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Well, it certainly caught my eye.

In the message panel of the e-mail were the words, "Apple Dumplings for everyone."

For more than a year I have been in the working with fine professional experts who are implanting a whole new mouth full of teeth for me. The ones I had used all my life finally wore out.

It is a tedious process, but an interesting one, and sometime in the spring I am scheduled to have all my new teeth firmly in place.

One of the first things I want to eat when I get off of the soft food diet is apple dumplings.

My grandmother, and later my mother, made just awesome apple dumplings. Melted in your mouth.

In later years I remember getting some tasty apple dumplings at the old Woody's restaurant above the highway in West Carrollton.

Anyway, the message from Kelly Marie Weiler concerned a book about apple dumplings and some good work that members of the Rotary Club of Dayton have done in recent weeks.

The book is titled Andy and Elmer's Apple Dumpling Adventure and was written and illustrated by local author Andrew J. Shoup.

Weiler talked about the book.

"It is wonderful. It is the story of how a young man goes about starting an apple dumpling business using the Rotary Club standards of making ethical and fair decisions in the business world," she said. "It was written specifically for students in the third and fouth grade level of education."

The Rotary Club purchased 3,000 copies, then Rotarian Amy Radachi recruited 50 members to visit all of the third- and fourth-grade classes in Dayton Public Schools as part of the apple dumpling gang.

The individual members read portions of the book to the students, and according to Radachi, each student was given a copy of the book.

Many of the Rotarians reported back to the organization after the classroom visit.

John E. Staten had this comment, "Mark Ruetschle and I did the readings at Grant School. The children were thrilled to get the books. One of the third-graders looked up at me and said, 'Are you George Washington?' Gosh, I didn't think I looked that imposing."

According to Rotarian Donna Childs, "I am so pleased to have been a part of this. I had severely disabled children at the school but teachers and aides held up the book, and the students loved the attention and the story. It made a difference in my day and my life to be able to bring a little joy to the special children. I realized how blessed we are as Rotarians to care enough to do this kind off service."

Kim Bramlage said she had a very positive experience at Fairview Elementary School. "The students enjoyed the story and also I believe they liked hearing about Rotary, what it is, and what we do. The principal asked when we were coming back."

Steve Naas reported it was his most memorable moment as a Rotarian. "Actually this was one of my favorite life experiences in all that I have done," he said. "The third- and fourth-graders at Kiser were awesome. The book was a big hit."

Weiler said a few hundred books were left over after the reading project and the books are being donated to the Dayton Metro Library so that all the library branches can get copies.

Sounds like this was another outstanding project for Dayton Rotary. I send them congratulations for the success, and I also thank them for getting me in an apple dumpling mood.

It won't be long now until I have strong teeth and can dig in.

Dale Huffman wants your story ideas. He'd like to share a story about you, your family, or a group you belong to. This column is for you. Send e-mail to dhuffman@DaytonDailyNews.com or write to Dale at 45 S. Ludlow St. Dayton OH 45402. Fax: (937) 225-2489. Phone: (937) 225-2272.