{"id":10467,"date":"2015-09-10T00:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T00:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/news\/?p=10467"},"modified":"2018-11-09T02:06:53","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T02:06:53","slug":"youre-the-bear-kim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2015\/youre-the-bear-kim\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You\u2019re the Bear, Kim\u2019: An Interview with Dub, the NOAC Bear"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Dub the Bear smells the roses at Lake Junaluska<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frank Ramirez of the NOAC Communication Team recently had an opportunity to interview Dub the Bear, who has been seen almost everywhere at this year\u2019s NOAC. Dub, it appears, came specifically to NOAC this year to honor Kim Ebersole for her contributions to the Church of the Brethren through this ministry and many others. At least we think that\u2019s what she\u2019s telling us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Question:<\/em> Dub, you\u2019ve been seen almost everywhere here at Lake Junaluska over the course of the week. Could you say just a little bit about what brings you here?<\/p>\n

Dub:<\/em> Daaahling, please! It\u2019s pretty simple. It\u2019s all about the Kim.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> If you could perhaps–<\/p>\n

Dub:<\/em> When you think of me, you think of Kim. When you think of Kim, you think of me. It\u2019s pretty obvious. I\u2019m short. I\u2019m cute. I\u2019m cuddly. And I\u2019m not in the least bit tame, so you\u2019d better watch your step when you\u2019re around me.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> That sounds a little\u2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"
NOAC Communication Team member Frank Ramirez (left) interviews Dub the Bear<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dub:<\/em> It\u2019s the whole cub thing. You don\u2019t get between a bear and her cubs, and you don\u2019t get between Kim and all these folks at NOAC she cares so passionately about. I have to admire that kind of thing, wherever I find it, whether it\u2019s looking in the mirror or watching just what Kim\u2019s been doing for her \u201ccubs,\u201d all these folks who\u2019ve been coming out here to my lake every two years for National Older Adult Conference.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> \u201cYour\u201d lake?<\/p>\n

Dub:<\/em> In a manner of speaking. It\u2019s not like I took out a mortgage or anything like that.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> But we see geese, ducks, and a lot of roses. I don\u2019t recall seeing a bear in all the times I\u2019ve come here to Lake Junaluska.<\/p>\n

Dub:<\/em> Seriously? Like I\u2019m going to walk around in broad daylight and make myself a target for one of those dart guns. They don\u2019t really hurt, but there\u2019s this \u201cpfffft\u201d and suddenly you wake up in Yellowstone or Yosemite, or one of those places out west, and I\u2019m an east coast bear, thank you very much. But listen, I\u2019m here to talk about the Kim. Can we get back on subject? And hurry. I mean, I have a dumpster to dive into as soon as it gets dark.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> Of course. So what do you admire most about Kim?<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dub the Bear enjoys meeting BVS staff and former BVSers on Service Day at NOAC.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dub:<\/em> The way she answered the call when she was asked to take over NOAC from some pretty serious talent. Sort of reminds me of the way I have to answer the call of the wild. You know, bare my teeth, that kind of thing. And Kim is the sweetest person in the world, but she\u2019ll do anything to make this week here at the lake a memorable one for every single person who\u2019s ever come here.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> Is this related to the mother-cub thing you were talking about?<\/p>\n

Dub:<\/em> Read those notes you\u2019re pretending to scribble there. Kim\u2019s got one big heart, the biggest heart there is. Let me tell you something, and don\u2019t write this down, but getting to know Kim is like finding an uneaten pizza in the trash bin–she\u2019s the whole package.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> Anything else you\u2019d like to say?<\/p>\n

Dub:<\/em> Yes. Definitely. First, that whole Bible thing, about me and my girlfriend eating 42 kids because they made fun of Elisha for being bald. EXAGGERATION! Yes, I showed a little teeth. Yes, I might have growled, but then those kids ran home, blew everything out of proportion, and the next thing you know, it\u2019s Bible Headlines! Seriously. Maybe I could have eaten one of them, maybe two, but I\u2019d just eaten a whole hive of honey. I\u2019m a bear, not an eating machine.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/em> Anything else?<\/p>\n

Dub:<\/em> Yes. (Reading from a press release.)<\/em> On behalf of all the animals here at Lake Junaluska I want to officially thank Kim Ebersole for all her caring and hard work. You\u2019re the bear, Kim. You\u2019re the bear.<\/p>\n

— Frank Ramirez pastors Union Center Church of the Brethren in Nappanee, Ind. He is a member of the volunteer Communication Team for NOAC 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/td>\n\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Photos clockwise from top left: Dub the Bear enjoys the musical stylings of Ken Medema; Dub with longtime friends Deann Brown and Brian Harley; Dub lends a hand editing NOAC News; Dub learns to tie dye at NOAC.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frank Ramirez of the NOAC Communication Team recently had an opportunity to interview Dub the Bear, who has been seen almost everywhere at this year\u2019s NOAC. Dub, it appears, came specifically to NOAC this year to honor Kim Ebersole for her contributions to the Church of the Brethren through this ministry and many others. At least we think that\u2019s what she\u2019s telling us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[806,1259,1256],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-10467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-congregational-life-ministries","tag-noac","tag-older-adults"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10467"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13149,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10467\/revisions\/13149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10467"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}