might be mulling over. I enjoy the process. I no longer write in my journal every night, but it's always near by when I need to work something out, or just be reminded how blessed I am."

Jody said he would also try volunteering to give him something to do as well as a reason to remain sober. "I would later come to realize that my gratitude journal was my form of prayer, and that volunteering at the homeless shelter, senior citizens center, botanical gardens, theater, or camp was my ministry. Service to my community was service to God. It was my way of praising and honoring His word." In April 2008, Jody began searching for a church. On May 18, 2008, he celebrated his 45th birthday and the 25th anniversary moving to Atlanta. Jody recalled, "That morning I walked into the Fellowship Hall of Ormewood Park Presbyterian Church and I found my home. My brothers and sisters in Christ greeted me with open arms, and I thank God for blessing me with such a loving and supportive family."

Jody has just several weeks to raise funds for the African mission trip. "My goal dropped to about $3,500 thanks to my contact in Kenya. I will now be staying at a guesthouse on the top floor of Rachel's Home for Girls where I will be volunteering most weekdays. The fee for this is only 5,000 Kenya Shillings which is about $65."

 He leaves October 11, and will be there for 3 months, spreading God's word through his testimony of hope and survival, and volunteering at local orphanages, schools and hospices. His church is sponsoring the mission, but he originally had to raise $5,000, and has made a big dent in this. I told him and his mother that the Plain Talk would get the word out about the mission and need for the support of his hometown. You may contact Jody Ball at 404-935-8050, 1227 Lyndale Drive, Atlanta, GA 30316.

In plain talk, everyone has a mission in life, accomplishing it is quite a different thing.