Children's Day Unraveled Part 4

If there is one thing I love in this life, it is the little town in which I live. There is no other time I like best than Children's Day. This is the day where the community converges to intertwine their time and talent to birth a production that rivals any other Americana town in the nation. The energy that exudes from our little hill is both amazing and contagious. As I was reflecting upon the loveliness of our amazing town, I revisited my previous blog entries about Children's Day and I noticed I was missing ONE thing. The Worship Service. Funny thing is, I run the dang thing and I did not mention it. Not even ONE word. My kids are even in it...not sure what I was thinking there.  Anyway, here I am; not only to tell you about how awesome this year's Children's Day was, but to fill you in on the last little piece of the Children's Day pie.

The Worship Service

Every year, from its inception, Children's Day weekend would end with the Worship Service. Let's face it, ours is a Methodist Community that has evolved into our beautifully eclectic community that is about as mixing pot as you are going to get. It is a precious little haven, full of talent, beauty, fun and a little bit of seclusion. Our little haven started as the Summer retreat in the "mountains" for the Methodists; the sister retreat place of Ocean Grove, by the sea. Back then, the occupants would leave, but today our neighbors live here year round.

Every year, our Worship Service takes place at the Tabernacle, now a non-religious place where others gather for community events and concerts.  We do have a sprinkling of the original service included, but for the most part, we aim to remain non denominational as to include all walks of faith. There are some traditional readings, a lot of singing, a great sermon by the local pastor, blessings, and even some dancing too! This year, we were blessed with a guest speaker, who took us WAY back to when the Methodist Church began (he even came in costume) it was awesome. He shared such great history with us, but one of my favorite things was how he shared about the love of song by the early Methodists and how he himself was drawn into the faith by the lure of a song.... quite interesting! I find it interesting since I am lover of song and enjoy being led to choose which songs to include each year. My most favorite song this year actually came to me at the pool. I was playing music on my iPad and a song came up, one of my favorites, calling Blessings, by Laura Story. It has always been one of my favorites, filled with soothing melodies accompanied by compassionate lyrics. My daughter got out of the pool to dry off and she joined me in singing the song. When it was through, I turned to her and said, "you should sing that song for Worship Service this year!" to which she replied, "ok!" with a shrug. Settled.  One less thing I had to plan for the lineup. This year was shorter than others, due to my crazy schedule, so I was content to know there was one less I had to worry about.  

At the Worship Service

It was almost 11am. Go time. All ready to go, except a lost shirt was not found for one of the girls. Minor glitch. Thankfully, there was not any fuss regarding the shirt and we moved on. Everything was in place, the mood was calm. The first song went well, an opening of Joyful Joyful (just the first verse) and the presentation of the court. Quick Call to Worship by the court and off to our 2nd song, Blessings; sung by my daughter, Rachael.  I quickly pulled out my phone to video tape her song; I stood as still as I could and started to settle into the beauty of the song, only to quickly realize that Rachael was singing a song about how the disappointments of life can be a blessing in disguise. I must share with you that Rachael was the only one out of her friends at the worship service that did not get picked to be on the Royal Court this year. She was really sad that she did not get a place, but it made the song all the more meaningful. Here she was, singing about how being disappointed in life only reminds us that there is a greater glory in heaven that we all long for, every last one of us and that whatever glory may come, it pales in comparison to what God has stored for us as blessings in the the next life. It was touching beyond words, especially since I know, she was so nervous, there was not a chance that any of what I just wrote was going through her mind. (and I asked her later, to which she said, "thanks for reminding me..." Ugh....maybe I will explain it to her later) 

I was very proud of my girl, for being brave enough to offer her talent and the sing that touching song. Even her mistake was so perfect. Just in the right spot. Sometimes like life, for every one of us. Beauty in the ashes. Good things that seem bad.

We had some readings from Holy Books by the court, which was followed by my other daughter, Vianne and her friend Lyla. They sang "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless.  That song was chosen by them and was special as well because of a great retreat I was able attend this weekend. (I know...don't even go there)  One of the main components of the weekend was the theme of faith and how our job is to have faith that when we put our lives in the hands of God and allow Him to flow through us, we will live a life that is fulfilled, more than we could ever provide by our own doing. Two songs that can easily be seen as the hand of God over the service. 

We were then treated to a special speaker Peyton Dixon, who was a complete delight, filled with amazing historical facts, delivered in a way that was delightful and witty.  You can find his site here: http://www.foundersfaith.com/foundersfaithsimon.htm

Followed by an offering for the Mt Tabor Fire Department, a song, Congregational Prayer, a blessing, and our ending song, Jump, where anyone who wishes may join on the stage for the annual tradition. We have been dancing this song as a close for so many years that the kids who originally did it are now college grads with professional jobs. It's such a great way to end the weekend together. Outside, the very last thing we do is share some brunch on the patio...and oh....go home and take a nap!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

All the best,
Loudly yours,

Alicia

Finally have a chance to breathe...

Doing work you love is hard, but when you love it as much as I do, it seems mostly effortless.  The only down side is that it takes up much of your time and life seems to fly by so very fast. Take for instance, my blog.  My diary to my family, today and tomorrow, and to the world (not that the whole world is interested, but that it is open to everyone in it who is curious enough to look)

 Summer is officially over, so there are a few things I want to jot down so I will not forget they ever happened.  This Summer, I had some changes in my life; one was to say good bye to my accompanist, Maddie, who went to Notre Dame University to bigger and better things than playing at our sweet little chapel in the woods....

(My apologies for the sideways movie clips, I just could not for the life of me, figure out how to change it.  If you know, you could leave me a comment or  link to see how! :) Thanks)

Here is one of our last pictures together.  She was a very, very sweet young lady, who did a great job providing music for our Masses every week. 

Another change in my life was that of work.  I am still dedicated to my wonderful Precious Metal position, but am beginning to feel a shift in the industry in the area of gold buying parties.  To create an excitement to my hostesses, I brought on It Works, Global on board as a sister business to create a stir, and it has.  I have been buying gold and silver and wrapping bodies all summer long. 

 

I have also cut 9 inches off my hair....

 

I

Enjoyed the kids in Children's Day, VBS, and on Open Mic Night.....

 

Of course there was our annual trip to the Shore and Casino Pier, then we spent some time at Tabor Lake....

Other highlights include the Baptism of Sonny where we got to see some old friends....

and finally, the beginning of school to get things back into order....

I 

I am still singing weekly at Mass and a Funeral or 2 every month as well as Weddings now and again.  I had a special treat when I got to see my Catholic Elementary School Principal, Sr. Ascenza, who I love very much. It wasn't the best picture, but you can see how happy we are to see each other. :)

 

Overall, it was a great Summer and I am happy that fall is here to bring on new adventures in our loud, crazy life!

Loudly yours.

Alicia

Children's Day Unraveled Part 3

This day starts early!  The kids are usually up and excited! Today is officially their day. ALL DAY.
7 am:
The Flag is honored by the local Girl Scouts with a flag raising to officially begin Children's Day, followed by the firing of the cannon to let Mt Tabor know that they day has begun.
Immediately following, the volunteers for the Midway begin the long process of putting together the Midway as the others leave for breakfast.  One by one, neighbors emerge from thier
homes to make the magic of Children's Day happen.
8:15 am:
Athletic Event Registration begins at 8:15 am until 9 am, when the games begin!
9am :
Everyone gets a participation ribbon and placement ribbons are awarded to the athletes after each event.
Awards are then given for overall athletic and sportsmanship at the Midway during the awards ceremony for both the
athletic events, the house decorating event and the floats.

12:15 pm:
CD Parade Line up at the Post Office.  Registration and Check in happens here for all those who have taken the
time to create their float.  Floats are accompanied by decorated bicycles, baby carriages and costumes. This year, my
kids got together and made their own float with a borrowed float bed and some advice from the Dad of their friend.
They won first place! :)
1:00 pm:
The Parade begins!  Participants have a grueling path to take as the parade route is very hilly in some spots.  I usually
enjoy taking a seat, right in front of my house to watch the parade.  I personally had enough of the hills during the 5k.
The floats vary from small to amazingly huge! This year, we saw Godzilla, Men in Black, an amazing Indian Elephant,
Angry Birds,  a luchador ring, to name a few.  It was fun to watch as it is every year.





1:30 pm:
The Midway fun begins!  There are pony rides, raffles, games, food, music and the Children's Day Art Show.  There is
even free ice cream for the kids who participate in the parade, donated by the Mount Tabor Historical Society!
There are a lot of free activities for the kids, like bubbles, balloon launching, chalk, puzzles, corn sifting, jump rope,
and the like.  There are midway games you can play by purchasing tickets, including the strong man anvil game,
and other games of skill. There is a food stand operated by and to benefit the volunteer Mt Tabor Fire Department.

4:30 pm The midway closes down for the day and everyone goes home for dinner.  Some packing away of the Midway begins.
7 pm:
Assembly for the Evening Parade. All those who placed as a winner in their category march yet again and are joined by extremely loud local Firefighters who love to blast their sirens.  (This is when I usually retreat to the house) WAY too loud for even me!! (If you can believe that)
7:15 pm:
The parade is fun and is usually accompanied by some fun water hose war that usually goes on, right on my corner. For years, there has been a water fight between a certain group of  people ( I am guessing friend and relatives of the fire fighters) who try to have a water fight with the fire fighters. It is quite comical.  I will have to take pictures next year.

7:45 pm:
Lowering of the Colors
The Mt Tabor Fire Department has a ceremony with the Pastor of the Methodist Church in town, who blesses our activities for the day.
7:50 pm:
The Francis X Wentworth Sr. Memorial Concert
This concert is given every year by the Wentworth Family.  One of the largest families in Mt Tabor history,  JG Wentworth being one of the Wentworth clan, together with his family, donate money toward our annual concert. (You may recognize JG from his commercials "I want my money and I want it NOW!"  It is a gift from their family to the town of Mt Tabor.  This year, we were visited by "The Zombies" and friends. It was  a great concert, followed by awesome fireworks (the best I have seen this year) and neighborly fun, including free glow stick necklaces for all!
This year's Children's Day was a great success.
Loudly yours,
Alicia
ps- We have been accused of being a little too quiet in our exposure of Children's Day as we limit our weekend to Mt Tabor residents and their guests.  Some might think it true, but you must admit, the whole weekend is provided by donations, dedication, sweat and time by our town's neighbors,  plus,  we don't have a lot of space to house all of the surrounding towns, so we have and will remain on the quiet side about inviting others to join us. I know it kind of stinks, but it is what it is. :)

Children's Day Unraveled Part 2

Ok, so the little humidity thing I prayed for, well it didn't work out so well.  After a looong, cold shower, I finally cooled off and got my decorations out to gussy up the porch the next day.

Friday afternoon, the decorations went up.  We had some new pieces this year and added the mid sized lights from Christmas, Cris-crossed from one end of the porch to the other.. 

As the sun began to set, our family, joined by others, converged to Trinity Park and headed down to the Tabernacle for the Coronation and Children's Day Show.




First, the King and the Queen get crowned by the previous King and Queen

 Then the show begins!  The numbers range from a group of kids from 3 yrs and up,

 Then there is the crazy, adult dance....

Followed by a number for all the kids.....
This year was Children's Day all around the world, so it was topped off with the latest version of "We Are The World" with the kids holding flags representing the Countries that represent their nationalities. It was great. 

 

My kids are missing the flag of Ireland, but the rest are there.  (We only had 2 kids in the show this year, so we could only pick 2 flags)


The evening is followed by the very fun house tour, where we visit the houses that have been entered in the decorating contest.  Many of the kids hang out the back of carefully driven vans, trucks and suvs. It is a very fun night, neighbors visiting neighbors, admiring their handiwork....

The night would not be complete without the Coronation Ball, held for all Jr. High and High School Students who live in Mt Tabor and their guests.  (We are not big enough to accommodate everyone in Parsippany!!) There is a DJ, some goodies and dancing for all!
It is great night for everyone.

 

 Loudly yours,

Alicia