Greetings St. George’s Families,

Hope you are well, and like me, looking forward to spring. Easter is coming up fast, the seed catalogues are out and thoughts of gardening make the last of winter less dreary. Plans are coming together for summer holidays and it is pleasant to remember cool swims in the lake on a hot summer’s day. I hope you have had a chance to get away, or are planning to get away in March break to a warm place.

Vestry happened in February. We are looking at preparing an emergency preparedness plan for the parish. How that will take form is still in the works. The budget was passed, but despite cuts and careful planning we ended up in the red at the end of the year. In light of that deficit, a Stewardship Campaign will be needed to meet this year’s budget. You should have already or will be receiving information about the Stewardship Campaign.

Messy Church this month is March 9 and the theme is the fox and the hen (Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem just before his crucifixion). There are lots of fox and hen crafts and a really great edible craft of a chick made with cheese and crackers. We will be having chicken fingers and fries (somehow that seems wrong given the theme) with brownies for dessert. Doors open at 5:00.

Easter is March 27, with Palm Sunday on March 20. The service times are 8:00 (quiet service), 9:30 (traditional service) and 11:15 (contemporary service). It is a lovely family tradition to come to Church on Easter morning. It is never too late to start a new tradition. Chocolate easter bunnies are welcomed in little hands. When I was growing up, women wore hats and gloves to Church on Easter and I always had a new hat to wear. Chocolate easter bunnies were not welcomed when I was a kid!

St. George’s is now a Sustainability Champion as part of the Halton Hills Sustainability Partnership. The goal of the Sustainability Partnership is to enhance this community. Benefits to St. George’s are that our events that provide community activity such as our bazaar will be included in the town website, possibility of funding for community projects, use of logo on our correspondence. Jan Lehman and Rick Gorski have been examining the many activities/programs, that St. George’s is involved in as well as the community partners St. George’s has (such as Open Door, Friday Friends etc). There are 25 programs at St. George’s with 11,000 volunteer hours annually. We partner with 5 other community programs (such as Fresh Food Box ). There are 4 community programs where we provide facilities and volunteers. 7 community groups use our facilities (such as Camera Club, Horticulture Society for a small fee with 2000 hours of use. Much thanks to Jan and Rick for all their hard work.

I hope to see you at Messy Church, Easter services or just out and about in our great community.

Blessings,

Nancy