Some special stuff at the expo

MACI BRUNS of Tracy is eager to get her hands on her new “stuffie” at the “Squeeze the Stuffins” booth at Saturday’s Women’s Prairie Expo. Photo / Per Peterson

“Paying it forward” — the simple act of doing something to benefit others and not expecting anything in return — is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, almost to the point where it has become cliché and has lost some of its meaning.

But sometimes, those three words carry with them a very personal undertone, a profound message that hits the heart much more than the wallet.

Such is the case for Kandi and Daniel Stevens, who lost their 12-year-old son, Reed, in the 2008 bus crash in Cottonwood that also claimed the young lives of fellow Lakeview School students Hunter Javens (9), his brother Jesse (12), and 9-year-old Emilee Olson, all of Cottonwood.

See more in this week’s paper!