The week's good news: October 14, 2021

(Image credit: AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

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1. On their 77th anniversary, Iowa couple finally gets to take their wedding photos
2. New quarters will feature 5 trailblazing American women
3. Russian man becomes 1st person without legs to scale world's 8th-highest mountain
4. Annual yard sale funds random acts of kindness in Virginia community
5. Archaeologists uncover massive, 1,500-year-old winemaking complex in Israel

published 14 October 2021

1. On their 77th anniversary, Iowa couple finally gets to take their wedding photos

On Royce and Frankie King's wedding day, there wasn't any time for a fancy gown or formal photographs — it was Sept. 16, 1944, and Royce was on a two-day leave from the Air Force, preparing to fly overseas to fight in World War II. This September, to mark the couple's 77th anniversary, the staff at St. Croix Hospice decided it was time they had a do-over, and planned a ceremony that involved a vintage wedding dress and a dedicated photographer. The event was held in the Kings' backyard in Olwein, Iowa. Frankie, 97, carried a bouquet and donned a wedding dress from the 1940s, while Royce, 98, wore his Air Force uniform. The Kings' music therapist played the saxophone and guitar, and another hospice staffer snapped pictures. The couple's daughter, Sue Bilodeau, told The Washington Post she is making her parents an album filled with photos of the celebration, which was "definitely one of the most special things ever."

Starting in 2022, women who made their mark on American history will be immortalized on the quarter. Last week, the U.S. Mint released its designs for quarters honoring astronaut Sally Ride; author Maya Angelou; suffragist and politician Adelina "Nina" Otero-Warren; actress Anna May Wong; and Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected to serve as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. These women will be featured on the tails side of the first batch of quarters released next year, with new designs coming out annually through 2025. Their contributions are "indelibly etched in American culture," U.S. Mint Acting Director Alison L. Doone said in a statement. "Generations to come will look at coins bearing these designs and be reminded of what can be accomplished with vision, determination, and a desire to improve opportunities for all." George Washington will stay on the heads side of the quarter, but his likeness will get a revamp for these special coins.

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Earlier this month, Rustam Nabiev became the first person without legs to climb Nepal's 26,781-foot Mount Manaslu — the world's eighth-highest mountain. Nabiev, 29, is a former paratrooper from Russia who lost both his legs in 2015 when his barracks collapsed. Last year, he climbed Russia's tallest peak, Mount Elbrus, and decided to challenge himself even further by tackling Manaslu. His trek took 34 days, with Nabiev pulling himself up the mountain, with the support of Sherpas. "It was like a mission that I had to finish for all those people who were watching me," Nabiev said. "With this act I wanted to show that anything in this life can be accomplished through action." The climb was mentally and physically difficult, but worth it. "I thought a great deal about what I've accomplished and I realized that I did something unbelievable," Nabiev said. "Deep inside I can't even believe it."

From throwing beach parties for dementia patients to supplying nurses with boxes of donuts, Susan Thompson-Gaines stays busy by doing at least one good deed a day. The Arlington, Virginia, resident collects her neighbors' old clothes, toys, jewelry, and other odds and ends, and once a year, holds a massive yard sale, using the profits to fund random acts of kindness in the community — her 2021 event raised more than $12,000. "So many people helped," she told CBS News. "It's everyone in the community now." There's no shortage of people Thompson-Gaines can assist, and she said that "once you start looking, there are opportunities everywhere." She takes on large-scale projects, like leaving flowers on the graves of veterans, but Thompson-Gaines also helps individuals, like high school students in need of homecoming dresses. Being able to connect with people she ordinarily would never meet has changed Thompson-Gaines, who said this has made her "a more happy person."

Israeli archeologists on Monday announced the discovery of a Byzantine-era winemaking complex they believe produced about 520,000 gallons of a sweet white wine that was exported to Europe, Egypt, and Turkey. The archaeological dig in Yavne, a town south of Tel Aviv, was uncovered over the past two years and gives a greater insight into how wine was made 1,500 years ago. "This was a prestige wine, a light white wine, and it was taken to many, many countries around the Mediterranean," Jon Seligman, a director of the excavation, said. Known as "Gaza" wine, it was consumed by kids as well as adults, for health and pleasure. "This was a major source of nutrition and this was a safe drink because the water was often contaminated, so they could drink wine safely," Seligman said. Along with five wine presses, grape storage and stomping areas, and warehouses, the site contained thousands of fragments of clay jars and kilns to bake them.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.