HOSPICE EVENT DRAWS HUNDREDS

Saturday's humidity and heat didn't keep visitors away from the second annual "Wailing in the Woods" folk and country music festival at Black Forest Villages.

The second annual event attracted both adults and children, who heard family musical entertainment, saw line and Indian dancers and browsed through craft stands and concessions.

Proceeds from the daylong event helped Southeast Hospice, a service of Southeast Missouri Hospital. By mid-afternoon more than 300 visitors had arrived.

Hospice offers comfort and care for the terminally ill and their families through personal care, spiritual and emotional support, coordination of care, and pain management 24 hours a day.

Carol Keppler, volunteer coordinator for the hospice, said money from the fund-raiser helps cover extra expenses that terminally ill patients and their families may need while experiencing financial difficulties. Expenses may range from air conditioning for the patient's home to covering insurance deductible costs.

"We care for the patient as long as we can and keep them comfortable until they die," Keppler said of the hospice volunteers. "Sometimes in providing that care we may need to pay for telephone or utility bills."

Hospice volunteer Annette Trout of Cape Girardeau first experienced the concept of hospice care when her mother died in Sydney, Australia, 14 years ago. Trout was on her way to see her mother in December 1983, but she died in the Australian hospice before she could visit.

"The hospice nurses said my mother went with a smile," She recalled.

In 1990, Trout went back to Australia to visit the hospice and thank the staff for her mother's care.

"I could tell the nursing staff was loving and caring,"she said. "They had also written me a letter telling me how restful my mother was before her death and that she went without pain."

Because of her positive feelings toward hospice care, Trout decided to take hospice training courses in 1993.

Shortly after her training began, her brother became terminally ill and she returned to Australia.

"I had to walk through death with my brother Brian, who had cancer," said Trout. "I helped with his care-giving and worked with his hospice staff."

The time with the hospice nurses made Trout realize what terminally ill care was all about.

"The nurses would come in and chat and have a cup of tea," she said. "My brother's passing was restful. I thank God that he allowed me that time with my brother. My brother died with a smile on his face."

After moving to Cape Girardeau Keppler heard about Trout's hospice experiences through the grapevine.

"She called me and asked if I would like to volunteer," said Trout. "I told her I liked to sing to the patients and sang Psalms 25 to her over the phone."

Over the years Trout has ministered care to many hospice patients; so many she has lost count.

The soft-spoken volunteer said she takes great pride in comforting the terminally ill.

"I go to care for the patients with an honest and pure heart," she said. "There is no greater honor than to have a terminally ill patient allow you to come into their life and the lives of their families."

Sharing a Christian perspective on death with her patients is important to Trout. "I was raised Catholic with a good gift of compassion. There is a long line of nurses in my family," she explained.

She said her patients are receptive to her Christian message.

"I don't force it upon them; I ask if I may be allowed to pray with them."

She said most people, knowing the end of their life is near, want spiritual care. "They do not want food or financial help," she said.

Trout said she enjoys working with Keppler and the entire hospice team, from the nurses to the doctors and most of all the patients.

"They are the most caring people I have ever worked with," said Trout. "And it is an honor to be with the patients as they pass into eternal life."

Keppler said she hoped the fund-raiser would meet a goal of $10,000.