THE SPIRE. July News about Pilgrim House

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1 North Canaan Congregational Church, UCC (860) Fax: (860) Office Location: 30 Granite Ave., North Canaan Church Location: 172 Lower Rd., East Canaan Website: northcanaancongregationalchurch.org Worship: 10:00 AM Pastor: Rev. Savage Frieze (860) (P House office) (860) (Cell phone) Office Administrator: Michele Bosworth Tues., & Thurs. 9:00-2:00, Weds Youth for Christ Coordinator: Gert Anderson Sunday School Coordinator: Sharon Milukas Organists: Marilyn Mullins Mary Anne Carter Sextons: Sally Pollard Church Katherine Wolfe Pilgrim House Boards and Committees: Moderator Ned Gow Vice-Moderator Frank Ghi Clerk Ceil June Treasurer - Wendy Kennedy Asst. Treasurer Ned Gow Deacons/CE: Chair: Tammy MacDonald True Anderson Sally Ford Ned Gow Lynne Martin Mabel Walker Trustees: Chair: Sharon Milukas Ruth Adotte Nancy Brenner Frank Ghi Glenn Rogers The North Canaan Congregational Church, UCC News about Pilgrim House July 2012 Pilgrim House hasn't sold yet and we have decided to have a commercial real estate agency represent us. But I have a concern. It seems to me that an adequate and affordable plan isn't in place for the replacement of what would be lost with Pilgrim House's sale. From my experience and conversations around town, Pilgrim House provides an invaluable service to our community as it houses a food bank, a clothing exchange, a baby clothing exchange, an O.A. meeting, an NA meeting, hopefully we'll house more AA or other groups of this nature, Yo-Kids Dances, Genex and a number of other community groups and activities, and our offices. This is our ministry and mission center. The community loses a very valuable resource if Pilgrim House sells. For a current average of $1,500 a month the community gets a lot of value, and so do we. If we could raise $1,500 to $2,000 a month we wouldn't have to sell Pilgrim House. But it seems to me that if we do sell it, it would be best to have a plan in place so that the valuable services it provides to the community continue uninterrupted. One of our creative congregants suggests that we could rent trailers to house the food and clothing ministries. OA and NA could meet in the church. I could work from home, and I suppose that Michele could work from home until a suitable and affordable Pilgrim House replacement was found or built at the church site. I hope that a replacement could be built for as much as or less then the amount we get from the Pilgrim House sale. I hope the replacement is fully ADA compliant and a 'green' energy efficient building. I further hope that it would be in place before we actually leave Pilgrim House. (continued on next page) THE SPIRE

2 The Spire 2 PASTOR S REPORT CONTINUED One of our creative thinkers suggests that a replacement building could be an affordable steel structure, built and sided to either blend with the church or the local barns. Personally I would prefer a two-story building connected to the church where the current social hall is. I'm wondering if we could build an internal wheel chair ramp instead of a rather expensive elevator. Since Pilgrim House is approximately 6,100 square feet, and some of that space would be redundant if it were connected to the church, we would need a building approximately 60 feet by 100 feet or a two-story building that was 60 by 50 or 100 by 30. Both would significantly change our footprint! Until we can settle these issues I've suggested to the Church Council that we postpone signing a sales contract with the Commercial Real Estate agents. Discretionary Fund: We decided to try something new! Instead of using the loose change in the offering plate on the fourth Sunday of the month, we will try a special celebratory collection on the first Sunday of the month. This would be in addition to our regular offering and occur during the announcement time. We ask that anyone who has a celebratory event occurring during the month make a contribution to the discretionary fund! In Joy, Pastor Savage JULY 2012 CALENDAR Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry is open every Wednesday of the month 9:00am - 12:00pm at PH. The Children's Clothing Exchange is open every Wednesday of the month 9am - 11:30am at PH. The Baby Boutique is open every Wednesday of the month 9am - 11:30am at PH. Committee Night & Potluck Supper: Monday, July 9, 6 pm AT THE CHURCH. The Canaan Art Guild Art Show: July at Pilgrim House; Opening Reception - July 11, 5-7pm. Deadline for Spire articles: Thursday, July 19. Food Drive: During the month of July. Donations may be dropped off at Pilgrim House Tues., Weds. & Thurs. 9am-12.

3 The Spire 3 PILGRIM HOUSE USAGE FOR JULY Every Monday 7pm-8pm; Every Thursday 5:00pm-7:00pm; Art Show July 11-21, please see article in this edition of The Spire. CHURCH USAGE FOR JULY The Canaan Art Guild, Wednesdays at noon; Sunday Worship Services every week, 10am; Committee Night & Potluck Supper, Monday, July 9, 6 pm. JULY BIRTHDAYS Frances Wohlfert 16 Molly Lannen Mabel Walker 17 Jessie MacDonald 30 Michele Bosworth 31 Fran Lannen PASTORAL VISITS Pastor Savage would like to visit with members of the congregation. He'd be happy to visit in your home, in his office or in a local dinner or coffee house. Please call Pastor Savage on his cell phone ( ) if you'd like to arrange a visit. STEEPLE LIGHTING FOR JULY The Steeple Lighting for the month of July has been given by Sandra Reineke in loving memory of her daughter, Tamara Reineke Labbadia.

4 The Spire 4 FROM THE OFFICE Please visit our church website, to subscribe to our church newsletter, The Spire, via . Deadline for Spire articles: Thursday, July 19. Office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am-2pm and Wednesdays 9am-noon. A friendly reminder; please be sure to call the church office to schedule any meetings or gatherings at church or Pilgrim House. Michele Bosworth, Office Administrator FOOD DRIVE The volunteers of the Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry will be holding a food drive during the month of July. Donations of non-perishables may be dropped off at the Pilgrim House, 30 Granite Avenue, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9am-12, or by appointment. Items that may be donated might include the following: Peanut butter Jelly Pasta Tomato Sauce Mac & Cheese Tuna Rice Snacks Canned beans Soup Canned fruit Ketchup Mustard Canned Veggies Cereal Coffee Juice Tea Drink Mixes Mayo Thank you for your continued support and for taking part in providing food to those in need. Please feel free to call with any questions or to make an appointment; Respectfully, Michele Bosworth, Co-Director

5 The Spire 5 TRUSTEES AND CHURCH COUNCIL REPORT In the interest of time, conservation of trees and money for paper and brevity, trustees and council minutes are combined. (Council is a summary of committee meetings). The trustees continue to grapple with the Pilgrim House sale. It was decided to table signing any contracts at the present time. Use of Pilgrim House will be reviewed and alternative approaches to maintenance evaluated. The special collection for the Pastor s Discretionary Fund will continue. There was $ (plus change) in June s 1 st Sunday special plate. Pastor Frieze will conduct a blessing of the animals during the Jack Brown Fair. The confusion about when the sit-stand during worship was addressed. Deacons and choir will be more alert and aware to leading this. Covenant to Care is in need of sports equipment for a family with young boys. This will be announced at worship. The programs for summer worship will be unchanged. The Spire will be abbreviated but will continue to be published monthly. Respectfully submitted, Celia June, Clerk CHURCH NEWS The church now has a badminton set with 4 rackets, shuttle cocks, and a volley ball, in addition to punch-balls, 2 jump ropes, lots of skinny balloons to create balloon sculptures, and bubbles galore. In addition, Ceil June is planning on donating her croquet set to our church as well so that it can be enjoyed by many in the future. These will all be stored in the Sunday school classrooms for us to use. As is the case each summer during July and August, various members of the choir will be away on vacation. On July 1 st the Falls Village church will worship with us and some of their choir members may be joining our choir. On July 29th, we will be joining them in Falls Village at their church and some of our choir may be singing with them there. Our summer worship music will be a mix of choir anthems, solos, duets, and instrumentals, depending on who is here. That is part of the fun of summer worship services. If you have a gift of music, or know of someone who would share their music ministry now and in the future, please let me know at , or contact Pastor Savage at the church office. Marilyn Mullins (our organist/pianist) is wonderfully accommodating but needs to know ahead of time whether, and how, her talent as accompanist will be needed. Looking forward to hearing from you. Gert Anderson

6 The Spire 6 YOUTH FOR CHRIST Jessie MacDonald, Sara Frieze, and Patrick Kennedy joined Pastor Frieze, Anne Frieze, Judy Cash, Wendy Kennedy, Ned Gow, Leslie Snowden and me at the opening game of the Torrington Titans baseball team at Fuessenich Park in Torrington on June 7 th. Pastor Frieze gave the opening invocation which included a special prayer for the umpires (my favorite part!). The food was thoroughly artery-cloggingly good, which is what it should be at a baseball game, and the between-innings activities for kids were delightful. No bets were taken on how many foul balls would hit the cars parked just beyond the bleachers but many came close (we followed Wendy s advice and parked in the TJ Max parking lot). Sharon will continue to meet with the kids and youth during the summer months at intervals at their request during church. Giv2 planning will resume in August with our first event probably in September. The CROP walk will again take place the end of September as before and we are looking for volunteers to help, walk, and cheer us on. Jessie MacDonald and Sara Frieze will be going with the Norfolk Youth Group to do mission work for a week. They will let us know all about it when they return. How blessed they are to have this opportunity with our Norfolk friends! We are hoping for 2 summer fun events: a trip to Six Flags just for fun, and a trip to the planetarium in NYC to celebrate the wonderful universe our Creator made. We will need volunteer chaperones for both trips and anyone wanting to join us would be most welcome. As soon as I know how much these events will cost I ll let you know. Kids and parents will need to let me know who is interested and a sign-up sheet will be posted in the church fellowship hall. Come to church and sign up if interested in either event and we ll see what happens. Remember, church does not end just because school is over. Our Creator s care for us takes no summer break, has no snow days, no teacher s conferences and workshops, no sick days. Look for God s Grace each day in the love of family and friends, in the kindness of others, in times of solitude, and in all of creation, wherever you are this summer. Gert Anderson

7 The Spire 7 FISHES & LOAVES FOOD PANTRY PO Box 306, Canaan, CT Open Wednesdays, 9am-12 noon During the month of June we provided 4,113 meals, serving 170 adults and 25 children. We will be collecting donations for Fishes and Loaves on the first Sunday of every month at our church. Donations are needed of canned fruit, peanut butter, jelly, spaghetti sauce and juice. We would also like to request donations of child-friendly snacks and lunches for the summer months while many children are home. CHILDREN S CLOTHING EXCHANGE Open Wednesdays, 9am-11:30am We are still looking for donations of spring and summer clothing for men, women and children. We will also accept light jackets, sweat shirts, bathing suits, sandals and sneakers, all in good condition, please. Please consider holding on to your donations of fall and winter clothing until late summer. While we appreciate your kindness, we do not have the room to store seasonal clothing at this time. Thank you for your support of this wonderful mission. Please spread the word! New items arrive weekly. THE BABY BOUTIQUE Open Wednesdays, 9am-11:30am Donations are needed of diapers in sizes 4 and 5. If you could donate a package of diapers it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you to all who have donated diapers to The Baby Boutique. If you would like to donate any baby items or diapers, please contact the church office at Donations may be left at Pilgrim House during office hours; Tues., & Thurs. 9am-2pm or Wednesdays 9am-12. Respectfully submitted, Michele Bosworth, Office Administrator

8 The Spire 8 OUR FAMILY DAY CHURCH PICNIC Sunday, June 10th, we had a church picnic instead of coffee hour after worship service, and what a picnic it was! Everyone pitched in. The youth, together with Sharon Milukas and Christina Rogers baked delicious goodies during Sunday school. Pastor Savage made his Cajun pulled pork the night before, and brought his gas grill, his regular grill, and wood chunks soaked in water to create just the right smokiness to smoke burgers and dogs. In addition, he brought his own BBQ sauce! Pretty soon the burgers and dogs were sizzling under the practiced eye of Frank Ghi, the pulled pork was bubbling, tables and chairs were magically set up by picnic fairies outside under the cooling shade of the maple tree and an amazing array of salads, baked beans, watermelon and baked goodies piled up on the tables. Nobody does a picnic like a church community does a picnic! Meanwhile, the youth set up our new badminton/volleyball net, blew bubbles, played punch balloons, created balloon animals, got out the jump ropes, and at least one got his hands on the new water pistols! Before the picnic was over a football, wiffleball and wiffleball bat materialized courtesy of Ned Gow and the Frieze family. It was noted that Mabel Walker has quite a tennis/badminton serveand-volley motion, and Cheryl Blackburn was no slouch either they each kept up rather well with the youngsters. Ned and Pastor Frieze brought their softball mitts. A special joy to many of us was that Barbara Austin was able to join us in church on this lovely day for the first time in many months, and felt well enough to stay for the picnic with her daughter Stephanie. By the time the picnic was over we had eaten so much we were as fat as a tick, as Mrs. Ruby Shealy used to tell me in by-gone days. We had so much fun, and everything went so smoothly, that the suggestion has been made to have another picnic in the Fall, with an Autumn theme. What a splendid idea. Can you smell the pumpkin and apple pies baking already? Another suggestion was that some of us bring our guitars and we can make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Not loud enough to scare the neighbors but Keep the ideas coming. Gert Anderson

9 The Spire 9 SPECIAL MUSIC Ralph Stanton will be singing and playing his electric guitar during worship service on July 8th. The first anthem will be a rendition of "Presence of the Lord", written and composed by Eric Clapton, and originally performed by his band Blind Faith. The second piece will be "People Get Ready", from an African-American Spiritual, made famous by Curtis Mayfield and others during the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960 s. Ralph is inviting interested members of the congregation and choir to sing along. THE CANAAN ART GUILD The Canaan Art Guild will be holding an Art Show at the Pilgrim House, 30 Granite Avenue in Canaan during Railroad Days! The schedule is as follows: Wednesday, July 11th - Opening Reception, 5-7pm Thursday, July 12th - Show open 9am-2pm AND 5-7pm Friday-Monday, July 13th-16th - Show open 5-7pm Tuesday, July 17th - Show open 9am-2pm AND 5-7 pm Wednesday, July 18th - Show open 5-7pm Thursday, July 19th - Show open 9am-2pm AND 5-7 pm Friday, July 20th - Show open 5-7 pm Saturday, July 21st - Closing Reception 5-7 pm Artwork will be for sale as well as craft items, note cards, book marks, etc. Light refreshments will be served during the evening shows. Please join us for the opening reception on July 11 th and show your support to our local artists! (The Canaan Art Guild meets weekly at our church in East Canaan).

10 North Canaan Congregational Church, United Church of Christ P.O. Box 306 Canaan, CT U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 8 Canaan, CT Deadline for Spire articles: Thursday, July 19, 2012.