May 15, 2015

First Edition  
Let's Journey Together! 
This Sunday is MUSIC SUNDAY!

Come early for breakfast, and then enjoy an hour of worship praising God through song and instruments. After worship we'll go across to bless and plant the Community Garden.  

Then join us for lunch in Cook Hall. Bring a side dish or dessert to share.

 

SUNDAY WE PLANT THE GARDEN!
Time to put your seedlings in the ground. Following worship Sunday, we'll go across to our community garden and plant! Bring gloves and trowels. (Maybe bug spray too!) Many hands make light work.

Time to mulch the flower beds  

After a long winter, it is time to rejuvenate the flower beds around the church. Can you help us distribute mulch in our gardens? Saturday, May 16, 10am. Please contact Vicki Bale-Saunders, Peg Giles or Marian Rowles if you are able to join us. Whatever time you can give is very much appreciated. Please bring a wheelbarrow, shovel or pitch fork.

"First Cookout" - Sunday, May 24

Join us next Sunday for the "First Cookout"

Hotdogs and Hamburgers provided. Please bring a picnic side or dessert to share.

Come celebrate Spring with food and fellowship!

 

 

 

Here's one of the reasons to commit to Hartford. 

When you get the opportunity, watch the video "New Voices of Asylum Hill." It is a joint production of the Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association, the Hartford Public Library, and CPTV. 

 

Seven refugees living in Asylum Hill tell brief stories. They are emotional and informative. There are clear messages to all of us. Thirty percent of Asylum Hill residents are immigrants and refugees. Don Shaw attended the video recording session as a member of the Asylum Hill Welcoming Committee representing Habitat.

 

Please watch and share it with others.

 

Host Families Wanted for Last Weekend in July

Ann Wilhelm brings us this opportunity to participate in international friendship, as UConn will welcome 40 student leaders from North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa to work on social entrepreneurship this summer. The 5-week program includes 4 weeks on campus and a week of sightseeing in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, as well as a ONE WEEKEND HOMESTAY July 24-26.

 

Ann thought it would be a perfect opportunity to host several of the young people here in Granby so that some communal activities could be planned... a picnic, worship, something with our youth, a conversation with local government leaders and with people working to preserve green space.

 

Would you like to join Ann and Ginny in this opportunity? Click HERE to read more, or contact ­Danielle to indicate your interest.

 

G CREW IS SELLING STOCK
We are about $500 away from reaching our mark!  Thanks to all who are buying stock in the G Crew mission trip, and who supported the dessert auction.  20 young people and 8 adults will be making this trip with your help.  We will be in Cook Hall again this Sunday selling stock in $10 units (after the trek over to the community garden).  This money goes to underwrite the cost of four vans and gas to get to West Virginia. You have been very generous already.  Please know that we appreciate it.  Each stockholder will receive a personal note from a G Crew member, midway through our work week in Appalachia. Mission Trips Change Lives!

G CREW meets this Sunday 6 - 8pm
Plans for the Boston Day-trip on May 30th & other summer plans/ point-counterpoint/focus/Life Outside Granby / snacks from Nate/ and the KOOZIES have arrived!  Wall art-photos up soon.
   
The One-Room Sunday School
We are getting down and dirty on Sunday!! 
All children through grade 8 are invited to help start the planting in our community garden across the street from the church.  Kids should wear comfortable clothes and sneakers or rain boots and bring garden gloves, trowels and the seedlings they took home back in April. But no worries if yours has not grown, or if you didn't get a plant. We will have lots of extra seedlings so everyone will get to do some planting.  Meet in the parking lot at 10am for a walkover.  Remember to save June 7th for our special Youth Service in church.  And, on June 13th all Sunday School (& KiC kids) will serve at the Church's Strawberry Supper.
NOTE>>>We will be preparing the garden for planting Friday at 6 and Saturday at 2 if anyone wants to come and help before Sunday morning.  
Next SUNDAY, May 24th we visit Marian Rowles' garden!
 

Come make cards!

Please RSVP to Kris Letendre (formerly McManus) at 860-622-9363 (text or call) or via email if you plan to participate on Saturday, May 16th, 6:00p.m. in Cook Hall -- we're trying to gauge interest to plan the meeting. The goal is to stock First Church with a supply of cards that can be used to send personal messages to those celebrating special occasions, needing sympathy or encouragement, or just to let them know they are in our thoughts. We will meet every four to six weeks, depending on interest and scheduling. Initially we need help with supplies if you have any, including: 

  • Card stock (8.5 x 11) in different colors
  • Stamp sets
  • Ink in various colors
  • Scissors
  • Paper trimmer
  • Adhesive
  • Big Shot or similar embosser/die cutter
  • Embellishments as desired
  • Other tools / supplies as desired
NO worries if you don't have any supplies yet - those who have them will share! Adults and teens/tweens welcome - bring a friend! Hope to see you then.

Cheer on the Bike & Build Tour as It Pedals for Affordable Housing, June 4-5 

Let's celebrate the 2015 Bike & Build Tour with a generous First Church welcome as we host 30 collegiate cyclists on their nearly 4,000-mile Providence to Seattle ride to build homes, and raise awareness and support for affordable housing. Bike & Build organizes cross-country bicycle trips that benefit affordable housing groups. It engages young adults in spreading the word about the affordable housing crisis in America.

  

Thirty young adults will ride into our parking lot on the afternoon of Thursday June 4th. We will welcome them, feed them, house them, feed them again, and send them on their way, for another leg of their journey.

  

Please join them for supper and a brief program on Thursday evening at 6:00 pm. Rosemary Martin will be soliciting food and snack donations for these very hungry guests. Please contact her if would like to contribute, or volunteer to serve dinner or breakfast. The Farmington Valley Y has generously offered its showers for cyclist clean up. They will be shuttled there courtesy of Doug Lampert and the Marquis of Granby bus.

  

After dinner, the riders will provide an overview of their program and information on their specific route, one of eight nationally. Laura Seger-Horan will help them wind down before lights-out with a yoga session. After overnighting here in the church, we will feed them a hearty breakfast featuring Fran Armentano's famous breakfast burritos and send them on their way Friday morning.

  

Please join with us in welcoming this amazing group of people and extending to them the warm First Church Granby welcome that B&B groups have received from us in the past! If you would like to further information please contact Rosemary Martin

Strawberry Supper - SAVE THE DATE, Saturday, June 13 

Mark your calendar to attend an "Old-Fashioned Strawberry Supper." We'll have ham, potato salad, baked beans and strawberry shortcake with Connecticut-grown strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Make your reservations for the 5:00 or 6:00 seating by calling the church office or signing up outside of Cook Hall. Save the date!


Seeking donations - furniture and household items 
We have received a request ffrom the Hartford Maternal and Infant Help Program (which we support through the Covenant to Care). Three clients are in need of the following furniture and household items: crib; toddler bed; twin beds (2); Full size beds (2); dressers (4); living room sets (2); and small household items - towels, shower curtains, lamps, dishes, pots and pans. Please bring smaller items to the Church and if you have larger items, please contact Gail Pillow for more information on donating.

Read more about Ginny and Doug's trip to Korea   (click here) 

Come for breakfast - Stay for lunch!
Breakfast is served Sunday mornings from 8:30am to 10am in Cook Hall.  Lunch is served hot or to-go following worship. Often there is a gluten-free offering available - if interested, ask the cooks!

Lunch Containers
Please bring back your to-go lunch containers so they can be recycled.



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Contacts 

Sue Miltenberger (Office Manager)
Rev. Ginny McDaniel (Senior Minister)

Rebecca Brown (Leader, Children & Youth Ministry 

Jerron Jorgensen (Music Director)

Church Office Phone: 860-653-4537   

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