church picnic//raffle//still have a bit of cold and the kitten is still sick
went to the church picnic, which this year they are calling a block party. its held outdoors under the pavilion and they have a dj and TONS of food. it was mobbed. they have it after 11:00 mass. they play mostly christian rock. whoever handles social things at this church does an EXCELLENT job. amazing how well their events go. its held under the pavilion so there are no bugs. they have a raffle, so a way to contribute back if you didn't go to the service or aren't a member is to buy raffle tickets.
most of the food is from publix, but MANY people also bring covered dishes (probably 40 covered dishes), chips, cakes, plus whatever is already there and then grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. and three huge kegs for ice water and pink lemonade. they normally have coffee for the dessert area, but this year i didn't see any. having it under the pavilion is a great idea because people who have trouble walking can't maneuver very well on the lawn - you also risk the rain if on the lawn, and the bugs from a lawn alone, would keep me away.
i can never finish my plate and they always have TONS of leftovers. i'm going to suggest they have a food pail for leftover food to go to stray animals. they should do that at alllll events everywhere, which means it would have to become a LAW like the recycling laws or you will be fined. the amount of waste in civilized countries is embarrassing.
spent most of the time by charlotte and her husband who was a history professor at one of the colleges over here for 25 years. he retired. they live a few blocks away. her friend/neighbor lorraine was supposed to attend and didn't show up. (it was supposed to rain and even with the pavilion a lot of people are afraid of lightening and run indoors or go home). the rest were snowbirds from the manhattan beach area in nyc near the bay. they sat with us last year. she still supports her church up north, but does the events and masses here. she says their area is changing, mostly russians and syrian jews moving in. she said if they own, they buy two 40 by 100 lots and build new large homes. its upped her property value a lot because they are upscale. if they rent, she is furious because they get ssi and only pay $300 to live in nyc. its possible. nyc has rent control and even here section 8 people pay very little and the rest is paid by government - generally for people with children. she claims when reagan let the russians come over there was no quota at all and hundreds of thousands of them showed up. hmmm never knew any of this.
the next event was the 50/50 raffle (they usually have more than just the one, but not this year?) and the women were all whispering loudly that the 50/50 is rigged and everyone is saying, stop its for the church and then don't call it a 50/50. at the greek church, if its a 50/50 you get HALF - at most 50/50's you get half. at this church you get $50. the women were adding up, most of them bought 20 tickets for $10. at our table alone, they collected over $50. there were around 300 people at this event. then it became, then don't call it a 50/50, but they have to or people won't buy as many tickets. always drama.
church functions are like cat shows, the right hand never knows what the left hand is doing. at cat shows, the ANIMALS keep things at their level plus its chaotic anyway. at church fellowships, everyone is a volunteer and don't really know how to do what they are doing, so the function also teaches patience as well and its a learning experience. its like sit back and relax, enjoy the food, but don't expect perfection, life isn't perfect. we aren't perfect. none of us are. you can have health issues at a church function and its totally ACCEPTED. at a real function its not. i needed to be there - even with its minor dramas. it was very calming. didn't realize how long its been since i attended something from church.
i'm still battling this cold. not taking anything though. i was only on cold medicine one day. the kitten is still sneezing and that worries me - mostly because its not fixed yet and if they have it get fixed while sick, it will infect allll the other animals that go through there to get fixed (they only have ONE machine for the anesthesia. not good.
most of the food is from publix, but MANY people also bring covered dishes (probably 40 covered dishes), chips, cakes, plus whatever is already there and then grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. and three huge kegs for ice water and pink lemonade. they normally have coffee for the dessert area, but this year i didn't see any. having it under the pavilion is a great idea because people who have trouble walking can't maneuver very well on the lawn - you also risk the rain if on the lawn, and the bugs from a lawn alone, would keep me away.
i can never finish my plate and they always have TONS of leftovers. i'm going to suggest they have a food pail for leftover food to go to stray animals. they should do that at alllll events everywhere, which means it would have to become a LAW like the recycling laws or you will be fined. the amount of waste in civilized countries is embarrassing.
spent most of the time by charlotte and her husband who was a history professor at one of the colleges over here for 25 years. he retired. they live a few blocks away. her friend/neighbor lorraine was supposed to attend and didn't show up. (it was supposed to rain and even with the pavilion a lot of people are afraid of lightening and run indoors or go home). the rest were snowbirds from the manhattan beach area in nyc near the bay. they sat with us last year. she still supports her church up north, but does the events and masses here. she says their area is changing, mostly russians and syrian jews moving in. she said if they own, they buy two 40 by 100 lots and build new large homes. its upped her property value a lot because they are upscale. if they rent, she is furious because they get ssi and only pay $300 to live in nyc. its possible. nyc has rent control and even here section 8 people pay very little and the rest is paid by government - generally for people with children. she claims when reagan let the russians come over there was no quota at all and hundreds of thousands of them showed up. hmmm never knew any of this.
the next event was the 50/50 raffle (they usually have more than just the one, but not this year?) and the women were all whispering loudly that the 50/50 is rigged and everyone is saying, stop its for the church and then don't call it a 50/50. at the greek church, if its a 50/50 you get HALF - at most 50/50's you get half. at this church you get $50. the women were adding up, most of them bought 20 tickets for $10. at our table alone, they collected over $50. there were around 300 people at this event. then it became, then don't call it a 50/50, but they have to or people won't buy as many tickets. always drama.
church functions are like cat shows, the right hand never knows what the left hand is doing. at cat shows, the ANIMALS keep things at their level plus its chaotic anyway. at church fellowships, everyone is a volunteer and don't really know how to do what they are doing, so the function also teaches patience as well and its a learning experience. its like sit back and relax, enjoy the food, but don't expect perfection, life isn't perfect. we aren't perfect. none of us are. you can have health issues at a church function and its totally ACCEPTED. at a real function its not. i needed to be there - even with its minor dramas. it was very calming. didn't realize how long its been since i attended something from church.
i'm still battling this cold. not taking anything though. i was only on cold medicine one day. the kitten is still sneezing and that worries me - mostly because its not fixed yet and if they have it get fixed while sick, it will infect allll the other animals that go through there to get fixed (they only have ONE machine for the anesthesia. not good.
Replies
Sounds like you had a wonderful time at the get together. I\'m a preacher\'s kid, so I know all the work that goes into getting these things together.
Glad it didn\'t rain and that you had yummy food! I agree that the left overs should go to people/animals/anyone doing without! It\'s the right thing to do!!!
Feel better!!!
You are so right on the wasting of food. People throw so much food away that could be given to the needy (human and animal). Sounds like you had a good time at your gathering. I need to get better so I can start volunteering again.