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The
Youth Group completes another year – We say “So Long for Now”…not “Good Bye”
The two St. Stephens Youth Groups, the High School (AKA
Lost & Found) and the Middle School (St. Stephens Saints, AKA,
"SSS") prepared and served lunch at the Salvation Army on Wednesday
the 11th of June. Our youth
and our leaders were really out in force in support of one of our most
rewarding Outreach initiatives. We had
15 youth commit their day to preparing over 70 sandwiches and lunches for those
less fortunate within our community.
Thanks and salute to Tony Roselli, Sara McCauley, Brian Smith, Joan
Jurik and Allison Tigert for your leadership and support.
We say “So Long for Now”…not “Good Bye” The
two St. Stephens Youth Groups, the High School (AKA Lost & Found) and the
Middle School (St. Stephens Saints, AKA, "SSS") have adjourned for
the summer completing another successful and fun year. We say “So Long for Now” to our 20 youth
who are all truly God’s blessing.
Unfortunately several of our youth and leaders will be moving on.
We say “So Long for Now” to
Michael and Jack McCauley who will be relocating to Ft. Riley, Kansas due to
military reassignment and Austin Childress will be relocating to Las Crusis,
New Mexico, our prayers are with you and God Speed!
We say “So Long for Now” to our
two Buena Graduates Elizabeth Czernik and Coral Tigert. We would like to share in your joy, your
hard earned efforts and we all pray that you will go on to do what God has
already planned, for you have such an awesome future when you place it in God’s
hands. May God Continue to Bless You!
Lastly we say “So
Long for Now” to your “Lost & Found” Youth Leaders, Sara McCauley
and Tony Roselli. Your commitment to
our youth is invaluable, we appreciate the love and knowledge you have shared
and demonstrated to the youth. We thank
you for all you’ve done and we thank God for you. We look forward to continued communication and support from both
near and far. God speed!
We say “Welcome” to our new
Junior/Senior High School Youth Leaders…or shall we say Welcome Back to Joan Jurik and Allison
Tigert. Joan and Allison will be coming
back to rejoin our Youth Leader Cadre after taking a year off. Joan and Allison bring experience, wealth of
ideas and a true commitment to our youth and our youth programs.
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Chapel Rock
The time is approaching again for our Youth to begin
making plans for Summer Camp (aka “Kamp”).
We have 15 youth who will be attending Chapel Rock this year, this is
the most we’ve ever had attend in one year.
Our Episcopal Church Women and others are graciously providing half and
full scholarships to ensure all our youth can attend. We thank you
all!!
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DAUGHTERS
OF THE KING
On Sunday, May 4th, St. Barbara chapter of Daughters of
the King celebrated their one year anniversary at St. Stephens, as they
admitted one new member, Georganne Boyer. If you are interested in
learning more about Daughters, call Jean Dearman (459-8931).
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SYMPHONY
SUPPORT - Coming in September
St. Stephen’s has been asked to provide cookies for the
Sierra Vista Symphony’s September 13th performance at the Buena
Performing Arts Center, Buena High School.
Since we have wonderful cookie makers (and some of us not so wonderful)
this is a good way to give to the community and to advertise St. Stephen’s. We will need around 130 dozen cookies. Sierra Vista is proud to have its own
symphony, now in its fourteenth season.
A signup sheet is on the moveable bulletin board on the porch or you may
call Dinah at 378-1138. The cookies
need to be in the parish hall by 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, September 13th
or, if you are attending the performance, you may bring them to Dinah in the
Buena High vestibule before the concert.
If you bake, get out your yummiest recipes. If you don’t bake –
store-bought cookies are welcome.
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A NEW PARISH COMMUNICATIONS TREE
We are all invited to choose the way we will receive
timely reminders and urgent news via a new, personalized Communications
Tree. Our names, telephone numbers, and
(where available) e-mail addresses are listed on a chart posted on the church
bulletin board. Please take time to select
either your telephone number or e-mail address as your primary means of
receiving urgent news/updates to the information published regularly
in the weekend bulletin and E-Scene.
We’ll get back to you when we’ve sorted everyone out . . . when we do a
test run!
Bonnie Bosworth, Parish Office
Blood Drive
The Red Cross is planning a blood drive at Oscar Yrun
Community Center on July 11th and another one at the Wellness Depot
at the Mall at Sierra Vista on July 26th. Times will be announced.
Arizona blood donors must be at least 17 years old with parental
consent, at least 110 pounds and in general good health.
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JACK
AND VALLA MILLER’S 2008 TRIP
This was to be a
people trip. And it was planned to
visit friends and family on the east coast that we had not seen in years. In some cases the years had became six
decades. Sight seeing had a low
priority even though we would be in such historical areas as Savannah,
Charleston and Washington D.C. Locating
a few grave sites was also on the agenda.
We were digging into the past.
Our itinerary led us
to Nashville, TN where Valla connected with a lady she worked with in
California. In Knoxville her 99 year
old aunt took us by surprise with her alert mind and with the fact that she
still lived alone in her home. She did
have people stay with her at night though.
From Knoxville to
Murphy, NC via the Dragon’s Tail, a piece of road aptly named as it twisted and
turned through the Smoky Mountains. The
Dragon’s Tail is favored by motor bikers and they come from miles around to
challenge the curves and to test their riding skills. They zoomed around us as if we were standing still.
Murphy, NC has no
straight roads. Nestled in the hills of
southwest North Carolina the area offers a variety of arts, crafts and country
music. On New Years eve they don’t drop
a ball, they drop a possum. Why does a
chicken cross the road? To show a
possum that it can be done. Jack’s
cousin lives in a forest with her husband and is an excellent source of family
history.
Our next stop was
Rome, GA where Valla’s mother was born and raised until she eloped with Oliver
and moved to Cincinnati, OH where Valla and her older sister were born. Valla’s grandparents’ graves were located
and we saw the house where they lived.
Grandmother was named Mae Bridger Ward.
Put the name Bridger into your memory bank as it will come up again.
On our way to
Cochran, GA we passed through Marietta just north of Atlanta and, of course,
had to stop for an early dinner at the famous Marietta Diner for Jambalaya that
was teeming with shrimp, scallops, sausage, okra and chunks of fish. It was so big Jack enjoyed a lunch and two
breakfasts from the leftovers.
Cochran, GA is the
birth place of Jack’s mother, and the location of the Myers family farm once
owned by Jack’s Aunt Mattie. We located
the grave sites of Aunt Mattie, her daughter and her son-in-law.
Eastman, GA a few
miles south of Cochran yielded grave sites of Jack’s first cousin, Gladys, and
her husband.
Valla’s first
cousin, Sandra and her husband live on 300 plus acres of timber in Live Oak,
FL, and another cousin just happened to drop by while we were there. We visited Micanopy site of more of Valla’s
kin, and the Stephen foster Memorial Park in White Springs, FL. Stephen Foster misspelled the Suwanee River,
calling it Swanee. Put it down to
artistic license.
Sebring, FL where
Jack spent eleven months with the Army Air Force is home to another of Valla’s
first cousins, Anita. We enjoyed eating
Red fish caught off New Orleans by Anita’s son.
Orlando, FL was our
next stop to visit with yet another of Valla’s cousin, this one named
Bridger. Don’t erase Bridger from the
memory bank just yet as it is coming up again.
Savannah, GA, home
of hard hearted Hanna the vamp, became our next stop and you should see the
majestic homes and huge oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. We found the grave site of Jack’s
grandparents, and the city directories from 1904 to 1923 in the Georgia
Historical Society gave addresses, occupations and employers of Jack’s
parents. Some houses were still
standing and others had made way for more modern structures.
Continuing up the
coast to Charleston, SC Valla met up with yet another cousin though somehow
legally blind he still has a valid drivers license and was, therefore, able to
show us around Charleston with its majestic Episcopal churches. We discovered the source of Valla’s
name. It’s a corruption of Vallandingham. We can all be thankful that it was
shortened.
Next was Greenwood,
SC. Actually Greenwood Lake. A lovely
spot and the home of Jack’s second cousin and her husband, Vernon Lopez, who is
a direct descendant of one of the four families that founded St. Augustine, FL
way back when.
A quick visit to
Winston-Salem, NC with Valla’s aunt (who may or may not have known who we were)
and then on to Chapel Hill to Jack’s friend’s home. What luxury!!! Country club
living at it’s finest. We drove through
the University of North Carolina where a statue of a confederate soldier with
rifle dominates the green. Allegedly
when a virgin walks by the gun goes off.
He is known as Silent Sam. Of
course we had to visit Duke University.
No gun shots there either. We took
in the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra in Raleigh and a group of talented
stage hands and theater managers stole the show with their Blue Grass music.
Going north into
Virginia we stopped at Lynchburg for a short visit with Valla’s cousin and
brother to the Charleston cousin. They
are sons of an Episcopal Priest.
Then off to
Chesapeake, VA to see Valla’s second cousin, this one a Baptist Minister.
Smithfield, VA home
to the Smithfield ham, and the site of St. Luke’s Old Brick Church, built in
1632 was one of our sight seeing opportunities. One of St. Luke’s founders and builders and who is buried inside
the church is …….Col. Joseph Bridger!!!
In addition to Bridger and an Episcopal Priest on her mother’s side
Valla lays claim to Gen. Sherman on her father’s side. All Jack has is some itinerate preachers,
rum-runners and bootleggers. We had a
sandwich made with the Smithfield ham but they were a little skimpy on the ham.
Crossing the James
River on the ferry we drove to the Manassas/Centerville area to make contact
with a very distant relative of Jack’s.
And then off to West Grove, PA to see Jack’s half niece.
Then back south to
Myrtle Beach, SC to stay with friends.
They were on a short vacation from the western New York area.
Birmingham, AL was
next. Jack’s second cousin provided a
copy of a genealogy study of the family done by her niece.
From Birmingham we
drove south to Mobile, AL to get death certificates and search for grave sites
of Jack’s half brother and his family.
It was all rather depressing because all had died so young. Thirty seven, 28, 30 and 33 is too young to
leave this world.
Picking up I-10
westbound we stopped in New Orleans to have lunch of Jambalaya and catfish on
Bourbon Street.
Gas prices varied
from $3.21 per gallon early in the trip to $3.97 per gallon at the end. Six and a half weeks and 8,000 miles was
enough for one trip.
Traveling is fun but
it is nice to be back home in Sierra Vista.
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JOHNNY AND KARROL LANKFORD’S HAWAII TRIP
Karrol and I traveled to Hawai’i in late April and early
May. We spent a few days on O’ahu on
Waikiki Beach and, while there, visited Pearl Harbor and went aboard the USS
Arizona Memorial. A moving experience.
Our bus driver/guide was a WWII history buff and very informative. We spent one
day and evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center, a Brigham Young University
project. Students from a number of Pacific Islands attend BYU-Hawai’i. To earn
scholarships and, to pay for classes, they work at the Polynesian Cultural
Center, showing their particular cultures from their homelands. Our guide was
from Fiji, “Cousin” Vere. She is studying Hospitality Management and plans to
return to Fiji after she graduates. We also took the Island Circle tour. Hanna
was our driver/guide and she was very knowledgeable of Hawaiian history. Her
mother was Hawaiian and her father was “from Detroit!” We didn’t have a rental
car on O”ahu, so we took tours and walked.
O’ahu is approximately 30 miles across and 44 miles long (that was the
bus tour part, not the walking part) and has a population of roughly
910,000. Honolulu, the largest city on
O’ahu, has approximately 400,000 residents.
From O”ahu, we flew to the Big Island (Hawai’i), picked up
our rental car, and drove to our cabin in the Volcanoes National Park, a few
miles from Hilo. As luck would have it,
Kiluea volcano was active. Our cabin
was approximately ½ mile from the volcano and we drove to it on three
occasions. Legend has it that the volcano goddess, Pele, lives in Kiluea. If
you try to abscond with any of her lava rocks you are in for trouble! We didn’t
chance her ire! Driving around the Big Island is enjoyable. The speed limit is 55, but it is rare to be
able to go that fast. Hawai’i is the
youngest but largest of all the other islands put together and is still growing
due to volcanic activity. We drove past
the largest cattle ranch in the US, the Parker Ranch. It’s in the Wimea area and Karrol decided if we ever moved to
Hawai’i (not likely) that she would like to live in Wimea.
We learned several interesting things about Hawai’i (all
the islands). Hawaiians are quick to
inform visitors that Captain James Cook did not discover Hawai’i, the Hawaiians
discovered Hawai’i. No one seems to know where the original Hawaiians came
from. They arrived there from elsewhere
and no one knows where that was, some believe the Marquessas or Tahiti. They
also don’t know exactly when it was, some believe around 1000 A.D., but they
are believed to have arrived in long canoes.
They named their discovery Hawai’i, for which one of the meanings is New
Homeland. Hawai’i has feral (wild)
chickens. They’re everywhere. Apparently they were brought to the islands
and released, whether accidentally or on purpose. The ones we saw didn’t look
particularly dangerous. Hawai’i has a
rat problem. They came in on ships and
multiplied. Some years ago, the powers
that be called together a group of deep thinkers and tasked them with getting
rid of the rats. They thought and
thought and decided what they needed were some mongoose. After all, mongoose kill cobras, right, so
rats should be a snap. In came some
mongoose. Did it work? Nah.
Mongoose hunt by day and sleep at night; rats hunt by night and sleep
during the day. Oh, well. Now they have lots of rats – and lots of
mongoose. Neither of them have any
natural enemies. Hawai’i has no snakes
and they want to keep it that way, so they really watch the ship and plane
imports.
Tsunamis are not tidal waves, as I mistakenly believed all
these years, as they are caused by neither tides nor weather. They’re caused only by underwater earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions.
The Hawaiian alphabet has only 13 characters, of which 5
are the 5 vowels. A is pronounced ah, e
is A, i is E, o is O and u is OOH. Thus, ukulele is pronounced
oohkoohlaylay. Long associated with
Hawai’i, the ukulele is not Hawaiian, it’s Portugese. If a W falls between 2 vowels, it is pronounced as a V. A singer, who died several years ago, but
whose CDs are still popular, was Israel Kamakawiwo ole’. Try saying that 5 times really fast. Most people just call him IZ. The consonants
are H, K, L, M, N, P, W and a character called an Okina. An okina is a diacrital mark that looks like
a 6 with the circle filled in. It
signifies a break in the breath as in Hawai’i.
Aloha is “hello” and “goodbye”.
Mahalo is “thank you”. If it’s
noon in Arizona, it’s 9 am in Hawai’i.
If you like flowers, you’ll love Hawai’i.
After the Big Island, we flew back to O’ahu for two more
nights and then home. Would we go
back? You bet!
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And where have the rest of you travelled???
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This
month we have included a picture of some of the Acolytes (who are currently
"off duty" until school starts in August). Missing from the picture
are Mallery Wilson, and Alaina and Holden Smith who were not available the day
the group shot was taken. Our next issue will have photographs of them. In the
meantime, I would like to tell you about Cameron Emrie. He is 9 ½ years old and
will go into the 4th grade at the Berean Academy. He is looking forward to camp
at Chapel Rock in June, spending time at the local library, taking
swimming lessons and his Grandma Pat's July visit. Cameron will participate in
4-H agility and ally/obedience classes with a new dog. Cameron is looking
forward to spending some time checking out zoos and will be able to be a Tucson
zookeeper for a day as well as enjoying an overnight zoo experience. Sounds
like a very busy summer! Cameron tells us he likes to walk and train the
dog, play at his Nanna's house, and play Nintendo DS Pokemon diamond game.
Cameron hopes to someday become a zookeeper or a chef. He likes to
cook, with his Mom sometimes, and even tries recipes on his own. Mom, Theresa,
says he enjoys eating all sorts of foods and helps with the shopping trips
to buy menu items for dinner. When asked “What do you want everyone to
know about you that is not mentioned here?”
Cameron replied, "My favorite color is orange; and I really like
being an Acolyte." Well Cameron,
we are very glad to have you with us on the worship leader team. 
