MUSICIANS 'WAIL IN THE WOODS' FOR GOOD CAUSE

Delores AuBuchon was enjoying the gospel music early Saturday afternoon at Wailing in the Woods. But more dear to her heart is the cause the event was raising money for: Southeast Hospice.

AuBuchon, who suffers from pulmonary thrombosis, is a Hospice patient who relies on the program's volunteers to remain independent.

"I'd be dead and gone long ago without Hospice," said AuBuchon, who sat in a wheelchair listening to the performers.

Hospice, a service of Southeast Missouri Hospital, offers comfort and care for the terminally ill and their families through personal care, spiritual and emotional support, coordination of care and pain management.

Wailing in the Woods, Saturday's day-long event featuring live music, food and arts and crafts, plus Friday night's "An Evening of Jazz" with pianist Dr. Richard Moore, were to raise money to meet the needs of hospice patients, said Carol Keppler, coordinator of volunteers at Southeast Hospice.

Those needs have ranged from purchasing a pair of sweatpants to make a patient more comfortable to paying a life insurance premium so the patient's family would have money for the funeral, Keppler said.

Jayne Perry of Cape Girardeau came to Wailing in the Woods to support Hospice, where she is a volunteer.

"My dad died of cancer and we couldn't have done made it without hospice volunteers," Perry said. "I became a volunteer to give something back."

At the event, Perry was enjoying the music, which included performances by folk singer Bryan Bowers, Celtic dance group St. Louis Irish Arts, youthful fiddler Liesl Schoenberger, country band Classy Chassy and gospel group Rivers of Joy.

Perry also made sure she sampled the food and looked through the arts and crafts.

Many of the craft items were made by staff members of Southeast Hospital and the Hospice staff. "We stayed late each Thursday night for weeks to make crafts to sell in the store," Keppler said.

Even AuBuchon, who has an oxygen tube in her neck so her body gets a constant supply, helped out. She made pepper jelly and apple jelly for sale.

"People think of hospice patients as lying in bed waiting for the end, but this is a get-up-and go group," AuBuchon said of Southeast Hospice. "They encourage you to go to your limit every day."