Howdy! Mid September already! Quite a change in the temps lately. I don’t mind a cooler night for sleeping, but it’s hard for me to put long pants and socks on for the chilly days. The heated lap blanket is back out and in use. Whatever it takes to keep from burning oil this winter!! I dread the fall fill-up.
It’s such a busy time of year—nearly every weekend has something going on. Coming up is the Harvest Fest in Bethel. That’s always a fun time, and hopefully the weather will cooperate. It’s also fair season. It’s been quite a number of years since I’ve been to any fair. I’m not opposed to going, but it’s gotten rather pricey, and I’m not that crazy about big crowds.
The Locke Mills Union Church held its bean supper on Wednesday evening. I’ll report on that next week. I will be contributing a couple of pounds of baked beans.
I’ve seen on Facebook that there is a missing horse in the vicinity. Maverick has been spotted by several people, but no capture yet. I’m hoping for a positive ending.
Update: Maverick was found and is now at home, safe and sound!! Great news!
I didn’t see the Mt. Washington twin lights, in honor of 9/11, but saw photos others had taken. Like everyone else, I will never forget that day. I was teaching at Crescent Park, and had just finished with a class. The teacher who picked up the class told me about the first plane hitting the tower. I turned on the TV in my room and witnessed the second plane crash. The horror of it was unfathomable, and then to learn of other planes and the scope of it all. One of the worst things was not being able to talk about it while being in a classroom all day, and just wanting to be with my family! It’s hard to believe that 25 years have passed.
I made a big decision, and went to the Mahoosuc Band’s first rehearsal for the Christmas concert. I can certainly do this for the fall, and it’s probably going to be a bigger challenge than I realized. I ended up on a glockenspiel of some sort, with no markings to tell what notes they were. I know the piano set up, with white and black keys—and it was a bit like that. I fumbled along the best I could. I wasn’t too worried, because I was quite sure no one could hear anything I played! At the end of rehearsal, I was encouraged to take home a bell kit (the starter percussion set). So, I hefted that heavy thing home, along with music, and now have the task of learning something new.
I chatted with Ellen Whitney, who has been in the band since the beginning, and that took me way back. For a brief moment in my life, I taught at Telstar and directed the chorus. At that time, Ellen was in high school. She accompanied the chorus on piano, if I’m not mistaken. And, she played trombone. The thing I remember about that was the chorus I conducted was a very talented group. They easily performed 4 part choral pieces. I also remember that Scott Dennis auditioned for the All-State chorus one year. He had a wonderful tenor voice and, of course, was accepted.
My cousin Jim Bennett is directing the band for now, and that took me back to my years at PoGo U (now USM), when Jim was my band director for one year. Now, over 50 years later, here we are!
Upcoming sermons at the First Universalist Church of West Paris
September 20, Bob Neal, information to come.
September 27, The Rev. Scott Campbell
“It Is Enough”
The sermon will focus on what Rev. Campbell has learned in the pulpit over 57 years of preaching. Here is an excerpt:
“My dad, who was a preacher himself, told me when I began my ministry something that has remained with me throughout the years. He said:
Love your people. If you don’t love them, it won’t matter what you preach. And if you do love them, it won’t matter what you preach.
So, I hope that even when I haven’t gotten it exactly right from the pulpit, my people have known that I loved them. That, in the end, is what this gospel business is all about.”
I’m sitting outside in the beautiful sunshine as I write this column. What a change from yesterday, which was very breezy and rather chilly. I have a few fall flowers blooming now: asters, turtle head, and sedum. There are still patches of color where a few petals remain. There are several Jerusalem artichoke plants which have yet to bloom, but are all budded. I do not clean my gardens out in the fall, because there are seeds to be eaten in a number of the dead flower heads. The goldfinches go for the echinacea seeds.
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