Fall Festival

Palm Grove Youth and Sponsors hosted the

Palm Grove Fall Festival...

 

Everyone was welcome to bring their own lawn chair and enjoy some food and festivities.

 

Normally this is done as a fund raiser for the youth but this area can become

"Fund Raiser Heaven" during the winter months so the youth and sponsors

decided to do it as an act of service to the church,

especially keeping in mind those with families

or  those feeling a financial crunch right now.

 

The youth worked in teams and came up with their own 'booth'.

They were quite creative and came up with some very interesting things!

 

At the front gate we had paper bags for the little kids to put all their prizes in.

Most of the youth kids had prizes at their booths.

 

"Let the evening begin..."

 

 

This was a balance beam and the goal was to knock your opponent off.

These were sticks wrapped in foam cushion so it didn't get too violent.

 

Here was a cornhole tournament... but it got dark before the tournament was over.

 

Here you could get a homemade smoothie..."Detwiler Style"!

Peach-Strawberry-Banana

 

 

An old-fashioned apple bobbing...

 

What?!  An "ANGRY BIRDS" game at a festival?! 

Sure, I'll try that!

 

And a "Toilet Paper Toss"...

Yep, real toilet paper, real toilet seat!!

 

 

Hamburgers, Hotdogs, French Fries, and lots of beverages...

 

 



 

Good fellowship!

 

Here you could win a prize if you could throw

a ping pong ball into a fish bowl!

 

 

 

Archery skills tested here...

 

Fancy face painting done here...

 

 

 

Here you could buy a raffle ticket for $1.00 and have a chance to

win a prize every 30 minutes...

 

A good festival MUST have FOOD!!!

 

 

At the Photo Booth some crazy things happened...

 

                                     

(our deacon and wife?!)

...a couple probably off the street that we probably don't know!

 

Aww...love! 

 

 Mobster Mother and Daughter!!

 

The photographers tried to find time for a break...

but we always hunted them down and made them

come back because of the lines of people

waiting to have their pictures done!

 (Do tell!! The pastors and their wives?!)

 

 

 

Isn't this just too adorable?!

 

 

Deacon? Sponsors?  Surely not!

 

A combination family of mobsters and street gear! 

 

Here you could ring a pumpkin and win a prize...

Wait! You could even win a prize for trying!!

 

 

The "Office"...

 

A softball toss....although this looks like a frisbee to me!

 

 

 

 

 

Guess who won a cupcake at the "Cupcake Walk"?!

 

...and the "Guard Dog on Patrol" a.k.a. "Riley"...

making sure order was kept! 

 

 

One thing we regretted was that we wanted to go around

 and try all the different things ourselves but by the time we were all set up...

it was time to open!!

We'll know better for next time! :)

 

Donations were accepted but not necessarily expected.

We wanted to make it a fun night where people could come

and enjoy a relaxing evening with family and friends

but not have to spend a lot of money.

 

We were blessed beyond measure and

were amazed at how the blessing came back to us!

 

Detwiler's Market astounded us by their generosity!

They allowed us to use anything we wanted from their market for decor

and they also donated all the fruit for our smoothies!

John Yoder, once again, did all our grilling!

Another couple surprized us by donating all the meat for the sandwiches

 so the youth ended up having some money left over for the Youth Fund!!

 

Thank  You!!

We were definitely challenged to have a more giving spirit about us!

 

We opened the gates at 4:00 p.m. and the sun went down soon after 7:00.

The youth kids started cleaning up around 7:30 and most of us

were on our way home by 8:30.

We saw again how many willing hearts working together

make a big job seem small!

 

 

Plan on joining us next fall...

"What did our Founding Fathers believe?"

At the risk of sounding controversial

 I shall attempt to share a small part of what we have been studying in History. 

 

I have always believed that America was founded by Christian leaders.  Growing up, most of my learning has been through Christian schooling; and in our homeschooling we have used Christian resources.

We are currently studying the presidents of America and just going on-line and using 'wikipedia'.

To my shock:

Chrisitianity is not what I'm finding.

 

I was first made aware of this several years ago when we were at a conference in Nashville, Tn. 

We were near the residence of President Jackson so were able to enjoy a tour of his place. 

I had heard of his outstanding love letters written to his wife and how they were being used as a model for husbands to write love letters to their wives.

He also was portrayed as being a

good Christian husband and leader and I was looking forward to seeing his museum, etc.

 

I was shocked by how differently he was

portrayed by the secular world.

"Christian" was not the word they used.

"Adultery and Hot-tempered" were their words. 

His "wife" was a wife of another man with whom he was living in an adulterous relationship with. 

The world considered it a very scandalous affair. 

 He also was known for his hot temper and several men were killed when his temper was enraged

and in duels with him. 

He did not treat his slaves with kindness.

Where does "Chrisitan" fit into all of this? 

 I was quite puzzled.

 

Now as we are studying the early presidents a.k.a. "Our Founding Fathers", I am again quite puzzled.

 

Presidents Washington (1st), Jefferson (3rd), Madison (4th), and Monroe (5th) were Deists.

What are Deists?

Deists believe in one God, but do not believe in supernatural events such as miracles; they do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture or in the Trinity.

 

Presidents John Adams (2nd) and

John Quincy Adams (6th) were Unitarians.

What are Unitarians?

Unitarians do not accept the Godhood of Jesus.  They do not believe in the Trinity.  They maintain that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God, even a supernatural being, but not God Himself.

 

I am baffled. 

 I do believe that Christian principles were used

when our nation was established

but  it appears here that our "Founding Fathers" didn't even profess to be Christians.

Several of them are believed to have fathered a number of children through slave women and one is believed to have sold his own children.

John Quincy Adams took his oath of office on a book of laws instead of the Bible.

 

I was also disappointed in what I read about their families.  What kind of fathers were they?

I would encourage you to go look. 

 

Am I studying in the wrong places or

why do I feel so misguided?

 

The lesson for me is to check more carefully what my kids are being taught and what we are using for resources. 

 

Just because it says "Christian" doesn't make it "Christian".

 

Happy studying in the days ahead!