Issue 152 December 1, 2009

câÄÑ|à cxtÜÄá “We share a lot with King Solomon. Like him, we are educated and sophisticated. We are rich. We are sated with too much time, too much leisure, and too much stuff. We are too entertained for our own good. We are amusement junkies who need ever more provocative entertainments to get the high we crave. That’s the bad news. The Good News is that there is a remedy. After all his global meander-ings, after all his calculated experiments with laughter; wine; lavish homes; sculpted parks; vast riches; opulent luxuries; and sexy bedroom romps, Solomon discovers the bland, banal, brutal, truth: “God has made every-thing suitable for its time, and I now know,” he tells us, “I now know that there is nothing better for us than to be happy and to enjoy our-selves as long as we live; moreover, that it is God’s gift that we should all eat, drink and take pleasure in all our toil.” ... Laughter and tears, dancing and mourn-ing, finding and losing, speech and silence, love and hate. Our pleasures are closer to home than we think, and less expensive.”

The Reverend Dr.

William Evertsberg, November 22, 2009

One hundred and twenty seniors feasted on turkey and all the trimmings at the 12th Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner for Seniors held in Fellowship Hall at 12 noon, November 26. Dinner was complimentary, as was transportation, thanks to John Waters and his crew of 11 drivers. In ad-dition, sixty-one meals were packed and ready for delivery to the homebound by 10:45 a.m. thanks to the concerted efforts of Anne Hoffman and Georgia and Bill Fike. Included in each meal was a beautiful Thanksgiving Day card made by our Sunday School children.

Originally initiated as a local mission outreach project to residents of Agnes Morley, the Thanksgiving Day dinner for seniors has expanded to include seniors from all over town, including our own church members.

Judy Kelly welcomed guests upon arrival, giving each a name tag. Chairs set up in the hallway enabled guests to socialize while waiting for the doors to open.

Megan (McWhorter) McCallen and Ted Hoffman welcomed guests with song and later led the group in singing “We Gather Together” and “Come Ye Grateful People Come.” In her blessing, Kibbie reminded us of many things for which we can be thankful. Lily Eng and her son Parker designed the centerpieces.

Dinner began with fruit punch and assorted nuts. A mixed green salad crowned with cranberries, gorgonzola cheese, and almonds came next. In the kitchen David Zadik directed the carving of ten turkeys. Libby Mitchell ensured all turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole and peas arrived hot by entrusting delivery to a fleet-footed wait staff. Pie for dessert—apple, pecan and pumpkin—delighted.

N o n - s t o p enter ta in-m e n t showcased t a l e n t e d youth and s e a s o n e d performers, thanks to S a n d y Waters who arranged the program. Victoria and Madele ine Jansson, Winona Mull i s ’ granddaughters, played violin and piano, respectively. Stephanie and Diane Zhang displayed their prowess on the piano, flute and violin. Bill Ferrell, a former member of The Marvelettes, sang while accompanying himself on the piano.

A dinner of this magnitude would not be possible without a host of dedicated volunteers. Lily Eng handled publicity; Annette Goard and Josh Thomsen reservations. Wendy Duyrea shopped for supplies. Once again head sexton Jim Hauser donated his time for the day. Jim, and sexton Felix Pastera, helped in ways too numerous to count.

We are most grateful to those who contributed with 84 donations of food and generous financial support to off-set other expenses.

Renie Blair and Chris Zadik, coordinators for this year’s Thanksgiving Day dinner for seniors, are most grateful and thank those who made this year’s dinner such an outstanding success.

-article contributed by Jean Hahn

For more information on the festivities, visit the online archives of the Greenwich Time and Post, both of whom

had a write up of the event over Thanksgiving Weekend.

THANKSGIVING DINNERTHANKSGIVING DINNER

FIRST PRESS

PUBLISHED BY FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GREENWICH CONNECTICUT

First Presbyterian Church One West Putnam Avenue

Greenwich, CT 06830 Tel: (203) 869-8686 Fax: (203) 869-1745

www.fpcg.org

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NURSERY SCHOOL NEWS! The Nursery School has been busy celebrating the month of November. They’ve traveled to the Bruce Museum’s permanent exhibit on Woodland Indian Life to learn more about the Native American culture and history which complements a unit on the Pilgrims and Na-tive American Indians the children have been learning about prior to Thanksgiving.

The 4-year old classes at FPC Nursery School all came together dressed as Pilgrims and Native Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving by having a feast on Tuesday, November 24th, in the Big Room. Parents brought items that represented the various foods the two groups ate during the first Thanksgiving.

Pictured in upper left: Madeline Hoekman, Drew Hanna and Ryan Brown of Mrs. Schwartz and Mrs. Migliano's class. Upper right: Lauren O'Brien and Claire Maher of Mrs. Altomaro and Mrs. Ostrowski's class. Lower left: Ben Aysseh and Carl Griffasi of Ms. Mathes and Mrs. Griffin's class. Lower right: Sofia Scott and John Riehl enjoy the food at the feast.

Nicholas Dow, a former FPCNS student, returned to read to Satu Cervasio and Linda Pagano’s MWF three year old class. Nicholas, whose younger brother Max is currently in the class, captivated his young audience as he read “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.” The Nursery School always welcomes guest readers such as parents, grandparents, and older siblings.

The Cornell University Glee Club, the oldest student-run organization at Cornell, is considered one of the best men's choirs in the country. The group will perform at FPCG on Thursday, January 14, 2010, as part of their Northeast Tour. Praised as part of America’s top collegiate choirs, the Glee Club is composed of about 50 students who all have gone through two rounds of auditions to be accepted into the group. The group has traveled all over the world in its 141 years, including Brazil, China, England and Venezuela in just the last 15 years. The Glee Club will be directed by John Rowehl for the 2009 Fall Term and the Northeast Tour. John Rowehl is a DMA candidate at Cornell University, the former Assistant Conductor of the Cornell University Glee Club and a graduate of Stanford University. The Northeast Tour is an opportunity for the Cornell University Glee Club to reach out to communities outside of Cornell University and Ithaca to share it's unique repertoire and the Cornell tradition. The first half of each concert will consist of male choral music from a variety of cultures. The repertoire spans from European Renaissance to Folk Music of the Americas. Highlights of the repertoire include Patrick Quigley's arrangement of the Irish Folk Song,

Danny Boy and a newly commissioned piece by composer Daniel Kellogg called Innisfree, which is a setting of the William Butler Yates poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree. In the second half, the Hangovers, the a cappella subset of the Glee Club, will perform several original arrangements of popular music. The final portion of the concerts will be devoted to traditional Cornell songs including the Song of the Classes, the Evening Song and the Cornell Alma Mater.

CORNELL GLEE CLUB TO VIST FPCG

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Bread and Gift Cards—our FISH and MSYG made a loaf of pumpkin bread for each of the 47 families at Head Start. We included a $50 gift card from Stop and Shop so they could buy a Thanksgiving meal of their choosing. Many of the families at Head Start come from multi-cultural backgrounds, and we wanted to honor each of their traditions by doing what is best for them. This week we also received a precious Thank You note with a sweet drawing from Rubi Garcia, age 4, and her mother Julissa who wrote:

Thank you for the Back To School Gift Card from Target. I was able to buy Rubi some clothes and still had money left over to buy

clothes and sneakers for her sister. Rubi is enjoying her monkey knot blanket, and will not stop singing the song about “Monkeys jumping on the bed.” Please accept my sin-cere gratitude.

Looking Ahead…. On December 13, we will make our annual run to Target for Toys for Tots and Clothes for Tots at Head Start. Don’t miss this. Be someone’s angel!

STEWARDSHIP 2010: The 2010 Stewardship Campaign is underway with 244 pledges received so far, include 29 new pledgers and 59 increased pledges, for all of which we are deeply grateful. These currently total $1.15 million, toward our pledge goal of $1.8 million. However we still need to hear from over 100 members of the Congregation! The Session has set a flat budget for 2010 and very much needs to hear from everyone so we can plan accordingly. Please return your pledge card via mail (ask any member of the staff or Stewardship Committee if you need another) or email your pledge to donald.hibbard@fpcg.org. Tolman Geffs and Brian Pennington would be happy to discuss our goals, needs and opportunities in this exciting time in the life of First Presbyterian, as would the Stewardship Committee - Jeff Evans, Colleen Giambo, Tom Hipp, Steve Hoffman, Bev Jomo, Blake Mather, Hal Ritch, and Steve Werber. Thank you!

NEIGHBOR-to-NEIGHBOR SERVICE: Our church is making a splash at Neighbor to Neighbor local food pantry. Thank you to all who have partici-pated in our October Neighbor to Neighbor food drive, November day of ser-vice, and $15,000 sent to Neighbor to Neighbor by the Mission Committee.

Yvonne Ferrell, Julie Mather and Peter McSpadden

Sara Ganshaw & Lee Ganshaw Peter McSpadden

Barbara McSpadden

Presbyterians in the News

All hats are off to Bruce Winningham for his good work

with the town in establishing Covenant of Care in Greenwich. On November 1, 2009, the town committed to this program which will seek to assist the families of deployed local service people,

and, if needed, the service people themselves upon their return.

FPCG members were involved in the creation and continuing

efforts of this project. If you are interested in helping with this

effort, please call “Help Military Families” at 203-698-2258

or email: HelpMilitaryFamililes@hotmail.com

LOAVES OF LOVE FOR THE KIDS AT HEADSTART

FOR UP TO DATE SCHEDULING AND EVENTS , please visit our online calendar at www.fpcg.org/fpcgcal.html

The Canticum Novum Singers FPCG presents Welcome Yule!, a special Christmas concert Sunday, December 20, 3 p.m. by The Canticum Novum Singers and Youth Choir of NYC. The performance features Benjamin Britten’s “A Boy Was Born” and traditional

carols arranged by Rutter, Willcocks and Cleobury. Tickets at the door: General admission: $15; Students: $5.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas... CHILDREN'S ADVENT WORKSHOP Sunday, December 6, in the Fellowship Hall from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Children of all ages and their families are invited for gingerbread house decoration, take-home advent wreaths and card construction for mission children, singing Christmas carols, hot chocolate, cookies, a devotional message by Kibbie and plenty of holiday cheer.

ANNUAL HAYRIDE AND CAROLING The Children's Ministry Committee will be hosting our Annual Hayride down Greenwich Avenue and Caroling at the Mews on Thursday, December 17 at 5 p.m. All are welcome to join.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

CARDS!

Again this year, we will be selling Christmas cards of the Nativity stained glass window as well as the Dove window at the front of the church. They will be sold in packages of 8 for $10, and will be available after church and from Josh Thomsen at the church office during the week.

Carols by Candlel ght December 12, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Come celebrate the hope, peace and miracle of the Christmas Story this season through music. First Presbyterian Church invites the community to join us “at the top of the Avenue” for an participatory Carols by Candlelight concert on Saturday, December 12, at 7:00 p.m. with reception to follow.

Elegantly decorated in white lights, red poinsettias and the warm glow of candles, this congregational carol-sing will be accompanied by full orchestra, organ and the First Presbyterian Chancel Choir. The Minister of Music Kevin Estes has been conducting his own arrangements of these seasonal classics for thirteen years. As we hear the Nativity narrative (read by church member Gretchen Carlson, Co-Host of "Fox & Friends"), the Children's Choirs and Hand Bell choir will also further the story by using carols. The performance is designed to encourage YOU, the audience, to participate by singing along. The program will include standards of the season such as “Once in Royal David’s City,” traditional holiday carols such as “Joy to the World” and “O Holy Night,” as well as moving and celebratory classics such as Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus,” and many more.

This is the centerpiece of the season, please join us to warm your heart and settle into the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas…. HOPE … PEACE… AND JOY!

FPCG 

BULLET IN   BOARD