SERVICE FOR
MATTHEW BUHRLEY
2013 By
Nancy Schultz
This year the
person I was given to perform service for was Matt Buhrley, my son in law. Matt
is such a talented man in so many areas, it was hard for me to narrow down what
I should do. I thought of ushering at a professional football, or basketball
game, or doing something in Boy Scouts, or learning how to become a handy man
person.
But I decided to
do something that involved Dentistry, which is how he makes his living.
On December 19,
2013, I went to Ruby Schultz’s school classroom to teach them some important
principles about their teeth. But I didn’t just go as her Grandma, I went as a
special visitor.
I had previously
worked it out with the teacher, which day would be best. There are 61 students
in her 1st thru 3rd classroom. I then went to Heather
Williams home, who is a dental hygienist, and had her teach me how to instruct
the students to brush and floss their teeth correctly. Then she had a fun game
to play, gave me a large model of teeth, with felt pieces of food and cavities.
She had large pieces of yarn to show how to floss, and gave me a book to read
to them. I felt very prepared!
Then I contacted my
dental office, Nelson Dental Group in Fullerton. I told them what I was doing,
and asked if they could donate some toothbrushes to give out to the children.
They were so supportive and excited to be involved in my service! They ordered
and delivered 61 gift bags filled with toothbrushes, little timers to time how
long to brush, and a pencil with cute teeth all over it.
That morning, I put
on my white dress, fairy wings, tiara, and my Magic Bag, and went to her class
as The Tooth Fairy! Also in the class, were Clara and Clyde Berrett. They were
all so surprised and mesmerized by seeing me. I told them I was here to teach
them about how important taking care of their teeth was. I demonstrated on the
teeth model how to brush in circles, and floss, how often to do it, Then I read
a book to them about going to the dentist, and not being afraid. They loved it!
Then we played the fun game. I had 2 large mouths on the board, one clearly had
healthy teeth, and the other had cavities, and food, etc. On the back of
several toothbrushes were little situations, like, “Jack loves to snack on
candy all day, and forgets to brush his teeth at night.” Which mouth will Jack
have?
There were about 10
of those questions involving healthy choices, or bad choices.
At the end, I told
them that I was really Ruby’s grandma, and I was so happy to have come and
taught them.
What was funny
about the whole thing was that they had just finished reading Charlie and
The Chocolate Factory, and had put on the play, talking about all kinds of
candy, that very week. And that day their activity was making ginger bread
houses, with candy! The teachers and I got a good laugh, but I told them that
they needed to brush very good this Christmas, because they would be eating
lots of treats and candy.
