Cruise Nights at The United Church Every Other Wednesday
Submitted by Brad Inglis
There is still time to get your Chicken Barbecue tickets for Saturday July 31st. You can purchase them online by e-transfer treasurer.tobermoryunitedchurch@eastlink.ca or call and make arrangements at 519-596-2227. There will be some available the day of if you drive through, but ordering ahead means you won’t be disappointed. Many thanks to all those who purchase dinners and thank you to our volunteers for making this happen. Did I mention that the dessert this time is my own, not-so famous mini carrot cakes? I have relented and given out the recipe, so there will be bakers from all over conjuring up 500 little carrot cakes just for you!
Church is Open
As part of the modified Step 3 of the Provincial COVID order and under advisement from the Grey-Bruce Health Unit – church is open, but we are carefully adhering to our protocol of those who aren’t from the same household, must keep 2 meters between them. Masks must be worn, sanitizer is available and we ask that socializing happen outside of the church. Your attendance will be registered because we are responsible for tracking should there be an outbreak. Having said this – it is wonderful to see familiar faces (behind masks), there is lots of room to space yourselves out with additional chairs at the back of the church and it’s good for my soul to not be preaching into my computer screen!
Cruise Nights
We are making progress, even with fears of new COVID variants dominating the new infections in Grey-Bruce… more people are continuing to be vaccinated, the Meat Draw returns to the Legion on Saturdays at 3 and there are even Cruise Nights planned for the parking lot at the church. Bring your own cool car or come out and drool while checking out the beauties that come out to show off. Cruise Nights are scheduled for every other Wednesday night from 6pm to dusk. People are asked to keep their 2 meter distance unless from the same household. It is a nice excuse for an outing and depending on who comes, it could be different cars each week.
The Thrift Shop continues to do a booming business thanks to those who donate gently used items, lots of shoppers and the many volunteers who pull everything together! Items can be dropped off every Monday and Tuesday from 1 to 4 and the shop is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 1 to 4 – new treasures arrive weekly!
A dear soul from Tobermory recently gave me a wonderful book called The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse. In it is a quote that really resonated with me, “Asking for help isn’t giving up” said the horse. “It’s refusing to give up.”. I can’t help but think about how true that is. Sometimes having to swallow our pride and opening ourselves to the kindness of others, not trying to do it all ourselves and being gentler with ourselves; these are all ways that we grow and learn and reframe our lives. It’s what it means to live in community and being there for each other. COVID has taught us a lot about what it means to think of others. That’s why we get our shots. Not just to keep ourselves safe but so that we keep others safe too. At Tobermory United, we are always humbled by the kindnesses that are shown every day in unique ways of caring. Thank you for getting your shot so that as a community we can move forward. And as always, thank you for supporting our work in the community. Please don’t ever be shy about reaching out to us, if there is anything you need.
Brad Inglis is the minister at Tobermory United Church. He can be reached at binglis2@me.com
www.tobermoryunited.ca
