Strawberry Angels
As you may know, last Saturday was our Strawberry Festival. This is one of our biggest annual community events. The proceeds are used for outreach and service projects in our community and beyond.
Well, as you may also know, there were torrential downpours and thundershowers All Day! You can see how wet the grilling team got - even with their tent set up next to the grill. (And everyone said the ribs were a delicious addition to the grilled chicken!)
Despite the deluge, a wonderfully energetic and cheerful time was had by those who were working and those who attended the event. Lobster rolls, chowder, grilled ribs & chicken, hotdogs, strawberry shortcake and chocolate covered strawberries are just as tasty on a rainy day!
We adjusted locations for the children's games and cotton candy (moved indoors to the Parish Hall), and the Holy Hullers moved from behind the Parish House to the Parish Hall as well. So then the Strawberry Shortcake team was split between the Parish Hall kitchen (strawberries) and the Parish House kitchen (whipped cream)! Just a little twist to our usual routines...
The hullers were very efficient - so much so that our smaller attendance meant there were about 300 quarts of washed, hulled, and quartered berries that were prepared but not needed for shortcake. A decision was made that the jam makers would make more jam soon - if the berries could
be frozen. And other parishioners suggested other uses for the berries - also predicated on being able to freeze the abundance. A team of volunteers filled around 150 bags with two quarts of berries each.
Now we needed a freezer. We are in the process of procuring a new deep freeze for our kitchen in the Parish Hall, but it has not yet arrived. One of our parishioners volunteered to load her freezer with the bagged berries, and a team took the ruby treasures to her house.
Imagine the surprise on the part of the almost 30-year-old freezer at being put to work so heavily!
Can you guess what happened next?
You are right! The freezer tried valiantly, but it stopped cooling sometime before the berries thoroughly froze.
What a scramble! Who has a freezer with room?
This is where the strawberry angels come in.
Around the Table, a free lunch program run in our Parish House, was happy to take some berries for their guests. Off went two coolers of berries to their freezer.
A faithful parishioner friend offered room for some in her freezer at home and the one at her office. Off went three more coolers of berries.
Then ladies in the community, offered to help. Off went two more coolers and 10 more bags of berries.
God's abundance is everywhere: In the tasty fruit, the willing workers and visitors at the festival, the people and programs that stepped forward to help us not waste the strawberry harvest. And this abundance continues - although our net profits will be smaller than many other years, the Festival earned enough that we paid our expenses and still have a profit which we can share with the community services and outreach programs that mean so much to so many.
Well, as you may also know, there were torrential downpours and thundershowers All Day! You can see how wet the grilling team got - even with their tent set up next to the grill. (And everyone said the ribs were a delicious addition to the grilled chicken!)
Despite the deluge, a wonderfully energetic and cheerful time was had by those who were working and those who attended the event. Lobster rolls, chowder, grilled ribs & chicken, hotdogs, strawberry shortcake and chocolate covered strawberries are just as tasty on a rainy day!
We adjusted locations for the children's games and cotton candy (moved indoors to the Parish Hall), and the Holy Hullers moved from behind the Parish House to the Parish Hall as well. So then the Strawberry Shortcake team was split between the Parish Hall kitchen (strawberries) and the Parish House kitchen (whipped cream)! Just a little twist to our usual routines...
The hullers were very efficient - so much so that our smaller attendance meant there were about 300 quarts of washed, hulled, and quartered berries that were prepared but not needed for shortcake. A decision was made that the jam makers would make more jam soon - if the berries could
be frozen. And other parishioners suggested other uses for the berries - also predicated on being able to freeze the abundance. A team of volunteers filled around 150 bags with two quarts of berries each.Now we needed a freezer. We are in the process of procuring a new deep freeze for our kitchen in the Parish Hall, but it has not yet arrived. One of our parishioners volunteered to load her freezer with the bagged berries, and a team took the ruby treasures to her house.
Imagine the surprise on the part of the almost 30-year-old freezer at being put to work so heavily!
Can you guess what happened next?
You are right! The freezer tried valiantly, but it stopped cooling sometime before the berries thoroughly froze.
What a scramble! Who has a freezer with room?
This is where the strawberry angels come in.
Around the Table, a free lunch program run in our Parish House, was happy to take some berries for their guests. Off went two coolers of berries to their freezer.
A faithful parishioner friend offered room for some in her freezer at home and the one at her office. Off went three more coolers of berries.
Then ladies in the community, offered to help. Off went two more coolers and 10 more bags of berries.
God's abundance is everywhere: In the tasty fruit, the willing workers and visitors at the festival, the people and programs that stepped forward to help us not waste the strawberry harvest. And this abundance continues - although our net profits will be smaller than many other years, the Festival earned enough that we paid our expenses and still have a profit which we can share with the community services and outreach programs that mean so much to so many.
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