Mary is single and lives alone in a rural part of Mayberry.  She works with developmentally disabled children at Mayberry Middle School and is known for rescuing animals of all sorts who need help.  On Sunday, Mary needed help.

When we arrived at her house, it looked like this:

Well . . . like this times 10.  Last December’s ice storm had left Mary’s land a wreck and she hurt her back trying to clean up. 

So Sunday, a group of kids and adults showed up to fix the problem.  It’s amazing what 16 pairs of hands can do in a hour and a half.

This is Cheryl.  She started the fire and kept it burning as fast as we could drag brush.

Kate and Parker got in on the fun, too.  Oh, wait.  Kate doesn’t appear to be having much fun.

This is JC and his dad, Doc.  JC is home from OU on spring break and he appears to be having fun.

This is Paul, JC’s brother.  Paul is a junior at Mayberry High School and he plays on Mr. Mom’s tennis team.  I think he had a little bit of fun.

So did his friends Joe and Bryce.

Bryce also plays on Mr. Mom’s tennis team and he likes to show off his muscles by lifting large limbs over his head.

Uh oh!  Fun alert!

I think Kate was cracking up at Rick, who usually keeps us laughing even when he’s not trying.  My name for Rick is “the Reverend” because he used to be a minister even though he’s a teacher now. The Reverend had fun on Sunday in his role as Community Service Coordinator.  Here he is telling a woman and a child to LIFT.

While the women and children were helping the Reverend, I heard Paul say Take a look at that!   I ran around the side of the house just in time to catch a glimpse of this:

This is Miss Pig.  She is 15 years old and she was about to be slaughtered until Mary took her in.  You can imagine how grateful Miss Pig is for Mary’s care, along with the dozen or so other cats and dogs who call Mary’s place home.

Here’s a group photo of Mayberry’s helping hands.  They’re almost as big as one of the brush piles.

Hi. I’m Crusty.

Rick is

a dork!

Do not confuse this face with the Magpie’s.

I will annihilate you with my crushing serve!

Oh, wait.  That’s Paul.

In Mayberry, you can always count on the mission being accomplished.

(Even Mary says so.  She used to live in Las Vegas and she kept saying “This would never happen in Nevada.”  Sorry, Nevada.  We just take our neighborliness real seriously here in Mayberry.)