October 16 – “Festival Debrief”

The Family Fall Festival was nothing short of amazing.  There were well over 80 people who came through (Chris could put a face to at least 70 of those, too.  She told me that when we were both awake at 3 a.m.  My allergies kicked in and she had one of her “head won’t turn off” moments.  Oh, and both of us were so sore we couldn’t hardly turn over).  There were a lot of young couple with little kids, but actually a pretty good cross section of folks.  And just about everyone was from the West End.  Even the Jamaica Beach fire chief made an appearance.  It was a true community event, which was our goal from the start.

Jim and his new band did a great job with the live music.  They set up on the balcony of the retreat center overlooking the festivities.  The live music and their interaction with the crowd really added to the atmosphere.  Not to mention that they are locals as well, so many of the folks knew them already.

We had incredible participation from our team of Seasiders.  Can’t go any farther with this, though, until I shout out to Lauren Dawson.  She put the whole thing together and did a massive amount of work organizing.  She and her Mom, Cathy Duncan, even made some trips to Oklahoma to get pumpkins.  You were truly amazing, Lauren.  Thank you.  By the way, Lauren even convinced one of her co-workers who lives in League City to come help.  I think Terrilynn had a pretty good time.  Several of the ladies from our Tuesday night Bible Study group pitched in to help.  Bob and Houston Wyrick brought up a trailer load of hay bales for decoration and traffic control.  The event just wouldn’t have been the same without that.  Bryan’s incredibly realistic cornucopia was filled to the brim with canned food for the food bank.  Jennifer’s little booth marker signs dotted the landscape, directing kids and adults alike to their favorite events.  Around 20 or so other Seasiders proudly sported their Seaside blue t-shirts and manned the booths.  The food that they brought was delicious (And the ladies who took over food the food serving table did a great job.  Thanks, Amber and Sharon and anybody else who pitched in), and it looks like we had plenty left over to be enjoyed today at Third Sunday Dinner on the Grounds (to go along with the already-announced brisket and Mexican corn and bean soup).  And the great participation carried over to the clean-up phase as well.  Everyone who was still around pitched in to help, and we were done in no time. 

So what could people do?  Glad you asked.  The huge photo booth of hay bales and pumpkins and miscellaneous gourds was a big hit, for one.  I finally learned how to play cornhole.  Thanks for the lesson, Lynn McClung, even though that “lesson” meant he smoked me 21-8 (I am still not completely clear on the scoring process, but I think he was being generous with that 8).  Horseshoes and pitching washers and even volleyball were available.  One game tested your NFL quarterbacking skill to see how accurate you were at tossing a football.  A huge painted pumpkin (painted, by the way, by Charlette and Jim Kachelmeyer) was covered with balloons, and kids were given a chance to actual propel real darts in an attempt to pop them, under the watchful eye, of course, of a Seaside volunteer.  The duck pond was a huge draw to the tiniest of our guests, as a patient Bob Matthews encouraged them, not simply to dip their magnet into the water and claim a duck.  What kind of long term training is that?  No, Mr. Bob encouraged them to actually cast the magnet into the pond, thus forcing them to reel in their target.  Tossing rings over 2-liter drinks was popular, and we still had quite a few drinks left over.  Painting pumpkins was extremely popular.  We even had one adult who confessed she had never painted a pumpkin before in her life.  She said carving them always seemed awkward to her, so she was loving her new skill challenge.  Craft jewelry making, bingo, guess the number in the jar, pumpkin relays, toss a wiffle ball into some baskets were some of the others.  Oh, and the bounce house was always full, of course.  There should have been some worn out kids ready for bed last night (I know at least one worn-out old man).

I met a fire fighter from North Richland Hills.  We have a mutual friend who works there, David Smith.  His Mom and Dad just moved here full time and it looks like they plan to settle in at Seaside.  While we were setting up a lady stopped by to see what was going on.  She lives in Tennessee, but wanted to know about our worship time.  Her sister lives in Galveston about 8 months out of the year, and she was looking for a nearby church to attend.  They plan to be at church this morning.  Several Seasiders invited friends and family to the event, and they plan to be at worship this morning as well.  One lady stopped by just because she heard the music and wanted to know if the event was for everyone.  Two other ladies stopped to see if they could possibly buy a pumpkin or two when we got done.

Our goals for this event were fairly simple.  Collect canned goods for the food bank.  Introduce Seaside fun to the community.  Develop a non-threatening touch point for folks to meet their neighbors and begin to understand that knowing Jesus is not a dull, boring existence.  It is life, itself! 

2 Corinthians 13:12-14 says, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All the saints send their greetings.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Father, thank you for all the people who worked at the festival.  Bless them with a chance to get some rest.  Thank you for all the folks who experienced a touch with Seaside and with you.  Draw them closer to yourself.  Amen.