Forest Presbyterian Church Newsletter December Forest Press

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1 Forest Press 4019 Center Street, P.O. Box 326, Lyons Falls, N.Y Office hours: Mon. 8 to 11 a.m. & Fridays-9 am to 12 pm; phone: ; forestchurchlf@gmail.com Our Mission A welcoming Family of God reaching Out to All in the Spirit of Christ Session: Peg Pitcher (clerk), Michele Liendecker, Susan Stratton, Gloria Hall, John Hall, Marge Hughes, Steve Kennison, Ed Bullis, Bertha Dorrity, and Patricia Houck Deacons: Sarah Anderson, Lois Compo, Carol Kunkel, Teresa Warcup, Sally Bullis, Peter Stratton Organist: Onie Brown Guitarist: Steve Kennison Choir director: Trish Kennison Office Manager: Abigayle Liendecker Forest Finds Manger: Betty Sawyer Sound Experts: Helen Gydesen and Ed Bullis Worship Service for December at 10 A.M. December 03- Elizabeth Smith (Communion & 1 st Sunday of Advent) December 10- Gail Collins December 17- Donna Schonewetter December 24 (Morning)- Michele Liendecker December 24 (7 pm)- Women s Association December 31- Session & Sunday School Play If anyone would like to donate money or poinsettias for the Christmas season, please contact Helen Gydesen before 12/17/17 Prayer Concerns: Tricia Kennison, Tim McDonald, Bette Gannon, Porky Teal, Doug McDonald, Donnie Gydesen, Trish Baker, Wendy Shue Ward, Paul Joslyn, Janet Gydesen, Linda Breen, Tom Levesque, Jerry Boshart, Joanna Barber, Frank Corbet, Nancy Gydesen, Gyde & Nancy Gydesen, Scott Jirgens, Rebecca Brown, Patty & Micky Smith, Joyce Booth, Jean Balch, Brian Breen, Larry Ennis, Jason Hoskins, the grandson of Angela Bartlett, shut-ins, those who have lost loved ones, our church, session, deacons and pastoral leadership. For David Rice s younger brother s family & for the family of Anthony Buckingham (Katie s brother in law). Prayers for Armed Services: Jason Beadore, Luke Milavc, Ben Thompson, James VanAlstine, Travis Post, Steven Potter, Michael Klossner, and Todd Crofoot. Thank you, Harold Allen, and family for the flowers on the Alter, December 3 rd which are in loving memory of Jane Allen. Thank you Steve Kennison for welcoming our guest worship leaders and making our announcements at the beginning of each service. 1

2 NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS: Forest Finds: is having their annual Christmas Give Away December 9 th, 8:30 A.M. to 3 P.M., in the Fellowship Hall. Recipients of the Christmas Give Away must register in advance by calling Forest Church ( ). Adirondack Community Chorus: concert will be Dec. 17 th, at 4:00 pm. Anyone interested in joining the chorus talk to Peg Pitcher or Steve Kennison. South Lewis Food Pantry: The food pantry is at Saint Martin s Catholic Church Rectory. It is open Mondays to Fridays, 8 am to 12 noon. On average they serve 50 families/month, 120 to 150 people per month depending on the size of the family. Items for donation can be dropped off anytime, just put them on the back porch. Dec. 2 nd, they are having a Bazaar, 10 am to 3 pm. All the proceeds go to the food pantry. Forest Church has a shopping cart in the rear of the sanctuary where donations can be placed, and we take them to the food pantry. Every February Forest Church has a collection the weekend of super bowl. The money collected goes to the South Lewis Food pantry. The Women s Association also donates money at that time for this effort, usually donating about $ Youth Group: will be meeting after worship on December 3 and December 17. They will be assisting with church service in the last Sunday of December. Pastoral Nominating Committee (PNC): has signed an agreement with Elizabeth Smith who will become our pastor starting in January of Elizabeth is an authorized lay preacher and biblical storyteller from Stone Presbyterian Church in Clinton, New York. She also teaches 5th grade social studies and science at Sauquoit Valley Middle School. ~The PNC~ Deacon s: The deacon s will be holding a meeting on Sunday, December 10 th at 9:30 A.M. Session: The session meeting will be held December 10 th at 11:45 A.M. 2

3 Did You Know About the Forest Church & Lyons Falls ALIVE Connection? The Village paper mill closed in That was a huge blow to the economy, not only in Lyons Falls but the whole county. The empty mill site was deteriorating and a huge eye sore across the street from our beautiful, historic Forest Church. It was because of the mill site ugliness that Reverend Naomi Kelly asked the congregation one Sunday in February 2006, what do you envision for our community? There were many responses. My vision was to clean up the basin canal area behind the bank. After church several people said they d help clean up the historical site. Roy Hammecker volunteered to head the project. Several people from Forest church had many meetings with the Village and The Tug Hill Commission, Katie Malinowski. The area was cleaned up by several members of Forest Church and other Village residents. The Women s Association had several fund-raising events for this project. Tug Hill Commission assisted in securing grants for what is now the Basin Canal Park. In the spring of 2007, The Basin Canal Park project sparked the Forest Church Planning Committee to create a survey for Lyons Falls. We took the questionnaire to the Village Board for their input and approval, which was granted. We wanted to do more things to give hope to our community. Along with questions we asked for comments and people to volunteer for any future projects. In October of 2007 we had a well-attended meeting to give the results of the survey. It was decided at that meeting to form a group to tackle projects to improve our community. The name we decided on was Lyons Falls ALIVE, which was a group that did several beautification projects in the 1980 s. The first officers of ALIVE were: Katie Liendecker, President; Rocky Fawcett, Vice President; Secretary, Susie Hammecker: and Peg Abbott, Treasurer. The group is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization. In the past 10 years, ALIVE has assisted the Village in accomplishing many activities and projects. Thank you, Reverend Naomi Kelly, for asking us what our vision was for our community. And, thank you to all the many Forest Church members who went into action and started the redevelopment of our community that is still on going. Katie Liendecker Women s Association: November 4 th we had our annual bazaar. It was a huge success. The basket auction (Forest Finds items) was $435.00; the café was $249.00; the bake sale was $307.00; the vendor amount for their space was $255.00; and the youth table made $ We are so very grateful to all who participated in this event and all the volunteers that made this event successful. The Forest Finds volunteers and the Women s Assoc. will be celebrating the Christmas season at Bertha Dorrity s home on December 12 th at 11am. Bring a wrapped item from Forest Finds. Ladies, please bring cookies to Saint John s Catholic Church dining room Dec. 3 before 6 pm for the tree lighting. 3

4 The Village Community Christmas Tree on McAlpine Street was lit for the 94 th and last time, last year. We all had hopes to continue with our famous 85-foot tree lighting ceremony for 100 years. Sadly, the Lyons Falls Firemen have decided that it is no longer safe for them to climb the unhealthy, fragile tree and adorn it once more with colorful lights. The Norway Spruce was first illuminated on Dec. 22, There was two years during World War II that it was not lit. The Lyons Falls History Association has a photo of the tree in it s infancy, We are extremely grateful to Ed and Eloise Johnson, the owners of the tree, for sharing their stately tree with Lyons Falls and surrounding communities. The Lyons Falls Firemen are to be highly commended for the decades of caring and decorating the famous Norway Spruce. The huge Christmas Tree has given numerous generations of families great joy. Jim Hughes wrote a special story about our community Christmas Tree for the Journal, which was published Wednesday, Nov. 19, Some Information for our newsletter was taken from Jim s article. Jim Hughes of Camillus is a former Lyons Falls resident and an associate member of the Lyons Falls Alumni Association. The New Community Christmas Tree, with LED lights, compliments of the Lyons Falls Alumni Association, located beside the Community Bank on Center Street. The lighting of the new community tree will be Sunday, December 3 rd at 5:45 pm. Christmas Carols will be sung at 5:30 p.m. at the new tree site before the lighting. Santa will be arriving in the Lyons Falls Fire Truck shortly after the tree lighting. Hot chocolate and other goodies will be served at the St. John s Catholic Church dining room immediately following Santa s arrival. Lyons Falls ALIVE, the Firemen, and St. John s church will make sure there is a gift for each child at the dining room. Caroling at Whitten Place and High Falls Apartments: Lyons Falls ALIVE and the Adirondack Community Chorus will be participating in a Christmas Caroling sing along at Whitten Place, East Main Street, Port Leyden starting at 3:30 p.m., December 3 rd. The public is invited to join them. They will also be singing at the High Falls Apartments, on Cherry Street, next to the Village offices, at 4:30 p.m. Caroling at the Lyons Falls New Community Tree will commence at 5:45 p.m. 4

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