wfn.org | Tickle Me Elmo helps missioners

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3382 notes).

Note 3381 by UMNS on Jan. 21, 1997 at 15:33 Eastern (1886 characters).

SEARCH: Tickle Me Elmo, Arkansas, Wesley Foundation, Lyndol Loyd
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally                       27(10-71B){3381}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             Jan. 21, 1997

Elmo tickles Arkansas mission effort

by Jane Dennis*

     ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (UMNS) -- The "Tickle Me Elmo" craze that
swept the country around Christmas time benefited a group of
Wesley Foundation students here to the tune of $1,000.
     The Rev. Lyndol Loyd, director of the Wesley Foundation, had
purchased one of the dolls for his 7-month-old daughter Abigail,
long before the demand for the giggling, wiggling Sesame Street
character caused shelves to empty and shoppers to clamor for more.
     To help finance a Wesley Foundation-sponsored mission trip to
Guatemala during the Spring vacation, Loyd and his wife Joni
offered Elmo for sale to the highest bidder.
     A pre-Christmas auction was handled by a Little Rock
contemporary Christian music radio station which took bids for
four days.  High bidder was Quin Godsey, owner and operator of
Godsey Cleaners in North Little Rock, who offered $1,000 for Elmo.
     Godsey read about the auction in the local newspaper, Loyd
said, "and thought it was a really good cause."  Godsey gave Elmo
to his daughter, a college student at Harding University.
     Loyd said the money is being divided equally among the
students making the trip.  
     And don't worry about Abigail.  She'll probably be cuddling a
replacement Elmo by Valentine's Day, Loyd said.
                              #  #  #
     *Dennis is editor of the Arkansas United Methodist, biweekly
newspaper of the Little Rock and North Arkansas Annual
Conferences.

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