30 Hour Famine 2009

From 7:00a March 7th to 1:00p March 8th the CPC Youth went without solid food. This "30 Hour Famine" is an international youth event geared both to help educate youth about the realities of hunger in our world and to help raise funds for malnourished children throughout the world. The CPC Youth participated with an amazing amount of enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, and effectiveness. Below are a few highlights.

We played a series of educational games to learn about the realities of life for poverty-stricken children. This year our games focused on the Amazon region of the world. We divided into various "tribes" and competed for various resources. Pictured above, Kate Wier crosses "the river"--a game simulating the difficulties many children face just getting to and from school every day.

We constructed two "Roadside Memorials"--one along Columbia Street and one along South Street. Our aim was to raise awareness and support for children caught in the jaws of hunger. At each memorial we planted 1,100 forks in the ground. Each fork represented a child's life snuffed out by hunger each hour. We also constructed five signs that were interspersed with the forks. The signs read: "Every Day On Earth" "26,000 Children Die" "From Hunger" "Do Something" "www.30hourfamine.org." While we were working on the memorials we had people stopping and asking what we were doing...we were already meeting our goal of raising awareness!

The band "Red Umbrella" put on a spectacular concert in our gym on March 7th. This Christian band played a bunch of catchy, dance-able tunes that had our youth bustin' a groove (even though they hadn't eaten in more than 12 waking hours). The songs, the lights, the demeanor, the talent, the focus--Red Umbrella puts on a great show! We won't be surprised if they make it big in the coming years.

Crab Soccer Tournament. Another one of our "tribe" games.

A few more donations trickled in and brought our grand totol to $2,107.00! Our goal was $1500. Thank you, CPC Youth, for your faithfulness, hard work, and generosity! Thank you, Central Presbyterian Church, for your support and encouragement! Together we are helping to make a difference for our younger brothers and sisters who need food.

Ski Trip 09

A few pix from our 2/7/09 ski trip up to Bittersweet Ski Area (Otsego, MI--about a 3.5 hour drive). The day was breezy but with temps in the upper 40's. It made for slushy skiing but we didn't mind. It was a great day.

Jacob Smutz (in the blue an orange jacket on the right) navigates the slopes.

Maggie Painter and Hannah Sauer head to the chair lift.

Kate Wier, Austin Hartz, and Greg Mitchell take a rest in the lodge.

D'Angelo King, Darron Davis, and Darryl King ride the lift up the slopes.

Loaded up in the church bus, ready to head back home.

Super Bowl Party 2009

The Beardmore Family was generous enough (and brave enough) to invite the youth and parents/families over for another Super Bowl Party. It was the third year in a row the Beardmore's have hosted us. Pizza, chili, ping-pong, games, a beautiful home, wonderful hospitality, a great crowd of friends and family, and an incredibly good football game made this a thoroughly enjoyable evening for everyone.

Ready for halftime.

Enjoying the universal love language: pizza.

Shoes at the front door. We had close to 60 people join us at the Beardmore's for the party.

Eric and David Beardmore duke it out in the finals of the ping pong tournament.

Eric and David Beardmore defended their home court. David (on the right) took out his older brother Eric (left) in the finals to take first place.

Children's Christmas Pageant

The children of Central put on a wonderful pageant on December 14th. The pageant was written and directed by Annette Brehm. This clever "reader's theater" style play focused on the theme of preparing for Jesus Christ to come into our hearts and lives at Christmastime. Bravo, kids!

"Let us not lift our souls to another," the children sing.

Rehearsing the play.


"P.R.E.P.A.R.E. the way of the Lord."

Annalise Drake and Lilly Parker performing.

Calvin Walters, Gabe Parker, and Ethan Wood reading their parts.

Turkey Bowl and Chicken Cup

Our third annual Turkey Bowl resulted in a victory over the youth for the adults. The final score was 91-84 (yes, that's a football score). But many adults are still paying days later for that victory...with various sore muscles, aches, and pains... The ladies took a little more laid back approach to the Chicken Cup. No score was officially reported, but it was reported they had a good time competing and kicking the soccer ball around together.

It seems to be a tradition in Turkey Bowl flag football that for every quarterback there should be at least 10 receivers. Here Deshon Davis drops back hoping to find an open man.

The youth and adults pose with The Turkey Man trophy after the game.

Some of the ladies pose for a post-game shot.



Hannah Sauer won "The Good Egg Award" for her outstanding attitude, skill, and effort in the Chicken Cup.

Mitch Sauer strikes the Heisman pose after winning "The Heinzman Trophy" for his outstanding attitude, skill, and effort in the Turkey Bowl.

Pie Auction Action

The youth conducted their annual fundraiser: auctioning home-made pies on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The congregation responded with another display of astounding generosity, with individuals buying pies for up to $130 a piece. As a result the youth raised over $2900 in about 45 minutes! The money will be used to defray the expenses of the Youth Ski Trip (Jan 09), and as scholarship money for the high school retreat/camp at Montreat, NC (July 09).

A dazzling array of delicious pies made by our youth (with a little help from mom and/or dad, usually).

Our auctioneer, Dick Mills, interviews Chris Burgess about his pie. Dick has an uncanny ability to weave humor, enthusiasm, love, and a little guilt into his auctioneering. His lively performance helped make the Pie Auction enjoyable and successful.

Austin Hartz and Jacob Smutz enjoying the Pie Auction festivities.

Kathy Parker lovingly shoves a pie into the face of her husband as their son, Gabe, gleefully looks on.



Brad Parker was the lucky winner of the "Pie in the Face" contest. His wife (Kathy) and daughter (Allison) are there to help him celebrate his victory.

Middle School Fall Retreat

We headed to Camp Tecumseh on Nov 15-16 for a 24-hour retreat. The theme for the weekend was "Dare to Believe." We talked about "risk-taking faith" and looked at stories from the book of Daniel to illustrate the fact that faith in God is a risk, but God is reliable. We also spent a great deal of time just hanging out as a group--doing a low-ropes course, shooting rifles, eating together, playing games, chasing a bat out of the girls' room, playing "ga-ga" (Israeli dodgeball), and generally having a great time together.

The group poses at the "Spider Web" of the low-ropes course. This was a team-building activity that taught us about the need for cooperation, listening, and leadership.

Hannah Sauer and Anna Alspaugh attack the climbing wall.


David Beardmore won the "Saturday Archery Contest" with his stellar archery skills. He scored a 37 and beat all other youth archers at the camp on that day.

D'Angelo King and Greyson Eller celebrated birthdays on Sunday (Nov 16) of our retreat. DA turned 13. Greys turned 12.

Posing for a group shot in the girls' cabin. Back (top) row: Darron Davis, David Beardmore, Greyson Eller, Brandon Davis, D'Angelo King, Hannah Sauer, Anna Alspaugh, Harley Perkins, Ross Mitchell, Andrew Meeks. Front (bottom) row: Wes Tillett, Rita Tillett, Kelsey Perkins, Hannah Schweikher, Allison Parker, Kathy Parker, Jonathan Hartz, Allen Bol.