Gleanings From
In Christian Fellowship
By Shirley Lindahl
Edited by Jerry Rutherford
Signs of the Times
A Other events occurring in 1976 included the church league softball team, the church pea patch allowing garden use of the vacant lot east of the sanctuary (it is now the parking lot). The Creative Art League's "Grand Slam Puppet Show." occurred in the church building as well as the use of some rooms by the Lake Washington Voc-Tech. A preschool group was also using our facilities. (We now have the Eastside Mother's Group which meets monthly in the building.)Margaret Hjorth (Kennedy) organized dinner groups for the first time. Interested members were assigned to groups of 10-12 for monthly dinner gatherings in their homes. The idea met with instant success and has continued from time to time since then. (There is a sign-up sheet in the Lounge at this time.)
Several times at the end of a six month period an all church potluck dinner has been held featuring actors from the Seattle Repertory Theater for entertainment. Following the collection of newspapers during the bell fund drive an ongoing collection was established with a permanent box in the corner of the parking lot. Volunteers empty the box and then deliver them to Fibers International in Bellevue with the monthly collection amounting to more than $50. (Now the city/county picks up our recycle material.)
Inez Hoyt began work as a new musical director for the children. She continues to assist at this time.
An interesting "almost disaster" occurred at Smorgasbord dinner in December, 1976. The salmon caught by Ruth Becker in Alaskan waters was shipped frozen to Seattle. A December fog covered the airport and it ended up in Los Vegas. It was finally located and the importance of its arrival in Seattle was explained to the airlines, a new attempt was made to get it to Sea-Tac airport. It did arrive, still very frozen. So Vera Becker decorated her family room in shades of salmon as she frantically tried to have the salmon (which they donate to us) thawed in time for dinner. No one suspected "the salmon journey: when Ethel Jovag brought it out of the oven to serve---on time!
Duane Thorson was moderator in 1977. The budget at this time was $58,357. The membership rolls had 586 names on it but it was determined that approximately 100 of those were inactive.
An interesting topic for a speech to the annual meeting by Religious Editor at the Seattle P1 newspaper was "Why People Don't Go to Church in the greater Seattle Area." It was Joel Connelly's opinion that it was a time of prosperity and people were inclined to feel less need, many were far from parental ties to a church and it is an outdoor oriented society who used weekends for this activity.
Several long overdue maintenance jobs were completed. The downstairs
men's bathroom was renovated from a broom closet to a modern facility. The
sanctuary roof was repaired again to try to prevent leaks during the rainy
season. (An ongoing project for several years.)
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