New England
COYOTES
I am awake most mornings between 3 and 5 A.M. I am always out with Snug (the youngest Maltese) at that hour. We don’t usually venture far from the house, especially in this cold, but yesterday we discovered another reason to stay close to home.
We were just finishing our loop around the house and were standing by the light pole at the edge of our driveway when the shrieking started.
At first I thought it was someone in trouble. Then I saw them crossing the road about a hundred feet in front of us. Snug and I beat a hasty retreat back into the house. Country livin’…….Time to start carrying a big stick I guess.
TOY TOWN FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS 2024
Last weekend was Winchendon’s Festival of Lights.
My volunteer position was as a greeter at The Breakfast with Santa. It was mostly traffic direction and helping one of the vendors carry her boxes up to the craft fair.
The dining room stayed full for most of the morning, and Santa was kept busy taking pictures with the kids and handing out candy canes.
Ms. Grinch also put in an appearance.
While the breakfast was going on downstairs at The Toy Town Senior Center, The great hall upstairs was hosting a craft fair.
My daughter Melanie is on The Parks and Recreation Committee which hosted the whole day.
The town wide Cookie Crawl started at 9 A.M. and went until 2 P.M. Area business provided cookies that could be gathered in these boxes.
The town held a gingerbread house competition and a letters to Santa time. Then the whole night was capped off with the tree lighting at Grout Park on our local Bike Path.
How does your town or family ring in the holidays?
THE REGION CELEBRATES
The holidays are upon us, and with the holidays comes holiday preparations and celebrations! Our region is becoming more and more like a Hallmark movie every year.
Gardner is hosting a special Thanksgiving market this coming Saturday. I think I shall have to go and take a peek.
Meanwhile Winchendon is hosting its annual Festival of Lights on December 7th. Here is a list of all the events happening.
Don’t Miss The Festival of Lights: Saturday 12/7! 
Kick off your holiday season with a day full of family fun and festive cheer! Here’s what we have planned for you:
Pictures with Santa by Rustic Lens Photography:
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Breakfast with Santa:
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Suggested donation: $8 per person
Holiday Craft Fair:
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Come support local vendors
Gingerbread Man Decorating:
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
$8 per kit
GNOME PAINTING
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
$8 per gnome
Letters to Santa:
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
$10 per kit
Tree Lighting at Grout Park:
5:00 PM
(The park with the big metal bicycle near the bike path!)
Mr. & Mrs. Claus Appearance:
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
“The Night Before Christmas” Reading:
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Old Murdock Senior Center
Caroling at Grout Park:
With Mr. & Mrs. Claus
Also on December 7th is……..
Yippeee! I love the cookie crawl.
WHAT FUN THINGS DOES YOUR TOWN DO FOR CHRISTMAS?
DRY
One of the reasons that the leaves here in New England were so brilliant this year was because we have been cool and dry. We are currently in a level 3 drought here in Winchendon MA which means we are in critical drought. We are also in a severe fire threat. With 518 fires in the state having burned 1500 acres so far, outdoor burning of yard waste has been banned through January 15th here in MA.
That means here in the forest garden my growing pile of brush is not going anywhere at the moment. It’s Ok. I am still putting plastic on the windows inside just now. I don’t really have time for a fire in the fire pit.
SABBATICAL DAY 13: The End Part Felt Like a Hallmark Movie
I am just about half way through sabbatical 2024. I have had the privilege of attending three conferences and 10 prayer meetings so far.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE THOUGHTS THAT HAVE STOOD OUT TO ME DURING THE CONFERENCES AND PRAYER MEETINGS:
- During this next season, believers must begin to cultivate eternal mindsets and put away worldly mindsets.
- The next season will be about deliverance. Like repentance, deliverance is more about what you are moving toward than what you are moving away from. In fact, you will never be delivered until you have a firm vision of what you are getting in place of what you are giving up, and until you believe that what you are getting is better than what you are leaving behind.
3. Our congregation must begin to cultivate an abundance mindset in place of a scarcity mindset.
WHAT YOU THINK DETERMINES WHAT YOU SEE. WHAT YOU SEE DETERMINES WHAT YOU DO. WHAT YOU DO DETERMINES WHAT YOU GET.
REMEMBER YOU ARE WORTHY OF SUCCESS. SUCCESS IS STORED UP BEFORE IT SHOWS UP. LIFE HAPPENS FOR YOU NOT TO YOU. PERSONAL GROWTH EVOLVES INTO ABUNDANCE.
PROCRASTINATION COMES FROM SCARCITY. ANTICIPATION COMES FROM ABUNDANCE.
4. Your conflicts may be the key to unlocking your peace.
5. Life will bring you people and circumstances to reveal to you where you are not free yet.
6. Conflicts start inside our hearts not outside, but we spend most of our time trying to change what’s outside.
I have also accomplished several personal and ministry goals during this season including:
Sermon planning for 2025 and 2026 (though there is a lot more work to do here)
filling out and sending in my ordination paperwork.
Reviewing staff budgets and submitting my personal budget for FY 2025.
Winterizing the chicken coop (though honestly this was mostly Kristine)
I removed the air conditioners from the windows at the Vicarage and started planning the steps to winterization. I also started bringing in some herbs for the winter for a window garden and planning the gardens for next year.
So far I have had one fire to burn brush….there are many more fires to have throughout the winter.
Yesterday, I took a couple of hours to mix and mingle at Winchendon’s annual Fall Fest. This event made Me feel like I was living in a Hallmark movie.
Amanda, Joe, Kristine, Sevy and I met up with our friend Paula and her granddaughter Leila and went down to visit the 205 vendors set up on Central St. Fairs are my kryptonite. I can end up buying a lot of things I don’t need, so having strong people around me to curb the buying frenzy is essential.
The town was mobbed!…milling and seething through the mob was like mixing it up at a family house party. I ran into Denise and her granddaughters who I hadn’t seen since the oldest grandy was probably three (she is now thirteen). I saw Walter and chatted with Andy at the Fidelity Ice Cream cart. I hugged several Rathier children and stopped at the Rathier/ Lambert booth.I checked in with Tamie about her husband Brian who had knee surgery recently, and planned a coffee date with Father Henry when I stopped at The Immaculate Heart Booth. I stopped at Nancy’s fudge booth and caught up a bit with her while earnestly resisting the desire to buy a case of her homemade fudge.
Actually, as you can see from the picture above, there was plenty to buy. I did well. I tried some of the leftover pies from the pie baking contest when I checked in on my daughter Melanie. I also bought a sourdough pretzel with cheese sauce from her booth (Winchendon Parks and Rec). And…
I bought these books for a donation to the local library…..and
this new walking stick to replace the one I lost at Kimball’s Farm.
What made my heart most glad about this festival, though, were the number of people from our congregation who were working for different town booths our just attending the fall festival. I met some of the members of my son’s Gideons outpost. I saw our friends and neighbors the Ash-Sears family and we said hello to our friends the O’Briens. As I walked up and down the street with my new walking stick..I was struck by the richness and depth of relationship I felt flowing through our little community. I am not sure if the change is in me, in our community or in both of us. All I know is it was a wonderful day in the midst of this wonderful sabbatical.
Patrick’s Second Song
Patrick Cortis is a worship leader and song writer who lives in my home town. I have the privilege of rubbing shoulders with him on a weekly basis through the worship room and at Cornerstone Church. Here is his second song, “Regardless”
SIPPIN’ SERENDIPITY
There are so many wonderful things about OUR TOWN, WINCHENDON MA. I want to make revealing those wonderful things a part of this blog experience. It’s a wonderful place to live. Many wonderful people live here. And there is a growing list of exciting places to visit and events you can be part of if you come here for a visit.
One of the places I am coming to love is a new coffee shop in town called SIPPIN SERENDIPITY.
This little coffee shop is becoming one of the places my staff and I take parishioners for meetings. I was at SIPPIN’ SERENDIPITY on Thursday last week for such a meeting. We met over coffee, pastry and a game of checkers. Some of the pastry options we considered were made by one of the ladies who attends Cornerstone, Alicia Croteau.
I settled on the coffee cake and my Parishioner settled on the macarons, both great choices.
Here are the hours of operation from their website.Hours:
| Thursday | 6 AM–2 PM |
| Friday | 6 AM–2 PM |
| Saturday | 7 AM–2 PM |
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 6 AM–2 PM |
| Wednesday | 6 AM–2 PM |
And here is a menu for your perusal along with some shots of the pastry.
If you are in Winchendon anytime soon plan a stop at Sippin’ Serendipity.
Here is a bio piece from the TWO GRANNIES.
WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE FOR COFFEE OR TEA IN YOUR HOMETOWN?
WINCHENSTOCK 2024 and WHAT’S NEXT
This week our town hosted its second (or third maybe) annual Winchenstock festival at the Winchendon Community Park. This is a classic rock event and fair hosted by our local COMMUNITY ACTION CENTER to raise money for the needs of the underserved in our community.
The crowds were just beginning to gather and the music was just beginning to play as I arrived and walked down the path of peace and love.
The Parks and Rec Committee of our town has planned an incredible year of events for us. The events are listed on the sign below
I have to say Winchendon is an amazing place to live and visit! I feel like our community is beginning to figure out who we really are now and what we want to be about.
I did what I do at so many of these amazing events: I listened to some great music; I ate a little bit of great food; I connected with a lot of wonderful local makers, and I spent more than a little money.
HOW DID YOU SPEND YOUR WEEKEND? I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT.
A WEEKEND WITH APPLES
It is not often that I get both Friday and Saturday free from ministry events or visitations. This week happened to be one of those rare occasions.
I ended up spending Friday night and Saturday at The Red Apple Farm in Phillipston MA.
On Friday Joe, Kristine and Sevy invited me to a dinner of wood fired pizza. I started with blueberry honey soda by the bon fire.
We played a game of Jenga.
and cornhole.
Saturday morning started out with work in the gardens at The Vicarage.
Please note I am working hard at not growing grass. I am specializing in moss and clover this year. It is keeping the rabbits out of the garden.
After about two hours playing in the forest garden, I met the rest of the family at The Red Apple Farm for lunch.
It was not age festival weekend, but there was free face and body painting and a stand that was helping kids make pet rocks.
I have to say the farm does a wonderful job with their musical entertainment. Friday night they invited a Caribbean kettle band to come out and play and Saturday they had zydeco. If you are going to be in the area of Phillipston MA, YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT’S COMING IN THE DAYS AHEAD HERE.
While Amanda and I ordered BBQ from the Brewhouse Abigail, Mimi and great aunt Andrea got coordinating body paint.
Then Lela and Abigail played a game pf checkers with their great Aunt while several of us chowed down on BBQ Ribs and chicken while listening to the band.
THE NEXT BIG EVENT COMING UP AT THE RED APPLE FARM IS THE SUNFLOWER FESTIVAL.
Notes From the Vicarage 