Missions Banquet

Three days before the event: "Um, I don't have time to make centerpieces for the Missions Banquet; can any of you come up with something? It needs to fit our banquet theme of 'The Dating Game' AND tie in with missions. Oh, and there's no budget for this."

A few ideas were tossed out, and suddenly Heather and I were "in charge". Again. This is becoming a habit.

Someone sent us a link to the old Dating Game stage set and we were off. Sticks cut from our shrubs. Construction paper that Heather wanted to use up. Old maps. Glue.


We kept in mind the glass vases that we knew were at church, cut the sticks down to an appropriate length, and freehand cut flowers and hearts (God's love for all people). Glued two shapes back-to-back to each stick, and popped five in each vase. There. Centerpieces for 24 tables.

Missions Month

Heather is on the Missions Team at church now, and March is Missions Month. She ended up being in charge of one of the main events, the Street Fair. This was a new idea at our church and some old-timers considered it cutting edge to plan such an ambitious event. But not to worry: Heather and her team did a fabulous job and the fair was deemed a great success.

The team planned four "continents", one in each corner of the gym. Each area was centered around a large shade canopy, with decor, displays, food, and activities at each. I helped out with set up and decor; Greta helped out with henna hand painting in the Asian corner, and David took care of sound and technology. Heather was everywhere, having her first experience with bossing people around.

Some very clever ideas I gleaned from the fair:

1. In Africa/India, they made a Bedoin tent with lots of floaty fabrics draped off the canopy. Inside, a flat table was set for a meal and tons of pillows filled the matted floor. Cute lanterns dangled from the canopy supports. An Indian congregation served curry and other Indian delicacies.

2. In Asia, the canopy was hung with a lot of Chinese lanterns leftover from last years' VBS. An area was set aside for children to learn origami, and some origami also dangled from the canopy. One lady had borrowed assorted Chinese porcelains from a local thrift store. All they required was that she return them in one piece! We tasted pot stickers, chicken lo mein, and candy bugs-on-a-stick.

3. In Europe, they had borrowed several bistro tables and those were scattered about with a market umbrella in the center of the cluster. At the base of the umbrella were numerous tins and pails, overflowing with paper-wrapped silk flowers. It really did look like a European outdoor market. The flowers were raided from the church decorations closet; none were purchased for the event. The food in this area was Belgian waffles and brats with mustard.
4. South America was filled with costumes and toys from South and Central America, since we currently have three families in our church who have served in those areas. They simply brought bins and boxes of their own stuff, and decorated away. They served carne asada and sopapillas.

5. Heather had made very clever chalk board menus for each continent. She used scrap lumber that was sitting around the church, had our property manager trim it to size, and then she painted it with a quart of free paint that she turned to chalkboard paint by mixing in grout. She decorated them with designs cut from a Silhouette machine. All this=FREE! So clever.

Hit by Bad Storms

Tornadoes swirled around us last night, but we are fine - no damage to our house.

The Professor bought an I-phone app at the height of the storm, to track storms and get weather warnings, day or night. So now we will be safe!

Anniversary Trip

The Professor decided it was high time we celebrated our anniversary with a little getaway. The problem is, that seems to be a popular thing to do around Valentine's Day. After we decided on Savannah, he searched online for a hotel, but they were all booked for most of February. Eventually he found a little place, if we were willing to begin our stay on a Sunday. That seemed a little odd, but we decided to go with it.

We stayed at a delightful little inn called East Bay Inn, right in the middle of the historic district. Once we arrived and parked the car, we didn't get back in it until we left for home three days later!

We also visited and photographed ourselves in all 22 squares,
we walked about 15 miles,
we climbed to the top of Tybee Lighthouse, we ate lots of seafood,
we toured four historic homes,
we admired lots of historic architecture,
we enjoyed a special dinner at The Olde Pink House,
we danced in Reynolds Square late one night,
and we explored two old forts.