Page 50 - MLD Book

One of the very best things to happen to Calvary and to me personally was the hiring of Anita House to be bookkeeper. Over the next thirteen years, so not only handled the money, but also became administrative assistant, phone lady, doorkeeper, and outreach helper...and a best friend to me! Ironically, Sally Reisz was senior warden and in on the hiring process and in her annual report, said “she has demonstrated herself to be a gear asset to the church.” Keep this in mind when we get to 2018!!!
On April 28, Melvin had his knee replaced and that was a huge experience,! He came home only three days later and it was determined that he should only have rehab as an outpatient at Bap East. He hated that but was a good trooper. I remember distinctly he was still doing rehab on his birthday June 9. I had gotten an exercise bike from Jack Lewis and had it in the car when I picked him up from rehab. It was in the back and I was so proud of it. Melvin
took one look at it, said what the HELL is that? And was neither amused or attuned to getting on it during the duration of its being in residence. I can’t remember what finally happened to it, but it was most assuredly not appreciated! I was also very moved by the response of people to the Crisis Care program at Calvary and wrote a piece in the CONNECTION lauding all the many people who brought food. I emphasized the bottom line of what should happen when in crisis --- BRING FOOD! I shared the news that I didn’t have to cook for three weeks!
As a final comment on 2005, I want to reprint what I wrote happened on a Sunday at the end of July. It started innocently enough, with “Come, labor on!” because of the tares and weeds in the gospel. Burrel was bellowing away and never cut off at the end of each verse like everyone else. Tori Long
carried the cross to the front, but neglected to secure it. The cross fell over during verse four. Melvin and Herbert fixed it. At the end of the hymn, after Burrel finally quit, we heard strains of THE FIRST NOWELL . Seems the new tape machine switched over to PLAY, and I was recording over the January 4 tape!! Ned announced the service would begin on page 328, then corrected it to 323, whereupon the organ sounded a loud B Flat...and kept on sounding. We sand the Kyrie in a flat with b flat sounding the whole time. Ned then issued a prayer for the organ,. The middle b flat on the pedalboard seemed to be stuck, so I manually lifted it up and it stopped. I wrote a note to Ned that the rest of the service would be ok if I didn’t play b flat. He announced that at the sermon! Mary Redden started reading the wrong lesson. I never realized so many things needed b flats. Sursum Corda a good example. After the postlude, I removed the organ bench and discovered a yellow pencil wedged between b and b flat. When I got back to my office, somebody had left 20 yellow squash in front of my door to feed the poor!!
2006
This year proved to be somewhat quiet, for the most part. Ned was settled in his job, attendance was up, pledges were up, and things were going along pretty well. As new rectors settle in, there are always things they want to fix, and one of them was he had heard