News for January 2012
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Trick or Treat for UNICEF Mae Smith
A Certificate of Appreciation was sent to our church from UNICEF stating “The U.S. Fund for UNICEF congratulates the Park Ridge United Methodist Church for helping UNICEF save kids’ lives.” One hundred and thirty dollars was sent as a result of the “Trick or Treat for UNICEF campaign” in which our Sunday School were involved.
Edited: January 11th, 2012
MY MOMENT
Memories of Christmas in Grenada, West Indies Charlene W Gungil
My memories of Christmas in the Caribbean still fill me with excitement and joy, though it has been decades since my last one! I remember the thrill of Christmas Carols playing on the radio beginning from December 1 and all the way through to December 25. The stores in the city would all put out their toys on trays on the sidewalks to entice the shoppers. Special toys would include starlights, water pistols and Kadar dolls. The supermarkets and larger food stores would order red delicious apples, green grapes and pears, and sell them to discerning families. This was a big treat since none of those fruits grew in the tropics, and was available only once a year. The usual mangoes, bananas and sugar apple would take a back seat as we indulged in these imported exotic fruits.
For the children, the excitement built and reached a crescendo on Christmas Eve! This was a special day as most of their shopping took place on that day. The stores remained open until ten o’clock at night, and the city was abuzz with people, activities and lots of fun. It was quite an event, as it would be one of the few times that children could stay out late into the evening. The weather was a balmy 80 degrees Fahrenheit; the air smelled of spices as all the Moms baked their special Christmas cake; musicians came serenading in the wee hours of the morning with their banjos and harmonicas, singing in English and Spanish.
Everyone went to church on Christmas morning. Methodists, Catholics and Anglicans (Episcopalians) all worshipped at 5 AM! We walked the mile to church with all of the neighbors in the dark, but dressed in our newest clothes. We watched the morning break over the ocean from our church, a spectacular site. The worship service ended with all of the Church bells ringing, and congregants spilling out into the street filled with anticipation for what the day would bring. We would go home to homemade bread, fresh eggs, codfish salad and hot cocoa grown locally. Later in the day, steel orchestras would traverse through the island playing all the famous carols, but on steel drums with a calypso rhythm! We would pack (six children and two parents) into the car, and visit our aunts, uncles and cousins to exchange gifts, drink punch de crème, eat cake and play with our new toys. At the end of our visits, we would pile back into the car, and head home, giddy with the joy and delight of another Christmas Day.
Edited: January 11th, 2012
