Happy New Year, Broad Channel!
As always, my wish for all is that this New Year is indeed better than the one before. By all means, celebrate every day of it.
Encore! The Choir will be doing a return engagement at St. Virgilius this weekend. We have been asked to sing at Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 2. Our debut at the Christmas Eve Mass went off exceptionally well. We received a great deal of applause and appreciation when we were done. I’d say we received a standing ovation, but the church was so packed that almost everyone was standing anyway. By the way, the children’s Christmas pageant was terrific. Kudos to all the kids for doing such a great job, and in front of such a big audience!
One of the things the children said in retelling the Christmas story particularly stuck with me. I will be thinking about as we all approach this New Year. To paraphrase, “So this story has been told for 2,000 years, a story of peace on earth, and good will to all men. The message has not changed. But it continues to change us. And so the message will continue for time without end.”
It’s still early, but it is hoped that the choir will be part of the services at Easter and maybe sing at the church once each month. I will let you know as things develop. By the way, we each received a very special gift from our choir director, Doris Dady. It’s an amazing CD called “A Staudt & Hearty Christmas,” recorded by her brother, Chris Staudt, and herself. It is an amazing collection of Christmas songs where she and Chris do all the vocals and Chris incredibly does all the instruments. You may have heard most of these songs before, but you have never heard them like this. It is also beautifully recorded and has recently been remastered. If you can get a copy of this collection, I would highly recommend it. You will be listening to it all year long.
Well, it has been a terrific week, or two… well, actually at least three weeks of merry making. For this I thank all of my gracious hosts. After singing at St. Virgilius in the morning, then later helping at an Alive Ministry church dinner, I came home Christmas Day and promptly fell deeply asleep. But no worries, I was back up the next day, ready to celebrate and go to my first Boxing Day party! Thank you, Tom, Val and Julia.
There was a beautiful service at Christ Presbyterian Church by the Sea on Sunday. The church was beautifully decorated for the season. There were bright red poinsettias and the windows were trimmed with evergreen garlands. Large silver/white and red bows adorned the end of row of pews. Along the center, each row had a pole that was striped alternately with silver and red ribbon. Twelve in all, each pole was topped by rows of beautiful glowing candles.
If you can get to the church to see it before the season’s decorations come down, it will do your spirit good.
In lieu of a homily, Reverend Deborah Mahaney read the short story The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry. Most people nowadays if they know O. Henry at all, think “Oh, yeah, the guy with the surprise endings!” But as Reverend Mahoney expressively read this well-traveled tale, I realized the ‘surprise ending’ was that I had never understood the story like this before. The couple in the story were themselves the Magi, and the gifts they gave each other had very little to do with that which they had so dearly bought. Thanks, reverend.
Ready to work off holiday stuffing and get a fun jump on your New Year’s better fitness resolutions? Try Zumba at Christ Presbyterian Church. Sessions are on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Cat McCarthy, who runs the class, told me that Zumba is the most “stuck to” exercise regimen. Rather than getting burned out or bored, as often happens, people stick with Zumba for years.
She’s also working on specials to help people get into swing. Like if you attend on a Thursday, you get that following Sunday session for half price. Also if you go for five sessions, you get the sixth free. Proceeds go towards the church.
Try it! Zumba at Christ Presbyterian is open to both men and women over 16. You’ll need sneakers and appropriate exercise attire. You don’t even have to travel to get there! Check out catherinemcarthy.zumba.com/ for more info.
A message from Sabrina Gross: “Attention all girl scouts, I have cookie order forms if you need. Cookies are $4 a box, not $5 sorry for the mix up, the sale ends Jan. 18. I will not accept late orders. Thank you!”
Many thanks to Thea Gill, Nancy Gahles, Dorothy Fraher and Carroll Ernst of Orlando, Fla., for most recently purchasing Images of America: Broad Channel. You can order books, $20, and BC historical calendars, $5, directly from me. I will be happy to sign the books and hand deliver items right to your door. Leave a message at 347-246-6820 or workingstories@aol.com.
Do you have any info about Jeanne Anne Theis’ grandmother Magdelina Grimm or the Grimm family? ‘Lena’ lived at 202 Noel Road. Please send any recollections to me at the above email.
Finally, Broad Channel says goodbye to Margaret Galligan, who died on Dec. 23. She will be missed by her family, friends and neighbors. She will be missed by her Broad Channel community, by all the people she helped heal and by all the lives she touched.
Got BC news or announcements? Send them to me at working-stories@aol.com.
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment