Dale-Holden Advent Festival

Sunday afternoon I stopped by the Advent Festival at Dale. Dale and Holden are a yoked parish, so this was a joint endeavor. They spent the afternoon preparing care packages for the people of Holden and Dale who don't easily or often make it to worship anymore (because they're now in care facilities, for example). The baskets they put together were really incredible. Check it out:


The Dale basement, abuzz with activity. They had a very efficient system of stations. There were tables for cutting and tying fleece blankets; wrapping little loaves of bread; making cute little beaded creations; organizing cards or magnets; and more. In the background there's a musician, who was entertaining the group by singing Christmas hymns and playing harmonica.




Fleece blankets ready to go.




Baskets coming together. You may not be able to see it, but the sign in the background says "lefse making." I definitely ate some warm lefse right off the grill...always a treat!




Nearly-complete basket...fruit, homemade jam (to go with the homemade bread), cards with pictures of Holden (or a Dale magnet for the Dale folks), some Christmas treats, a book of prayers, and all the additional things I mentioned above.




I don't think I've ever seen an operation like this before. Volunteers signed up to deliver baskets to the recipients, and I thought it was a really thoughtful way to stay connected with the folks who can't be directly involved in congregational events.