From Louisa:
Donations for Bethany’s Bargain Bonanza and Barbecue are coming in fast, and there are some great items. This event on May 25th will be fantastic, and we need your help, please. We need four volunteers each Sunday morning from 9:30-10:15 and 11:30-12:30 to accept donations. We need four volunteers on Wednesday mornings from 10 AM - Noon to accept donations. We need volunteers to help sort on Wednesday afternoons from 1 PM -4 PM. Beginning next Tuesday, April 23, we will need some volunteers to help sort items from 6 PM - 8 PM. If you’re able to help on one of those dates, please contact Louisa at louisa.duck@gmail.com. Thank you!
Since the beginning of COVID, March 2020, there have been questions, “When will we have another Fall Fair?” The densely attended annual gathering at Bethany was an iconic event in Armdale. If you asked residents to name something they knew about Bethany, they would likely respond 1) Fall Fair 2) Christmas Eve service with live donkey and 3) Shawn and Barry’s Silent Movie with creative soundtrack. But unlike the Christmas Eve service and Shawn’s virtuoso performance, the Fall Fair has seen it’s leaders virtually live at Bethany for months at a time. Part of this effort is born of an effort to “put our best foot forward”, provide an event that brings the Armdale community together, brings Bethany together. I was struck, in 2015, how many people from the church were involved in the Fair (every inch of the building utilized. In the years since, I loved how we worked together building community spirit.
But the drive to make more money every year was intimidating. I witnessed volunteers calling on the leaders, “did we make more than last year?” Bethany has come back to life, since 2020, in all respects, excepting fundraising. Tina and Mary’s event last month was awesome. I was so thrilled to hear about Louisa’s initiative, the Sunday School’s willingness to get us started back on the road to community sales. This Spring Sale is NOT the Fall Fair (repeat after me…). But it is a reminder of who we’ve been, who we are, who will be. Let’s roll up our sleeves and we part of this. How exciting to see us doing this again.
