Lake Palestine U.M.C.
by Barbara Cade

The year has gotten off to a busy start already, and many members are back from their travels and begun new ones.

One of the most exciting bits of news for the congregation is the completion of the new outdoor amphitheater down by the lake. It was done with a tremendous amount of help from Gary Brown and his crew, Lillian Stegall and her committee and Ken Cade. Already, plans are being made for scheduling upcoming events - including weddings. Thank go out to everyone who helped make it a reality. Now, the next project is working on a new education building.

We were glad to see Rich and Donna Franko back from Boston, but Donna is not feeling well. We are praying that she can get things worked out with the doctors.

Charles Johnson is finally out of ICU and has been up in a wheelchair. The progress seems to be slow, but steady.

The Massey family (Bernard and Linda, Roland and Gail) got word that their niece in Louisiana passed away on Saturday. They have gone there for the services.

A leadership planning meeting was held at the church this past Saturday. Afterwards, Richard and Rebecca treated the participants to lunch in Frankston.

Sunny Farley is enjoying her new position at Noonday United Methodist Church. She did come back to eat at the fellowship meal on Sunday though, and received some going-away or best wishes gifts from the Lake Palestine congregation.

Bob Hitt is now in charge of getting everyone together for a work day at the church to clean up around the youth building in preparation for building the carport for the van. Both men and women are invited to participate.

The GED program has begun again for the year. If anyone is interested in getting their high school diploma, please contact Joyce Martin at the church.

It is also Girl Scout cookie time. The sign-up sheet has been going around the church, but if you know you want some cookies, contact Angela Martin or one of her Girl Scouts.

We were sorry to hear that Crystal Simon had been in a car wreck last week, but we were very happy to see that she wasn't hurt too badly. The truck is another story however.

We also want to pray for Sam LaRoux who will be having an MRI tomorrow. He has been in considerable pain lately.

As of this writing, Rose Cade is still in the hospital, but she should be coming home any day now.

We are also still praying for Kris Tarrant who has been recovering from surgery but now has developed pneumonia.

Milton and Jan Decker are busy getting the new year of youth activities off to a start. They are asking for ideas from the congregation on what they think would be fun. Of course, movie nights are still popular with everyone.

Milton and Jan are also very excited because at the end of this month, their son, Shawn will be coming home for a brief visit from Iraq.

We are also a little jealous of Lillian Stegall who is vacationing in Aruba. It's bound to be warm there, but it sure isn't here. Have a great time there, Lillian.

And finally, on Saturday at 4PM, we have a very special event happening at the church. Kaethe Griffin will be celebrating her birthday, and the best part of all is that her son and family from Germany are here to help her celebrate. She hasn't seen them in a long time, so this will be a very special time for her. All her friends, relatives and church family are invited to the party. There will be barbecue, cake and all the trimmings.

Also, this is a reminder that church times are now 8:30 AM and 10:50 AM with Sunday School starting at approximately 9:40 AM.