Short History of Atwater United Methodist Church

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ATWATER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
1908 – 2016, written by a long time member of the church
Before churches were established in newly settled areas, families usually gathered in homes for what was often called “Sunday School.” In 1908 Reverend Steed was appointed to the Livingston Methodist Church and given the charge to establish new congregations in the outlying areas including Atwater and Winton. The small group of families in Atwater began meeting in a local community hall and soon began making plans to build a church. George Bloss Sr. donated two parcels of land at Third and Cedar Streets. The church was built and dedicated in September 1910, becoming the first church in Atwater. Though the official membership only numbered 8 members, by 1911, there were 50 students in the Sunday school with 10 teachers. The first children baptized in the new church were 4 Arnold children (including the father of Bill and Larry Arnold). As the church attendance grew a parsonage and a Sunday school wing were soon added.
In 1913, A.P. Peel was appointed as pastor of the Atwater Methodist Episcopal Church, continuing a list of appointments over the years—now numbering 39 with the addition of Pastor Joseph Vang’s name. Some have served only briefly, others for a number of years. During this time, the Methodist Conference worked to unite the small group in Winton with the Atwater congregation, and in 1922, the Winton congregation sold its building and donated the funds to help pay for improvements to the church and additions to the small parsonage and the classrooms. As all homeowners know, maintenance of buildings and improvement in equipment is a never-ending need. The building at Third and Cedar is still in use after more than 100 years because of the dedication of all those members who, year after year, raised funds and did the necessary maintenance chores to keep the building in good repair.
Life in the church changed little during the next 25-30 years. Businesses and the church weathered the years of the Depression and World War II. By 1950, Castle Air force Base had been reactivated (after being downsized in 1946), and young families began moving into the area and were searching for housing for their families and for a church “home.” Attendance at Third and Cedar climbed rapidly and soon attendance numbered 200 or more each week. In 1955, a new parsonage on First Street was purchased so the old one could be used for meetings and for more Sunday school classes.
In 1956, plans were begun to purchase land for a new church. Several families donated $1000 each for the down-payment on the land at Bellevue and Linden. People wondered why they were going so far out where the streets were not paved and the land, once a pasture, was covered by scrub trees, and contained an old ditch. Members of the church removed the trees, leveled the land and began making building plans. Two years later a building boom was taking place in Atwater- housing developments had reached to Bellevue, streets were being paved, and the population had more than doubled, with no end in sight.
In 1958, plans were drawn for the Fellowship Hall. A building fund pledge drive was held to raise $65,000 in three years. On August 28, 1960, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Fellowship Hall was held. On February 26, 1961, the building was consecrated and the first Sunday morning service was held. The Thorne wing (offices and 3 classrooms) followed immediately and was named for the sister of George Bloss Jr. who donated funds for the project.

Sunday school was still held at the old church and at Jean Brent’s nursery school (located where the Library now stands.) As soon as the Fellowship Hall was completed, John Cupples built the Sunday school wing for $20,000. On November 26, 1961, the church at Third and Cedar was deconsecrated and the Sunday school participants began meeting in the new buildings.
By 1963, two morning services were being held. Sunday school also met twice allowing for more usage of the available rooms. The old youth building had been moved from Third Street to the new grounds, funds were gathered for a new organ, the Westly Choir replaced the Young People’s Choir, and planning began for the construction of the Sanctuary. After the plans were finalized another 3- year building fund pledge drive was held to collect $80,000 for the construction by the contractor, Arden Hutchings. Groundbreaking took place in March of 1968 and the first service was held on December 8, 1968. As the building was taking place, individuals and families donated extra funds to pay for a pew or for other special items needed in the furnishing of the sanctuary. This day marked a real milestone in the history of the church as it was the culmination of a 10 year project. After sitting on folding chairs in a crowded, often hot, Fellowship Hall for several years, worshipping in the beautiful new Sanctuary was a “dream come true.”
The building fund drives remained active--in the 70’s the parsonage on First Street was sold and a new larger one purchased on Alabama Street and the garage/tool shop and the youth building were built. In 1986, the second half of the Narthex and the Fireside Room were constructed, once again with work of church members under the leadership of John Cupples. Along the way, the parking lot on Bellevue was paved, trees planted, sprinkler system installed, sound system up-dated, and a new organ installed.
By 1990, Castle Air Base had closed and the congregation had lost many of its dedicated members and workers. In 2000, the church faced another difficult time when many members and the pastor voted to leave the Methodist Conference to establish a non-denominational congregation. A retired pastor, Floyd Castillo, was immediately appointed by the Bishop to aid the 60 long-time members who opted to remain, maintain, and rebuild the church they loved. With hundreds of hours of volunteer work and many extra donations, needed repairs were made, cleaning projects accomplished, and improvements made.
During the last few years, four large memorial projects have been accomplished through donations: the AUMC Endowment Fund were installed; the Paul and Sybil Crookham Chapel was dedicated; the stained glass windows in the Sanctuary were funded by family and friends in memory or honor of their loved ones; and video screens were installed in worship and meeting areas. The membership is now stable, new small-interest groups have formed to replace older ones, and Fellowship opportunities are alive and well.
Though there is still work to be done, today we must remember the many, many dedicated members and friends who have worked since 1908 to build these buildings and this congregation that we call, “Our Church home.”
Happy 108th Birthday Atwater United Methodist Church
For a more complete history refer to “A HISTORY OF THE ATWATER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH” by Dale Craft, dated 1996.

Short History of Atwater United Methodist Church

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ATWATER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
1908 – 2016, written by a long time member of the church
Before churches were established in newly settled areas, families usually gathered in homes for what was often called “Sunday School.” In 1908 Reverend Steed was appointed to the Livingston Methodist Church and given the charge to establish new congregations in the outlying areas including Atwater and Winton. The small group of families in Atwater began meeting in a local community hall and soon began making plans to build a church. George Bloss Sr. donated two parcels of land at Third and Cedar Streets. The church was built and dedicated in September 1910, becoming the first church in Atwater. Though the official membership only numbered 8 members, by 1911, there were 50 students in the Sunday school with 10 teachers. The first children baptized in the new church were 4 Arnold children (including the father of Bill and Larry Arnold). As the church attendance grew a parsonage and a Sunday school wing were soon added.
In 1913, A.P. Peel was appointed as pastor of the Atwater Methodist Episcopal Church, continuing a list of appointments over the years—now numbering 39 with the addition of Pastor Joseph Vang’s name. Some have served only briefly, others for a number of years. During this time, the Methodist Conference worked to unite the small group in Winton with the Atwater congregation, and in 1922, the Winton congregation sold its building and donated the funds to help pay for improvements to the church and additions to the small parsonage and the classrooms. As all homeowners know, maintenance of buildings and improvement in equipment is a never-ending need. The building at Third and Cedar is still in use after more than 100 years because of the dedication of all those members who, year after year, raised funds and did the necessary maintenance chores to keep the building in good repair.
Life in the church changed little during the next 25-30 years. Businesses and the church weathered the years of the Depression and World War II. By 1950, Castle Air force Base had been reactivated (after being downsized in 1946), and young families began moving into the area and were searching for housing for their families and for a church “home.” Attendance at Third and Cedar climbed rapidly and soon attendance numbered 200 or more each week. In 1955, a new parsonage on First Street was purchased so the old one could be used for meetings and for more Sunday school classes.
In 1956, plans were begun to purchase land for a new church. Several families donated $1000 each for the down-payment on the land at Bellevue and Linden. People wondered why they were going so far out where the streets were not paved and the land, once a pasture, was covered by scrub trees, and contained an old ditch. Members of the church removed the trees, leveled the land and began making building plans. Two years later a building boom was taking place in Atwater- housing developments had reached to Bellevue, streets were being paved, and the population had more than doubled, with no end in sight.
In 1958, plans were drawn for the Fellowship Hall. A building fund pledge drive was held to raise $65,000 in three years. On August 28, 1960, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Fellowship Hall was held. On February 26, 1961, the building was consecrated and the first Sunday morning service was held. The Thorne wing (offices and 3 classrooms) followed immediately and was named for the sister of George Bloss Jr. who donated funds for the project.

Sunday school was still held at the old church and at Jean Brent’s nursery school (located where the Library now stands.) As soon as the Fellowship Hall was completed, John Cupples built the Sunday school wing for $20,000. On November 26, 1961, the church at Third and Cedar was deconsecrated and the Sunday school participants began meeting in the new buildings.
By 1963, two morning services were being held. Sunday school also met twice allowing for more usage of the available rooms. The old youth building had been moved from Third Street to the new grounds, funds were gathered for a new organ, the Westly Choir replaced the Young People’s Choir, and planning began for the construction of the Sanctuary. After the plans were finalized another 3- year building fund pledge drive was held to collect $80,000 for the construction by the contractor, Arden Hutchings. Groundbreaking took place in March of 1968 and the first service was held on December 8, 1968. As the building was taking place, individuals and families donated extra funds to pay for a pew or for other special items needed in the furnishing of the sanctuary. This day marked a real milestone in the history of the church as it was the culmination of a 10 year project. After sitting on folding chairs in a crowded, often hot, Fellowship Hall for several years, worshipping in the beautiful new Sanctuary was a “dream come true.”
The building fund drives remained active--in the 70’s the parsonage on First Street was sold and a new larger one purchased on Alabama Street and the garage/tool shop and the youth building were built. In 1986, the second half of the Narthex and the Fireside Room were constructed, once again with work of church members under the leadership of John Cupples. Along the way, the parking lot on Bellevue was paved, trees planted, sprinkler system installed, sound system up-dated, and a new organ installed.
By 1990, Castle Air Base had closed and the congregation had lost many of its dedicated members and workers. In 2000, the church faced another difficult time when many members and the pastor voted to leave the Methodist Conference to establish a non-denominational congregation. A retired pastor, Floyd Castillo, was immediately appointed by the Bishop to aid the 60 long-time members who opted to remain, maintain, and rebuild the church they loved. With hundreds of hours of volunteer work and many extra donations, needed repairs were made, cleaning projects accomplished, and improvements made.
During the last few years, four large memorial projects have been accomplished through donations: the AUMC Endowment Fund were installed; the Paul and Sybil Crookham Chapel was dedicated; the stained glass windows in the Sanctuary were funded by family and friends in memory or honor of their loved ones; and video screens were installed in worship and meeting areas. The membership is now stable, new small-interest groups have formed to replace older ones, and Fellowship opportunities are alive and well.
Though there is still work to be done, today we must remember the many, many dedicated members and friends who have worked since 1908 to build these buildings and this congregation that we call, “Our Church home.”
Happy 108th Birthday Atwater United Methodist Church
For a more complete history refer to “A HISTORY OF THE ATWATER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH” by Dale Craft, dated 1996.

The Christmas Season

Christmas will soon be here. Seems like we just had Thanksgiving.
I don't do Christmas shopping for anyone, so that takes a lot of pressure off. I send them a small check and they have to do their own shopping. They don't seem to mind, thank goodness. I hate to waste money, so never liked to buy for someone else. It's fun to buy toys for small kids, but after that, ugg. I never know what to get.
I enjoy shopping on Black Friday, but only for myself. It's a good time to get bargains.
Christmas Eve, I'll be going to the candle light service at the Atwater Methodist Church. We were told this morning to bring a friend. Oh Boy. Who to ask? Everybody I know already has a church. Anybody want to volunteer to be my guest?
Next month, I have 7 appointments, before, during and after I have my Cataract removed. I didn't know it took so many appointments to have that done. This Cataract in my right eye has been slowly growing for a long time. My appointment in early December really shocked me!! I couldn't read one single letter on the chart with my right eye. Soooo Blurry!! I don't know how it got so bad so quickly. Maybe high blood sugar has something to do with it? I'll be glad to get this over with.
In January I want to get two new bare root fruit trees. One Stella Cherry to replace the one that died and a standard "O Henry" peach tree. I had no fresh fruit in August last year. The Fantasia Nectarine was ripe in July and the peaches were also gone by August. O Henry ripens in August. So, that's the plan for this year. I'll have to have the "SunCrest" semi-dwarf peach tree removed to make room for O Henry. But that's o.k. Flavorcrest is still my favorite peach.

New Bible Study series starting

(CORRECTION: We didn't get started last week, so this Thursday Sept. 24 is our first lesson in this book.)
A week from today, September 19th, the Thursday morning Bible Study group will began a new study with Adam Hamilton's book, "Why?" "Making Sense of God's Will." We have the video to go with it. Other topics will be, "Why Do the Innocent Suffer?" "Why Do My Prayers Go Unanswered?" "Why Can't I See God's Will for My Life?" and others.
Adam Hamilton has written many books, two of them are in the Atwater Branch Library.
"Why" and about 10 other Adam Hamilton's books were donated to the library 18 months ago, but have not been processed yet. Request it from the Atwater Branch Library if you want to borrow it and maybe the Merced library will get it processed and on the shelf.
Adam Hamilton is the senior pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, one of the fastest growing, most highly visible churches in the country. The Church Report named Hamilton's congregation the most influential mainline church in America, and he preached at the National Prayer Service as part of the presidential inauguration festivities in 2013. Hamilton is the best-selling and award-winning author of The Journey, The Way, 24 Hours that Changed the World, Enough, When Christians Get it Wrong, and Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, all published by Abingdon Press. His books are available online at Amazon and Cokesbury and bookstores everywhere.

Bible Study starts at 9:00 a.m. in the Fireside Room in the Atwater United Methodist Church, corner of Linden and Bellevue. Call the church office between 9-12 M-F 358-6172 to see if the books are still available there. ($8.00) You are welcome to attend Bible Study here even if you are not attending the Methodist Church. We are a small friendly group. We would be happy to expand.

Atwater Group at 42nd Street Play

On Sunday August 11, a group of us carpooled to Modesto to see the play, "42nd Street" at the Modesto Performing Arts building.
We had a special interest in this play because Theresa Berry who is our song leader in church had a prominate role in the play. She has an excellent Alto voice, so I thought she would be mostly singing. But no, she had a big acting part to play. Theresa was very good. We all enjoyed it immensely. We left right after church, stopped for lunch and got to Modesto in plenty time for the 2:00 p.m. show. Carole D and I had front row seats, right behind the orchastra pit. We didn't think it was too close at all. We loved it.
I heard that Theresa is going to be in a play in Merced soon, so I think a group from the Atwater Methodist Church will again carpool to see her perform.
Thanks to Junko for the picture. From the left, front row:
Erna, Carole, Lorraine, Dolly and Theresa. Second row: Pastor Gregory, Perry, Junko, Connie, Caryl and Juanita. Way in the back facing us is Bill.
It was great fun!!
Coming up in Modesto is "Babes In Toyland" beginning on November 30, two performances on Saturday and one matinee on Sunday December first. Good show for the upcoming holidays.

Church and Estate Sale

Tomorrow, Saturday June 1, the Atwater United Methodist Church on the corner of Bellevue and Linden is having a HUGE Estate and Church Sale from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Nice furniture, lots of kitchen items, small appliances, Crystal, Silver, lots of linens, decorating items, Christmas decorations, clothing, etc. Books and music.
The Fellowship Hall is full of items for sale, all priced low to sell quickly.

Is It Spring Yet?

Tonight we are going to "spring forward" by setting our clocks one hour ahead. Already. It seems early this year.
The fruit trees are in bloom. Pictured is the Fantasia Nectarine. I guess it's my favorite tree in the backyard.
The Tilton Apricot tree has a few sparse blooms on it, which is much better than last year. Last year it had one or two flowers, but no fruit. I hope to get at least a few apricots this year. There might be some blooms up high in the tree later on. Looks like some might still pop out.
The cherry trees are not blooming yet. They are the last to bloom and first to ripen. Sure hoping for a good crop.

The Thursday morning Bible Study group is studying Adam Hamilton's newest book, "The Way, Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus." Our pastor ordered the video, so that is an added bonus to reading the book. We read one chapter a week. It's interesting and I don't want to miss going and miss out on the video. There are six chapters and we will read chapter 3 this week. So, we will go a little beyond Easter with the book.
But that's O.K.

Annual Winter Tea

Today was the Methodist Women's annual Winter Tea at the Atwater Church.
This year all the ladies brought snacks, the women who hosted a table had much more to do, decorate their table, bring their fancy dishes, brew the tea, etc, etc.
We had the Filipino dancers for entertainment this year. In the picture above, the two kids are doing the Tinikling dance, also called the bamboo stick dance. It's very popular in the Philippines.
Click here to see the 24 pictures at flickr. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

Time To Prune

Here is one of my fruit trees that John Esau pruned for me last Saturday. This is Fantasia, a delicious yellow-fleshed Nectarine. If we don't have a hail storm like last year, I should get a decent crop this summer of all the fruits.
Still need to fertilize them, hopefully, Monday.
Still have the rose bushes to prune. Usually I do that in January, but I had a cold, so the roses had to wait.
I bought one more rose bush in Merced the other day. I can't believe I'm buying such old varities. "Montezuma" is at least 50 years old. My mother-in-law had that one in Le Grand. It was always a good one though. Guess I forgot to mention I bought a new rose in Turlock, "Drop Dead Red" the picture is very pretty.
So, that's all the room I have for roses. I never found the 4 varities of roses that I was looking for. Those were 4 of my favorites that I had in Merced. I should have taken cuttings of them the winter before "the move." I didn't plan that far ahead. Thought seriously about it in June and the house sold the next day.

Pruned two of the Butterfly Bushes today. It filled up the large green garbage can and most of the other can. I don't know how long I can keep the green can; the park only has a few of them and we have to share. Not many of us have a lot of pruning that we do ourselves. So we seem to get by with the few cans that we have.
Tomorrow afternoon is the Methodist women's annual Winter Tea. I had good intentions to bake the "Three Part Cookie" but decided that was too ambitious. Went to Save Mart and bought some Pepperidge Farm cookies. I hope someone besides me likes them. I hope I'm not the only one that brings something store-bought.

Our Thursday morning Bible Study group is going to read "The Way" by Adam Hamilton. We're almost through with our other book, "Growing Older and Wiser." I think "The Way" will be very interesting. It was written to read during Lent. I guess you don't have to read it then. But it's very appropriate to read before Easter. Following in the Footsteps of Jesus. Six chapters, 6 weeks to Easter.
Our little Thursday morning group is also a social group, so it may take us a little longer.
btw: All Adam Hamilton's books/materials are 40% off, plus free shipping until February 15 from Cokesbury. See the January 19 post for the link to Cokesbury. Don't forget to type in the Code AD13 to get the free shipping.

Inaugural National Prayer Service

I just read that Adam Hamilton is to preach at the Inaugural National Prayer Service this Tuesday, January 22. Eastern time is 10:30 to Noon.
I have 11 of his books, so I want to be sure and watch this.

Adam Hamilton, is the senior pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, where he preaches to more than 8,000 per week. Adam writes and teaches on life’s tough questions, the doubts with which we all wrestle, and the challenging issues we face today.
See his website here. At the bottom of the page, click on "blog" and read his posts. I especially like the one where he doesn't agree that "everything happens for a reason."
There is also an article about Adam Hamilton at Wikipedia.
Two of his books are at the Atwater Library, but at least 5 more were donated to the library last spring, but they have not been processed yet.
Listen to Adam Hamilton's message and if you like it, request the Adam Hamilton books at the library and maybe they will find the time to process the rest of them. It was requested that the books be shelved in the Atwater branch library.
His books can be purchased at Cokesbury and also at Amazon. Do a search for Adam Hamilton.
The titles donated to the library are:
"Why? Making Sense of God’s Will"
"When Christians Get it Wrong"
"Final Words: From the Cross"
"Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality"
"The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem"
"24 Hours That Changed the World" (Leading up to Easter)
"Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity"
And maybe a couple more.
I have the latest books he published:
"Christianity’s Family Tree: What Other Christians Believe and Why"
"Forgiveness: Finding Peace Through Letting Go" and
"The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus"
Adam Hamilton is an excellent writer. He has been to the Holy Lands where he has researched his subjects.

Monday Nights

The Monday night Bible Study group started a new series last night. We are studying the book of Hebrews. Last night was the introduction; asking the questions: when was it written, who wrote it and who was the intended audience?
I'm guessing there were 30-35 people in attendance. Everyone brought a Bible and there were several (maybe many) different versions. The people had different answers to the questions. The date it was written varied from 62 AD to 80 AD. In reading parts of the texts, we knew it was written before 70 AD, when the Jewish Temple was destroyed. The best estimate was 68 AD.
The most intriguing question was who wrote the book. One person said Paul; but Paul always indentified himself in his letters to the various churches. My NIV Study Bible said possibly Apollos or Barnabas. Another name came up. Priscilla.
I thought where did that name come from? Flipping back to Acts, and reading chapter 18, we see how knowledgeable Priscilla was. It was fasinating to read that in the beginning of the chapter, her husband Aquila is listed first, but by verse 18, Priscilla is written before her husband's. This was quite surprising to me. Our leader pointed out the significance of that.
But another surprise; the lady sitting next to me had a King James Bible. It never listed Priscilla's name before her husband's. The man to my right had a Living Bible. I don't know how it was written there.
The bottom line is --- I was in for a big surprise, I didn't expect the Book of Hebrews to be so interesting. Of course you have to have a knowledgeable leader to make it so.
Pastor Gregory Floyd is doing an excellent job of that.

Dorothy's Dolls

This is Dorothy, she attends the Atwater United Methodist Church and has donated hand-made dolls for the church bazaar every year since she moved to Atwater. I asked her to pose with the cute clown doll that I bought at the bazaar.
Dorothy celebrated her 103rd birthday this year. She was born in Ohio to Frank and Maude Brown on September 20, 1909. In 1929, she married Fred Buckingham. From Ohio, they moved to Porterville, CA where Dorothy worked in the State Mental Hospital for 17 years.
After retirement, Dorothy and her husband moved to Hawaii. They lived there for 12 years. Fred died in Hawaii in 1981. A couple years after that Dorothy moved to Sacramento to be near her daughter. She lived there for 20 years. The daughter moved to Texas later to be near her daughter and that's when Dorothy moved to Atwater to be near her son.
Both Dorothy's son and daughter were born in Ohio. Dorothy has sewn all her life, making her own clothes and sewed for others. She doesn't do that anymore. Dorothy has been in Atwater for 3 1/2 years. This was her last year of sewing dolls for the church bazaar. She is going to retire. I am so happy to have one of her dolls.

Bazaar Items

Here are some of the Iris plants I took to the Atwater Methodist Church today for Saturday's Bazaar. I decided to tape the picture directly on the container.

More of the Iris plants at the Bazaar.
Dorothy, our 104-year-old church member made these dolls and I think the monkeys also.

I hope we have a lot of people come by tomorrow. Sounds like fun. There are a lot of other items for sale. They were just starting to set up when I was there today. There will be baked goods also and a lunch available starting at around 10:00 a.m.

Bazaar This Saturday

I took this picture of the Atwater United Methodist Church with my new camera. Although I am still in the automatic mode, I think it's a better picture than I could get with my "point and shoot" camera. I really like having a zoom lens and also a single lens reflex.
The church is located on the corner of Bellevue and Linden Street. It's across from the Jantz Cafe, and in the background you can see the Brooks Ranch Resturant.
This Saturday, November 3rd, the United Methodist Women are having a Bazaar in the Fellowship Hall from 8:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Everyone is invited to come and browse the many crafts, plants, bake goods, etc. Come out and do some Christmas shopping.
All proceeds from the sale is for mission projects around the world. Stay for a lunch of soup, sandwich and pie, lunch available from around 10:00 a.m.

This view is from the Linden Street side, showing the offices. The front door to the church is to the left. There is another door to the church from the Bellevue parking lot side, which is where I always park. The Fellowship Hall can be reached from either the Linden parking lot or the Bellevue parking lot.
Come by and say hi. We're a friendly group. I'm taking 10 Iris plants that I divided a few months ago. A picture display will let you see what the flowers look like. Ten pictures, 10 plants, no duplicates. $3.00 each is a bargain considering what some of them cost from the grower.

Estate Sale Committee Bar BQ

Earlier this month George and Sue hosted a Barbeque in their back yard in Winton for the Estate Sale Committee from the Atwater United Methodist Church.
Their huge yard was the perfect place to have such a gathering.
We wandered around in the yard and found fruit trees of all kinds, peaches, apricots, nectarines,cherries, several kinds of citrus and even a walnut tree.
The food table was filled with salads, beans, veggies, beverages and a desert table.

Our host, George, in the bright blue shirt cooked the hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. Al and Don are on the left.

Some of the guests visited in the back yard before the food was ready.

Sitting on the patio by the pool is Lily, Leesa and Kathy. The tall sunflowers were very pretty.

Caught our hostess, Sue as she wandered around making sure everyone was having a good time.

Here is Juanita, Wilene and Diane enjoying their delicious meal.

After eating their dinner, people lined up with bowl in hand to get the delicious homemade ice cream.

And here is Don dishing up the wonderful ice cream he made that afternoon.
A great ending to a delightful evening.
I didn't get a picture of everyone. I think there were about 30 people there. The weather was perfect, not too warm. It was a beautiful setting by the pool with lots of pretty flowers.
We all had a great time.
Thank you George and Sue for hosting the annual barbeque this year.

Another Estate Sale is Over

The Atwater United Methodist Church had another Estate Sale yesterday and today.

This one had a LOT of miscellaneous items. It took the workers 3 mornings last week and 3 mornings this week to get everything ready for the actual sale, which was held on June 29 and 30. Pictured are 3 of the workers. I don't know how many volunteers we had, but there were a lot of us. I enjoy being on the committee and have a chance to get to know the members of the church a little better.
It looks like we will have another Estate Sale next month and maybe one in August as well.

ATWATER'S FOURTH OF JULY PARADE

My friend Carole D. asked if I would like to ride with her in her cousin's Model A car. We will be sitting in the rumble seat. Her cousin Don will have his dog riding in the front seat with him.
Should be lots of fun. The Atwater parade starts at 9:00 a.m. by Foster Freeze; travel down Winton Way to Broadway, turn left on 3rd Street to the Park.
If you see us, give us a wave!!

My Company Left

Sandy and Dol flew in for a visit, arriving late Saturday night (June 2nd) and left for Northern California on Sunday June 10. I get to see them once a year, so while they are here I kind of stick to them like glue. They did go to Yosemite one day and hiked up to Nevada Falls. Sandy has a nice post about that on her blog.
Now they are in Chico visiting with Mandy and John.
Maggie and I are settling into our usual routine. Last night I went to Bible Study at the Atwater United Methodist Church. We are studying Adam Hamilton's book, "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White." It has thoughts on Religion, Morality and Politics. It will be an interesting read with lots of difficult questions or ideas to consider. Of course we won't be told what or who to vote for, but things to think about before we make our decisions. Politics is just a small portion of what is read and discussed. Looking at the chapter titles, I see a lot thought provoking discussions ahead. This book and other Adam Hamilton books are available at www.amazon.com.
The Pastor's next series of sermons on Sundays will kind of follow along with this theme. Join us if you can; Sundays at 10:00 a.m. at the Methodist Church on the corner of Bellevue and Linden Streets.

What I'm Reading

Adam Hamilton has published quite a few books. You can find them at amazon or local bookstores. This Christianity's Family Tree is a history of some of the Christian religions. It begins of course within Judaism and he talks about the earlist followers of Jesus. They were not Orthodox or Catholics but simply known as followers of Jesus of Nazareth. By 381 AD there were great differences between Christians in the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire. In the 7th century, the western Orthodox Christians added 3 little words to the Nicene Creed which the eastern Orthodox Christians didn't agree with. The western Orthodox Christians split off and became the Catholic Church.
Adam Hamilton goes on to give some history on several Protestant churches; Lutheran; Presbyterian; Anglican; Baptist; Methodist and Pentecostal.
Adam Hamilton interviewed a church leader from each of the churches he writes about. The aim of his book is not to critique the different churches, but to learn from them.
Adam Hamilton writes in a way that is easy to understand. Very interesting reading.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone! Today the sun is shining and it's a nice spring day. Went to church this morning. Had a few more people attend than usual. It was nice. My sister-in-law, her husband and daughter were visitors today along with Aunt Ernestine. She said the hour went fast, so I guess she wasn't bored. LOL. I didn't think she would be. Our pastor is a good speaker. We're talking about the Atwater United Methodist Church here.
The picture on the left was taken in the Fireside Room where we meet after church for coffee and munchies.
I took a few pictures of my flowers today. The lilac bush is doing so much better in the back yard. The spot where it was before has hardpan and lilacs need good drainage.
The name of the lilac is Sensation. It's just beginning to bloom. I'd like to have another lilac bush, but I'm running out of room.
Maybe I have too many Irises.
Not all of them are in bloom yet, just the early ones. Pictured is Purple Pepper.
Hello Darkness has quite a few buds on it; can't wait til they open up so I can get a good picture of it.
I still have the 15 Gerbera daisies to plant. Maybe tomorrow. I've been saying that for quite some time now. One of these days it's really going to happen.
I keep forgetting that I have a flat of flowering strawberries to plant around the mailbox also. There are lots of weeds to pull. (Or dig out with a shovel.) So much to do. Good thing I love being out in the yard. Don't like to work too hard though, just piddle around. Guess that's why it takes so long to get anything done. It's easier on my arthritis that way. My knee doctor said don't overdo; so I'm taking his advice.

Interesting Week-end

Well, this was an interesting weekend. I asked to be on the estate sales committee at church, so Friday and Saturday was my first experience with this.
It took four half days and lots of volunteers the week before to get the house ready for the sale. The house had been vacant for several years but now it has been sold.

It took a lot of work to toss out items from the garage that didn't have any value.
The men from the church worked hard on this and filled a large dumpster.
The house was transformed inside for the sale. People lined up before 8 o'clock Friday morning. Dealers were some of the first ones in line. One man asked if there was any jewelry inside and he wanted to know where it was located. It was costume jewelry from the 20s through the 50s.
Nearly all the furniture sold the first day. I was surprised at how it all added up.
The Atwater United Methodist Church hosts the estates sales and the percentage of the money the church makes goes toward missionary work.