NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER
Hillsdale Daily News
HILLSDALE – A group of around 60 area residents met on the Courthouse lawn on the National Day of Prayer, to pray for local and national leaders.
Pastors representing various Christian denominations in Hillsdale County, as well as a group of participants, gathered to pray that those who lead the United States will be filled with wisdom and make choices based upon the word of God.
The event, organized by Hillsdale Area Ministerial Association, was one of many held across the nation to lift the nation and its leaders in prayer. As the 70th annual event nationally, it has been ongoing for 20 years in Hillsdale, according to a founding minister, the Rev. Les Smith. Smith announced however, that for the first time in 70 years, a permit was not granted to hold the event at the nation s capitol.
âIâll see you in heaven.â
It was the last thing Al Braccolino, 90, of Crown Point, told one of his daughters as paramedics loaded him into an ambulance Nov. 16. COVID-19 forced him into the final fight of his life.
Ten days later, the chair Al usually occupied at the Thanksgiving table would sit empty. The husband to his wife of 70 years, father of three and grandfather of six died on the holiday.
Alâs daughter, Sandra Noe, was herself suffering from COVID-19, which she contracted while caring for her sick parents, when the virus forced Alâs hospitalization.
Noe, 66, is no stranger to helping elderly shut-ins weather isolation.