Category Archives: church

Boy scouts, church, finance, taxes

Mishmash -or- How the mind rambles on

3 Comments

It was a glorious weekend here with temperatures in the 70s and winds mostly below 25 mph. L and I spent time walking with Molly, enjoying the sun in shorts and Ts. Spring must really be getting here. (Although I note that the weather forecast for the rest of this week is for wind and more wind. There is a reason why this area is famed as the “Saudi Light” of wind for all the wind turbines in the energy fields.)

(Photo by Wolfgang Schlegl )

Of course, there is a blizzard coming. Why you might ask? Well, I was in attendance at church on Sunday with L and the MIL. L and I snuck in late and hid in the back so mom wouldn’t see me. She was being awarded with the Silent Disciple honor and it was a secret that she didn’t know about. (One of the few times I knew something church related that mom didn’t. {*grin*}) The award clearly caught mom by surprise and she was moved to tears. It was great to see all her peers congratulating her. Yea mom! (The reason for the blizzard is the rarity of my attendance at Sunday services. Once every 3-5 years is about right. I am more than willing to work and help, I just don’t like Sunday services.)

I had to write a dunning letter this weekend, an experience that is fortunately rare. As some of you know, I sit on a Boy Scout troop committee and serve as treasurer for the troop as well. (This is the same troop I was a scout in and the Son was a scout in … as described here and here.) One of the checks from the annual popcorn sale was returned for NSF.

This is a rare happenstance – it was only the second bad check in all the years I have been the treasurer for the troop. Two bad checks out of literally hundreds or even thousands is a pretty good record. It bears out my belief that people in this area honor their commitments and understand that the funds raised go to defray the costs of going on summer camps at places like Yellowstone, etc. Many of the boys would not be able to afford the expense of the summer camp trip without the mechanism of popcorn sales and the community steps up to help. In the back of my mind, I assume it was just a mistake on the check writer’s part.

Last but not least, the taxes are done. L balanced it out pretty close – we ended up owing the state a whole $3. I think we can handle that. {*grin*}


bazaar, church, grandmother

Bazaar

Leave a comment

Today was the church bazaar where the women’s group sells handicrafts and food in support of their programs. They also host a luncheon as part of the bazaar. Since I am neither of the female persuasion nor crafty, I get to help do the transporting, setting up and cleaning up. It’s not bad. Besides, my mom and mother in law are both heavily involved and are crafty bakers that contribute handcrafts and baked goods to bazaar. You might say there is no escape. The good side is that you get to eat the trial versions before the bazaar!

It is interesting to see what is popular and sells each year. Some years it is Christmas crafts, some years it is home made candy, some years it is home baked pies and cakes. Every year the youth group nut sales are popular and the home made noodles are generally sold out within minutes of opening. (That’s another reason for being a volunteer – you can sometimes get a bag of the home made noodles.) In recent years, the individual pies and other baked goods that can be frozen and are packaged for one or two people seem to have gotten popular.

Cleaning up is always fun. We (the gentle people of the cleanup crew) have to wait until the bazaar is winding down and then we begin to put up tables and chairs, collect and put things away, vacuum the church, and generally act like a glorified janitorial crew.  A certain number of the men that used to help with cleanup have gotten old enough and had enough physical problems that they no longer can do work that involves lifting, etc. The task that is the most tedious is vacuuming the seeming acres of carpet in the church. I kind of enjoy it – there is a certain satisfaction to turning a messy debris strewn area into a neat sea of carpet. I just wouldn’t want to do it every day!

The bazaar and the activities surrounding it give a sense of continuity to life as well. This church is the same church that I attended as a youngster, the same church that my wife and I got married in, the same church that our son was baptized in, the same church that my wife and I re-affirmed our marriage vows on our 25th anniversary in, etc. Well not the same physical church since the original partially burned down shortly after we were married, but spiritually the same. There are very few things in modern life that have a permanence like that. And like the church, the bazaar seems to have a permanence as well. I can remember my grandmother participating in the bazaar. In fact, the first time I remember watching someone hand make noodles in a large quantity, it involved my grandmother and others either in the church or for the church.

And so life goes on year after year. Yet another advantage of living in a area where traditions still persist.

(Notice that NaBloPoMo has started – 30 posts in thirty days – prepare to be blogged to death!)