My Great-Niece Calla Grace Terreri arrived on May 1st.  It surely was a May Day celebration amongst the Van Dyke clan.  It's especially fun to be able to call my brother Bob, "Gramps."   

It's hard to beat the gift of new life from God in the form of a little, tiny baby.   Incarnation!

It was poignant because May 1 is also the day that my Mom died six years ago.  My niece, Cydney, who was quite close to  my Mom (and named after her - Cydney Jane) was delighted. She told me that the name was going to be Calla Jane, but it sounded too much like Cydney Jane and so they chose Grace because, "Mema was the embodiment of grace."

Cydney had been hoping for May 1 as a wonderful witness to the truth that all our time, all our days, are mysteriously one in God who is without beginning and without end.  God's time,- Kairos - after all, has nothing to do with clocks and calendars and everything to do with our lives infused with incarnation, with God with us.

So, thank you Calla Grace, for holding out and for being the latest gift of incarnation in my life - a living, breathing reminder of God's love and grace!   

Blessings,  

It's time to get ready to celebrate the birthday of the Christian Church - yes, Pentecost is coming! And the Deacons are preparing the party! Food will be cooked-tables will be set-and the congregation will gather in Fellowship Hall.

The following check list will help families prepare to attend and have a fun, delicious time!

1. Circle May 27th on your calendar.

2. Buy your tickets - $2 child, $5 adults, $12 family (4 or more).

3. Sign up on the bulletin board in the hall to bring a salad for 8 (one per family - choose potato, gelatin, macaroni or tossed.

4. Get your red, orange or yellow shirts ready - wear them on Pentecost Sunday and be ready for a colorful celebration.

So put, May 27th on your list of special days and come celebrate a very special birthday!

Hello FPC Crofters!

As you know, last year was our first attempt to provide fresh food from a Harvest Now garden to the local food bank that is suffering a reduction in donations due to the state of our economy.

Last year we spent a lot of time preparing the plot and only could get in a summer crop. That resulted in 300+ pounds of zucchini a successful harvest.

This year we started a cold weather crop of lettuce, cabbage, radishes, spinach, carrots, beets and turnips. We are experimenting with the plot location to see what does well in four of the beds.

We have four more beds we need to prepare (turn over) and plant tomatoes and some others plants like eggplant and hot peppers in mid May. There is currently black plastic on those beds to attract heat and warm the soil in advance of planting. Marigolds, nasturtiums and sunflowers will be added to attract the pollinators to the garden.

More volunteers are needed to help plant, weed and water this summer. If you are interested contact Rev David Van Dyke, Bobby Anderson or Eileen Neville. Warning, we also do pizza parties for the team.

We may have some extra seedlings on planting day if you are interested. Robin will be happy to get them off our kitchen table.

Rick Mattice

Editor's note:  In case you were wondering, crofter is a term used in Scotland for a farmer. 

Creative Learning @FPC

Volunteers have made our program thrive and grow! Here are some of our stories.

Last month we had an incredible dinner in honor of Spring and St Patrick's Day. Bobby Anderson's amazing team made corned beef and cooked cabbage that was SO GOOD!! (I never liked it before!) There were many other tasty foods too. Families and volunteers had time to just enjoy being together here at the end of the week, eating, playing, dancing, and singing. We also had a surprise Reader's theatre. Former non-readers participated with expression and confidence. As we left, we carried joy within us, which inspired the "3 early release days" week that followed.

Rick Mattice taught us to start our garden: aerating and then enriching the soil with manure (Rick always teaches us new vocabulary: "You know, manure is cow poop.") We planted lettuce, radishes and beans which are now starting to grow well in the garden that Ryan Beutler created as part of his Eagle Scout project. (Our marigolds are growing too, thanks to Diane Dischino's faithful watering)  

Sue Pritchard Downing thrilled us by teaching us to cook spring rolls made from fresh vegetables wrapped in "rice paper". David Merrell was eager to volunteer that day!! Another day Sue taught us to bake fresh bread so that each child took a loaf home. Now Sue is our cooking hero! She also helped us to bake oatmeal cookies on our most recent early release day. (Thanks to Debbie Parker and Debbie Hirsch for help manning the ovens and supervising bakers.)

Terri Anstine brought us wonderful songs by sharing her piano skills and lifting our voices to "take me out to the ballgame" and other familiar treasures. Kara, Colin and Pam McLaughlin brought Girl Scout friends to share reader's theatre dramas they had prepared for the children to read. This deepened our experience of reading.

One of the really important things that happens each day is that our volunteers bring new energy and ideas to those of us who work together daily. This makes the work lighter. (Emma and Chris Alleva thanks for joining us!) We look forward to each day for special reasons. Beloved faces become treasured friends and we are so grateful for each of you. If you haven't found a way to become part of our family, I invite you.

Please call me at 203 965-8390,

email: jmcreativelearning@gmail.com  

or stop in between 3 and 6:30 pm any school day.  

(We are in the classrooms under the church office.)

With love,

Joanie Merrell

Keep on praying for God's leadership  

as we do this work together!!!