A look back at 07 | Happy updates for all

A Midlands youngster’s call to recycle was heard around the country.

A community rallied behind a Columbia woman after vandals ravaged her home.

And men from a local drug recovery program found a way to give back to the area.

These are just a few of the stories that impacted our community this past year. Here is a brief update on some of them.

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Columbia’s green wonder, Andrew Talkish, still is preaching recycling.

When the 6-year-old’s passion for keeping a cleaner Earth became public earlier this year, it ignited a series of accolades that included much local recognition and an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Since he was 3, Andrew has devoted his Tuesday mornings to helping collect and sort items left out for recycling when the city crew makes its way through the Chestnut Hill Plantation community near Irmo. His efforts have been praised by the crew members and have earned him role-model status across the community and the nation.

Early on, Andrew was featured in The State and later as a WLTX Role Model. He eventually was recognized by the governor’s office, the Department of Health and Environmental Control and, eventually, the “Ellen” show.

Most recently, he was honored during a Columbia City Council meeting, after being bused down with his entire kindergarten class at Oak Pointe Elementary School.

Through it all, Andrew’s message has remained the same.

“I’m going to tell people to recycle,” he said.

Andrew’s mother, Jan Talkish, said her son has kept his head about him despite all the recent attention.

“He’s just so non-affected,” she said. “He thinks it’s neat and everything, but he doesn’t have a big head at all.”

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Daisy James is enjoying the view from the inside.

Earlier this year, vandals broke into and ransacked the downtown Columbia home James was just two weeks away from moving into.

They also stole most of the appliances the 64-year-old had installed and tore away the copper piping below the floor, leaving the home uninhabitable and James without a place to live.

But community members, led by Columbia attorney Cravens Ravenel, started a campaign to help James secure more appliances and move into a new place. Ravenel said the effort had generated about $4,000, enough to help James replace many of the stolen items.

And while she was not able to move into her original home, she since has moved into another smaller home in the same neighborhood.

“I sure do appreciate everything that everyone has done for me,” she said.

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Mike Gilpen still is looking to make a positive difference in his life.

Since April, Gilpen has been part of the Oliver Gospel Mission’s recovery program. In August, he joined others from the downtown mission to pass out water bottles to community members in downtown Columbia during the hottest days of summer.

Tagged “Operation Oasis,” the effort was targeted toward the homeless, but it extended to anyone who needed a cool drink.

For Gilpen, it was one of many steps toward what he hopes will be a new life. He recently entered the work phase of the mission’s recovery program and has entered the job market, with hopes of landing a job in maintenance.

“I believe that I came here for a reason,” Gilpen said. “I’ve got to keep my head up and keep going forward, and in the meantime help out anyone else that I can.”

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Nat Holland is retired, but she’s not slowing down much.

In October, the 86-year-old Columbia woman retired from the Columbia Eye Clinic, her fifth job in more than 40 years. But this time, she vowed it was for good.

In the two months since, Holland has kept her pledge to stay busy with her volunteer work. She has maintained regular volunteer shifts at Palmetto Health Baptist and Providence Hospital. She’s also continued her long-standing volunteer work at the local Shepherd’s Center.

When Holland retired, her bosses still were playing it cautiously.

“We’re going to play it safe this time. We’re not going to take her off the payroll,” Columbia Eye Clinic CEO Larry Hiebert said at the time.

He might have been on to something. Holland said her advice to anyone thinking about retiring is, “Don’t do it.”

“I think I really and truly retired (this time), but I miss it,” she said.

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Mary Dailey finally got around to trimming her own Christmas tree this year.

For the past 20 years, Dailey’s trees have been a part of the Festival of Trees, an annual fundraiser for Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital.

“This has been a passion of mine for a long time,” Dailey said just before this year’s event, held last month at the State Museum.

The event raised more than $210,000 for the hospital this year.

But in between preparing this year’s festival offering — a spiral tree featuring a strong Santa presence — Dailey got around to putting up two trees at home.

Those included a gold-and-white tree in her dining room and a traditional tree with all-glass ornaments in the den. As she looked on those trees in recent weeks, she was able to reflect on the positive impact they and others made in the lives of sick children.

“It’s a very relaxed holiday this year,” she said. “Very enjoyable.”