The Church of St. Andrew the Apostle

The Messenger

October 2017

Inside this issue:

Squash Harvest 3

Pumpkinfest 4,5

On the evening of Wednesday, September 20th, while at the dinner table with Wendy, I began to slur and garble my words. It was immediately obvious to me that I might be having a stroke. Truth be told, it was frightening. My first thought was of my beloved grandmother and grandaunt who both suffered strokes shortly before their deaths. But I am twenty-five years younger than they were! I’m too young to have to deal with this!

Wendy drove me to Hartford Hospital in a terrifying ride for your slow-poke driving rector. Hartford Hospital is the top-rated stroke center in all of New England, as it turns out. Who knew? They ushered me in very quickly. I tested rather well, and they thought what I was having was a T.I.A., mini stroke, but after three CT Scans and a conclusive MRI they confirmed I had indeed suffered an acute ischemic stroke. This is a stroke that occurs when a blood vessel that feeds the brain gets blocked. Then that part of the brain can’t work and neither can the part of the body it controls. The stroke team told me later that my stroke was classified as “small” and that these respond very well to a full recovery. Hallelujah!

I recall another old Beatles song, “I Get By With a Little Help From My

Friends.” This seems to be my theme song the past couple of weeks. Father

John Rogers volunteered to take the Sunday Eucharist. Mary “the angel” Laing volunteered to teach confirmation class and brought over a pot roast later in the week. Our wardens, Bill Franklin and Mike Devanney, were checking in and helped with logistics. Rick and Mary Manwaring volunteered to host the Pumpkinfest after party, God bless them. My dear sister, Jeannine, and my beloved brother-in-law, Armand, arrived at the hospital with love and laughter, cheering me greatly. Cards and loving notes began appearing. Father Robert Watson volunteered to take both services the following week. While I took a brief stroll into what seemed like the “Valley of the Shadow of Death,” I really also felt that God and God’s people were leading me “through” that valley. “Through” being the operative word. All in all, it honestly felt that I was on my way to a “greener pasture.”

How wonderful to be part of a loving church. The church is the “Body of Christ,” and I felt like I was being given a huge, warm hug! What a difference not being a “free agent” like most folks today without a faith community. Being part of a loving faith community makes me feel connected and whole and simply allows me to heal.

Rector’s Message (continued)

And it’s not just me, apparently. Research shows that people who regularly attend church report stronger social support networks (Amen!) and less depression. Here is a brief list of things that stand out to me about being part of a faith community:

1.  Church connects us with God.

2.  Church gives us a chance to reflect on gratitude.

3.  Church connects us socially.

4.  Church helps us connect better with our spouse.

5.  Church provides plenty of opportunities to give back.

6.  Church teaches forgiveness.

7.  Church fills our hearts with song.

8.  Church is where we find deeper meaning in our lives.

9.  And, lastly, church is a vessel of Divine Grace, and that’s what I am experiencing because it is where another truth becomes real: love heals!

Love in Christ,

Father Bill +

Squash Harvest

I want to thank all who came out to help with this year’s harvest. The total was 2,020 pounds of butternut squash. It was picked up by Foodshare on Monday following the Saturday harvest. Thank you again for your help.

Bruce Crane



PUMPKIN FESTIVAL’S SILENT AUCTIO PUMPKIN FESTIVAL’S SILENT AUCTION
PUMPKIN FESTIVAL’S SILENT AUCTION
PUMPKIN FESTIVAL’S SILENT AUCTION
Hope everyone had an enjoyable summer! Pumpkin Festival is our biggest fundraiser of the year. The part of Pumpkin Festival
that pulls in the most money is the silent auction.
For the past few years, parishioners have been encouraged to consider making up gift baskets and the support from them has
helped greatly with the revenue they generate. We receive many gift certificates from local businesses and for that we are so
thankful! But, we need tangible items as well to dress up our tables.
Some suggestions for gift basket themes are; Coffee and/or tea, car products, games, movie night with a DVD of a family movie
and some microwave popcorn, spa products and/or manicure items, baby items, wine and cheese baskets, Christmas baskets or
any holiday, lottery ticket baskets, etc.
If you would like to make up a basket to donate to our silent auction, we would ask that you drop it off and leave it in Pam’s office
with a list of the contents and suggested value so we can put a starting bid on it. Please do this no later than Wednesday, October 4th.
Also let us know if you want your name as the donor or “Friend of St. Andrews.”
Some items that go for a lot of money are overnight stays. If you vacation anywhere in New England regularly, let the manager
know about our fundraiser and see if they’d be willing to donate a one or two night stay! Perhaps you own a timeshare! If you’d be
willing to donate a two night stay that would generate a great deal of money to our sweet little church.
Yet another idea is to ask your dentist if they’d be willing to donate an electric toothbrush! Every year we have at least two of them
and they are a well sought out item!
Lastly, we have found the old adage, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” to be true in so many circumstances. So, IF you are a
steady customer at a local specialty shop, such as a market, restaurant, hotel chain, bakery, nail salon, beauty salon, barber shop,
florist, cleaners, etc. tell them about our Pumpkin festival and how it’s our biggest fundraiser where the money generated goes to
outreach, youth group, etc. They may say no, but in most cases they will gladly donate something. If you don’t ask, you’ll never
know if they would have. Since we write to many establishments in the greater Rocky Hill area, if you frequent a nearby place,
please check with Pam to see if we’ve already reached out to them.
Keep in mind that many of them will request a letter for tax purposes. We will leave “generic” letter, which include our tax ID#
in the back of the church for you to pick up and give them if needed.
Thank you all for your contributions to making this year’s Pumpkin Festival successful!
The Silent Action Committee
Pumpkin-fest 2017
Spread the word - Pumpkin-fest is coming October 7th! Hope you all have marked your calendars.
This is our annual fall festival to help raise funds for the church and fellowship in our community.
As always we will need as many volunteers as possible to help with our activities and make this a
fun, successful event.
Sign-up sheets will be out soon for people to volunteer the day of the ‘fest for:
Food – Prep and sales / Face Painting
Pony Rides / Game tent
Crafts / Bounce House (Adrenaline Rush) Police
Ticket sales / Silent Auction Close-out
We have also been looking for someone to direct the craft and/or game areas. This person would
plan and purchase 5-6 crafts for grade school aged kids. You may direct volunteers during the
festival, but attendance is not mandatory. If you are interested please let me know. (Contact info
below).
The more people can help, even for a little while, the easier and more enjoyable Pumpkin-fest
2017 will be for everyone.
See you there!
Rick Manwaring – Pumpkin-fest Chairman

860-922-8278
ANNOUNCING THE
2107
ST. ANDREW’S TALENT SHOW & POT LUCK
The Church of St. Andrew
The Apostle

331 Orchard Street

Rocky Hill, CT 06067 October Birthdays: Kathy Anderson, Mary Manwaring, Ethel Anderson,

Phone: 860-529-7622 Tyler St. Jacques, Natalie Wing, Erin Slavin, Matt Franklin, Landon

Email: Goodrich, Sarah Mitchell, Matthew Mitchell, Emily Laing

Pat Kuh

The Church of St.

Andrew the Apostle

331 Orchard Street

Rocky Hill, CT

06067