What’s Next?
Lent and Easter are always busy times in
the life of the church. Smyrna was no exception. We added mid week soup
supper/ prayer services to our schedule, and of course celebrated with
our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Easter morning celebration. We raised
money for the Molalla Service Center and for books for the Maclaren
Youth Detention Center. Now what?
In addition to the spring rains,
April will bring the ground breaking for our building addition. We will
have to park a little farther away from the building during
construction, but it will be great to have dedicated Sunday School
classrooms and new bathrooms for our fall program.
April 6th we will have a special
service dedicated to Camp Adams. Several of our youth have been an
important part of providing the staff to run the camp, and we will
celebrate their work and learn more about the camp activities. We have
reserved Camp Adams for our annual outdoor service for July 20th. This
year we will also have the opportunity to spend the night at Camp on
July 19th. Chris Bangs will be organizing the evening, and we will be
asking people to sign up if they plan on attending in the next couple of
months.
If there is interest, I have two
ideas for new programs. First, I would like to explore starting a men’s
group. Let me know if you are interested in meeting with other men in
the church on a monthly basis to explore the challenges of being a
Christian from a man’s perspective. I am also interested in putting
together a series on financial planning, budgeting, and estate planning
from a Christian perspective. Before going ahead with either of these
groups, I need some indication for interest. There will be sign up
sheets on the bulleting board- or you can just contact me.
Finally, I want to say thanks to
those of our members who let me know when we have a member who is sick
or could use a visit. Pastoral care is an all church activity, and I
appreciate the help.
--- Pastor Dave
DavidAkers@smyrna-ucc.org
Building
Committee Report
The building Fund continues to
grow. Pledges and gifts since our kickoff in December now are more than
$100,000 toward our goal. This totals over $200,000 including the money
in the Building Fund when the current drive began. That leaves around
$140,000 to raise or borrow.
Our next event which probably
has taken place as you read this is the Baked Potato Sunday on March 30.
We will be evaluating the fund in April and working out the details for
borrowing the additional money we need to complete the building.
We will be asking if any of you will want to lend us money.
Work has actually begun on our
project. The septic tank was pumped and the leach lines marked. We will
need to construct a new system and test holes have been dug. The plans
have been submitted to the county and are awaiting approval. Actual
ground-breaking is coming soon. These are exciting times!!!
--Joel
Daniels, reporter
Notes from the past —
When sorting through old notebooks, a
tradition of men cooking Women’s Fellowship Dinners came to light.
Perusing these notes may bring back some memories for long time members.
The notes were partly typed and mostly jotted upon so transcription may
not be completely accurate! (original typos have been left in
purposely.)
Feb. 26—55 COMMITTEES OF MEN TO PREPARE
AND SERVE THE WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP DINNER OF SMYRNA, ELLIOTT PRAIRIE
PARISH
MENU—Glen Yoder—Ray Baker—Geo.
Gotwald (sic) O.K.
COOK—Vern. Sinclair—Emerson Yoder—P.
Burkert Gravy + meat+ peas + rolls + potatoes
PREPARE VEGETABLES—Bob Kyrk—Otto
Leutwyler—R. Elmer—Elmer Schneider—B. Balweber O.K. Too much for
chairman
DINING ROOM—Nolan Yoder—Vance
Yoder—R. Paulson—Ken Burkert These will set up tables, set tables and
get them ready for the meal to be served. Silverware and cups. O.K.
KITCHEN SERVING—Geo. Cutter—Jerry
Yoder—Mr. Triplett—Steve Eyman—Glen Losey O.K.
ICE CREAM—Russell Yoder—Norman Sether—Clifford
Mitts O.K.
DISHWASHING—Russell Yoder—Edd Eyman—L.H.
West—Ben Burkert—Carl Foske—Leslie Gibson —needs organization
DININGROOM CLEAN UP—Harry Shreaver
(sic)—Walter Lay—Frank Crandle—Curtis Nelson O.K.
COFFEE + TEA—Donald Daniels—make and
put in pitcher
SERVING ** Young men of the Parish,
directed by E.O. Salter. O.K. At Smyrna Church February 26, 1955.
All committees O.K. except not enough
specific jobs to each person. After table committee got tables and
decorations up, we should have a committee to put on jam or jelly,
pickles and olives, butter. To prepare vegetables one helper or 2 should
attend to cookable food and about 2 should be responsible for making
salad and having it ready to pass out.
men
1—menu — 3
2—purchase items—menu committee
3—peel potatoes—2
4—prepare the veg—2 +salad items
5—make salad—1
6—cook +mash potatoes—1
7—cook meat + gravy—2
8—cook other veg + heat rolls—1
9—fix pickles +olives—2 nut cups, butter + jelly or jam also salt +
pepper
10—coffee + tea making — 2
11—dessert prepare + serve —3
12—serve in kitchen—6
13—set tables with covering—3
14—waiter work including food and coffee — 12 boys
Great
Chili Cook-off Recipes
After our great Chili Cook-off was over
several people requested the recipes for some of the dishes served
during the event. The following chili dish came from the kitchen of
Dan Johnson and Bob Kyrk.
Tex-Mex Chicken Chili
1 Cup Chopped Onion
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Tablespoon Vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon Chili powder
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Teaspoon Sugar 1
(8-oz) can Tomato Sauce
1 (10 oz) can Tomatoes and Green Chiles, undrained
1 (15 oz) can red kidney Beans drained
2 Cups shredded or cubes cooked chicken breast
¾ Cup Water
Directions: Combine onion, garlic and
oil in a 2 quart glass measure, Cover and Microwave at high 3 minutes or
until onion is tender, stirring every minute. Add chili powder and next
four ingredients, stirring well. Microwave, uncovered, at high 6 to 9
minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring mixture every 3 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients, stir well. Microwave, uncovered at high 6
minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serves 4.
Ginger Redinger provided corn
bread from a recipe that is Gluten-free. It is as follows:
Buttermilk Cornbread
(Gluten-free)
1 ½ cups yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 tsp salt
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup milk (I used whipping cream)
1 cup milk (can be omitted)
1 cup buttermilk (I used soy milk and
1 tblsp of vinegar)
2 eggs
(I also added ½ to 1 cup of ½ inch cubes of cheddar cheese and 1 small
can of diced mild green chilies).
Heat oven to 350°. In large mixer bowl
combine all ingredients except butter and 1 cup milk. Beat at low speed,
scraping bowl often, until smooth (1 to 2 minutes). In heavy oven-proof
10-inch skillet (I used an 8 inch skillet and it was fine) melt butter
over low heat, (swirl it around the bottom of the skillet and up the
sides); pour batter into skillet. Pour remaining 1 cup milk over batter;
do not stir. (The last cup of milk can be omitted, I did not add it to
the recipe.) Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until center is firm to the
touch. Let stand 10 minutes; serve warm. Adapted from Land O Lakes
Treasury of Country Heritage: Meals & Menus (Country Custard Skillet
Corn Bread, p.305)
kitchens equipped with a range, dishwasher, dishes, cooking
utensils, coffee pots, and basic staples. BBM’s requirements
include: $50 fee per person for the week for lodging . BBM
requires that participants be 14 years old and up. For every 5
youth 14-17 in age we need at least 1 adult. There will be
waiver of liability forms from parents and adults. We’ll work
out insurance issues long before we start our trip. 