Tuesday in West Virginia

On Tuesday morning the ladies made scrambled eggs and bacon for anyone that wanted it. Others made their own toast, bagels or cereal. At 8:00 a.m. we headed over to Emmaus House for morning devotions with the group and were led through an exercise that helped us understand how all of us are born into different circumstances that play into where we end up in life. It was very disturbing for some of us and eye opening for others. Then we were sent off to our sites to continue our work.

The first thing we encountered on Tuesday was our friend, Mr. Copperhead. This time Roger was prepared with a shovel and on the second try he cut off its head. Like some macabre scene from a Stephen King novel we felt like we had exercised the demon in the house and were now ready to attack the day. With the sun shining overhead, we forged ahead and got a lot of work done on the house. Clayton, Roger and Chris tackled the bridge and its steps while Michelle Lord looked on. Everyone else was either painting or holding a ladder for someone who was painting the house. They even got me up on a ladder to paint the eves and the upper section of the back of the house. I tried to tell them not to take a picture of me. I was afraid people who saw it might actually think I was capable of doing some work on future mission trips.

At noon time we prayed, had lunch with Don and did devotions. At day’s end we had made good progress on all the chores. The guys had finished the ramp and the whole house had its first coat of paint and much of the house had a second coat of paint.

We headed back to the camp and the ladies had cooked up a wonderful meal of chicken, rice and broccoli. It was great. After dinner we took a trip to Walmart. We passed an active coal mine and took some pictures. We also saw where all the trains were heading that we heard several times each night. Hey were lined up ready to receive the coal and transport it elsewhere.

The trip to Walmart also gave several of our team members the opportunity to phone home. In Northfork there is no cell phone service and limited internet access. There are very few televisions and in some ways the whole area seems isolated from the rest of the world. For example I had to travel over half an hour to the next big town to get the tires on the van changed.

Northfork is a very small town in McDowell County. Many of the business are closed and there are a number of abandoned storefronts on the main street. Everywhere you look you can also find abandoned homes and broken down cars. It is like something out of a novel from another day and time.

At the turn of the twentieth Century this was one of the most prosperous regions in the country. Coal was king and everyone worked. But over time the coal companies destroyed the land and left town and took the prosperity with it. Bit by bit the people struggled to come back but this area was particularly hard hit by two devastating floods in the early years of the 21^st century. In June of 2001 a “hundred year flood” came through the region destroying homes and businesses. Just as they were turning the corner and building things back again a second flood came through and sucked the last bit of hope our of so many of the people. Hundred year floods don’t usually come so close together. Today we are working in that area and trying to restore hope.

Our first day on site

On Monday morning we were up at the crack of dawn and we grabbed, bagels, toast, cereal and coffee to get us up and going for the day. At 8:00 a.m. we went next door for morning devotions and instructions on the day. There were two other churches in camp for the day and the group of forty plus volunteers were dived up to work on six different homes in the community. Most of the folks were elderly and had lived in the community for most of their lives. Some were retired coal miners. One couple were self proclaimed evangelists. There was a widow and another elderly woman who never married. All of them were living on the edge of poverty and just getting by. Their homes were very modest and in need of painting, roofing, and in some state of disrepair.

We were sent off as a group to work on the home of an elderly disabled man named Don. He had recently given his life to Christ. He grew up a Baptist but over time had just stopped going to church. Over the last several weeks he got to know some of the short term missionaries and their loving actions touched him and moved him to express his faith in a new way.
A new roof had been added to Don’s house and it had been primed fo painting. Our job was to give it two coats of paint and to do the trim around the windows and on the foundation. Because my dad as there for a couple of days, we were also charged with repairing floor in the bathroom that had rotted through and to replace the steps and parts of a bridge that spanned a small stream between the house and the road. The women did the painting and Roger, Clayton and Chris got to work on the bathroom floor that first day. The team also got to know Don. He was a delightful gentleman and very pleasant.

The only real adventure on that first day was the discovery of a copperhead snake behind the house. Roger was called on to dispose of it. He was told by Don’s neighbor, Wayne, that all he had to do was hit it and it would die. We found out that wasn’t true because it returned the next day. None-the-less it made for a good story when we got back to camp with the other groups.







Cal

Day one of the Appalachian mission trip

On Sunday morning we left on our mission adventure to McDowell County, West Virginia. A group of eleven of us piled into two vans and headed off down West Main Street. Of course we didn’t get very far. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts to give us that boost that would get us going. Then promptly at 6:00 a.m. we left there and set sail for the 750 mile drive. There were four from Central Baptist ( Ellie Eccleston, Michelle Madsen-Bibeau, Doreen and Roger Mainville) and seven from First Baptist ( Rachel Bober, Carol Calkins, Erica Corbett, Taylor Chaffee, June Deptulski, Connie Hayward and me) in our crew and we were enrolled as short term missionaries for the Mustard Seeds and Mountains ministry.

Sunday was our travel day and we hoped to arrive in McDowell County by eight o’clock that evening. We passed through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and then finally cheered as we crossed the state line into our final destination… West Virginia. If you are wondering why I mentioned West Virginia twice, look at your road atlas and check out Route 81 south through PA and Virginia.

Trips like this can be quite boring but we had a bit of adventure. About seventy miles from our destination the church van started to shimmy a bit and we pulled over. It felt like we had a flat tire. I stepped out and at first glance it looked like nothing was wrong. Then I noticed the tread on the rear tire was coming apart from the tire.

Roger Mainville and I unloaded the back of the van and started changing the tire. We had a couple of tense moments. We couldn’t free up the spare tire. We didn’t have a star shaped screwdriver to release the latch. Eventually we broke the lock so we could get at the tire. It was also a little unnerving trying to change the tire with the highway traffic going by at 60 plus miles an hour.

A Virginia State Policeman stopped and he helped us out. He radioed in another trooper to move the cars over to give us a little room. He was a super nice guy and immediately made several new friends from Connecticut.

We got going again and noticed the spare tire was soft so we pulled off the highway to find an air pump. That was a challenge in the small town we visited. Roger and I let the girls off at Dairy Queen for dinner and went off to find what we needed. When we found an air hose we took a good look at the tire and saw several small cracks in the outer wall. The tire was filled with dry rot. Thankfully it got us to our destination and in the morning I went into town and bought two new tires and kept the best of the others as our spare.

We arrived in Northfork at 8:40 p.m. and were met by my parents, Clayton and Michelle Lord, and my nephew Chris. They came in from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to join us for a couple of days bringing our crew up to fourteen people. After a brief orientation we were led to our house and settled in for the night. It was a good day and we were thankful that we arrived safely.

Cal

Yet another wedding in the church family

I've had four weddings in the last couple of weeks but only one of them was at the church. Ashley West and Daniel Moriarty were married at the church on Saturday. It was a really nice ceremony. Daniel was in Army National Guard uniform and Ashley wore a beautiful white dress.

The family was involved in some special ways. Ashley was escorted down the aisle and given away by her mother, Elsie West. Daniel's dad and step father were both in the wedding party as ushers> They stood up for him along with his younger brother.

The reception was at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Taftville.

We have two more weddings scheduled i the near future. George Rezendes and Maryann McComskey will be married at the Coast Guard Academy on August 15th and Nick Grange and Stacia Green will be married in Rhode Island at the end of September.

Zelda and Bruce Fellows will also renew their vows on September 19 at church.

Cal

Sent to Do God's Work

On Sunday we commissioned our short term missionaries in preparation for their trip to southern West Virginia along the Appalachian Trail.

In the service we distributed mission care packages and gathered around the team to pray for them. The sermon called us to remember that we are all invited to offer ourselves to God as He works out his purposes in the world. Our text was from 2 Samuel and we looked in on David and how God reminded him that he was going to be part of something much bigger than he could imagine.

With that thought, we gave our team our blessing. They will be leaving next Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. and traveling down in two vehicles. Mapquest says the trip will take just over twelve hours. Our team will be working with a group called Mustard Seeds and Mountains. Our team members will be working with local families doing small home repairs and yard work. We start next Monday morning and continue through Thursday. Each day we will be at the worksite and each night we'll return back to the lodge for dinner and devotions. One night we will be going to a Bluegrass festival in town for fun.

Our team consists of Rachel Bober, Carol Calkins, Taylor Chaffee, Erica Corbett, June Deptulski, Connie Hayward and me from First Baptist and Michelle Madsen Bibeau, Ellie Eccleston, Roger and Doreen Mainville from Central Baptist. It looks like Clayton Lord Sr. and Chris Lord Jr., may also be joining us for a day. They are planning on driving in from Kentucky to meet up with us.

We hope to send back a few photos and reports while we are down there but that depends on the availability of wireless. We've been told that service may be hard to come by. None-the-less, we will have plenty of pictures when we come back. We will be returning on Friday, July 31st.

Cal

Getting the word out

This morning I finished up the Sunday Bulletin. Every week put together a mini-newsletter as part of the bulletin. We include the order of worship and add several announcements on upcoming events. It is one of the lifelines that connects our members and friends with the ongoing activities at church. Bob Walker will come in tomorrow morning to fold them and prepare them for Sunday.

Over the years we have continued to add other communication tools to our repertoire. We prepare the monthly newsletter. It has all kinds of information. It goes out in the mail and is also posted on the web. We have a web page at www.fbcnorwich.org that has all kinds of information. It includes pictures, sermons, history and so much more.

We have this blog you are reading too. It chronicles day to day life at the church with a mixture of photos and short stories. We have second blog which is inspirational in nature. We have added a Facebook page which compliments my own Facebook page.

All of this is done to keep the congregation up to date with what is happening day to day.

Got any other idea? Let's hear them and see if we can do even more.

Cal

Missional Church meeting

Last night our Missional Church team met to debrief our July Fourth event and to make plans for future community outreach events. We all agreed that the popcorn and lemonade was a hit. The only thing we would do differently next time was to wear FBC tee shirts and start cooking the popcorn sooner. We may see about doing the popcorn again the next time there are fireworks.

We also decided that we would do winter survival kits again in some fashion next January. We will concentrate on personal hygiene items and the kind of things you can't buy with food stamps. We could do the blankets again if we can find a sponsor or two. We liked the way so many people got involved and made some blankets. They cost about $400 to make the fifty blankets.

After a lot of discussion we decided that we would start collecting gently used winter coats and sweaters to give away to folks living across the street in the Mopsic Street area. We thought we could give them away in mid to late October just before winter hits. The idea was sparked by Erica Corbett's clothing drive and we thought we could work with her.

We also decided we would do another goodie give away on September 13. We will be meeting on Wednesday, August 12 at 7:00 p.m. to decide the particulars.

Cal

A great season heads to play-offs

Last night our softball team finished the 2009 regular season with a tough loss and dropped a chance to claim second place outright for the season. Calvary Baptist beat us 14 - 1. Now we have to wait and see how they finish up with their last three games to determine where we will finish up and be seeded for the tournament.

Never-the-less we ended the year with a 15 -6 record. The last time, and only time, we finished with a better record was 1993. That year we won the B Division with a 15- 4 record and then took the B Division Play-off Championship and closed out the year with a 17 -5 record. We also won our division in 1998 and 2000 but didn't have as good an overall record.

2009 play-offs begin next Tuesday. We will be seeded either 2 or 3. Check our web site for time and place for the games.

Cal

Ready to serve in Appalachia

Tonight our Appalachian Mission team met to go over details for our trip on July 26th. We will be leaving form the First Baptist Church parking lot at 5:30 a.m. and heading south for Northfork, West Virginia. The trip is 711 miles and should take about twelve hours and seventeen minutes if we were to go non-stop.

We will be working with local families on home improvement projects for the four days we are down there. We will be up early on Monday morning. After breakfast we will split up and tackle two or three homes. We will have lunch with the families we are working with and then finish up for the day around 4:30 p.m.

Each night we will have devotions and some fee time. We are schedule to go to a Bluegrass festival one evening. We will finish up on Thursday night and head home after breakfast on Friday. We are some tools but we aren't quite sure what we will need because everything depends on the projects they assign us. I'm sure there will be lots of raking, some painting and some minor repair work.

There are eleven people on our team this year. It includes Rachel Bober, Carol Calkins, Taylor Chaffee, Erica Corbett, June Deptulski, Ellie Eccleston, Connie Hayward, Cal Lord, Michelle Madsen-Bibeau, Doreen and Roger Mainville. There is also a possibility that Clayton and Michelle Lord will drive over from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to spend a day or two working with the team.

They will covet your prayers as they head out a week from this Sunday. You will get the opportunity to send them off in style during our worship service this Sunday. We will commission them during the 9:30 a.m. services at the two churches. Come and join us.

Cal

The blessing of long term ministry - 3 weddings

This past weekend I officiated at three weddings involving families from the church. I have to say that it was one of the most blessing filled weekends of my ministry. It reminded me what long term ministry was all about.

On Friday afternoon I witnessed the renewal of vows between Al and Wendy Dart. I said renewal because it was a very special type of renewal. I married Al and Wendy back in 1992. Wendy grew up in the church and was living and working in Groton when I began my ministry here. I knew here because she was the youngest sister of Curt and Hal Brockway. They were regulars at church and would often speak of their sisters, Nancy and Wendy. Wendy was the youngest of the four siblings. When she came to me to ask me to officiate at her wedding I was pleased to do so.

A few years later we became very close. Our daughter Rachel was born in March of 1994 and Al and Wendy's daughter, Jennifer, was born in September of that same year. We were looking for someone to do childcare and Wendy volunteered. As a result of that decision the girls, Rachel and Jenny, grew up together. Wendy became active in church and Jenny came to Sunday School. Al got involved on the softball team and on the property committee. As they neared their tenth anniversary Wendy asked me if I would be willing to help them renew their wedding vows. It was a no-brainer. We planned a very beautiful celebration in the fall of 2002.

Unfortunately, within two years problems erupted in their marriage and it led them to divorce court. It is the path that so many couples travel now-a-days and it is sad for all involved.

About two months ago I got a call from Wendy asking me if I was busy on Friday, July 12. When I asked her why, she told me that she and Al were back together again and they decided they wanted to get remarried. What could I say? This renewal was going to be one that brought a smile to God's face. At 3:00 p.m. on Friday, July 12, 2009 Al and Wendy exchanged their vows in front of family and friends. It was a beautiful day.

My day didn't end there. In a little while I was on the road heading for Worcester, Massachusetts. I had a second wedding on Friday. This one involved the son and future daughter-in-law of Elizabeth and Matthew Isenburg. Carl Soderberg and Melody Johnson were married in the Tower Hill Gardens in Boylston, MA.

I've known Matthew Isenburg from my earliest days in Norwich. He owned the Ford dealership in town and we went to buy a car from him in 1987. A few years later we renewed our acquaintance as members of the Norwich Rotary Club. While I was working on my D. Min. degree we would often talk about my project and when I was looking to put my Church Newsletter Handbook, Matt gave me some pointers on how to make it presentable to the publisher.

A few years later Matt showed up for a Christmas Eve service and before long he and Elizabeth began considering First Baptist Church as their church home. I met Carl when he was in the ninth grade. He came to a few of our youth group events and was involved in one of our youth retreats and a couple of Youth Recognition Sundays. He lived with his dad in Maryland but whenever he came up to say with his mom and Matthew, he would often find his way to church.

Carl and Melody met while they were students at the University of New Haven. After graduation in 2007, Carl began his career in the U. S. Army. The first year and a half took him away for a lot of schooling but he and Melody kept seeing each other whenever they could. Last Fall they became engaged and this Spring as their plans were coming together, they asked me to perform the service. I was so pleased to play a part in this chapter of another of our special family's historic moments.

On Saturday afternoon I participated in my third wedding of the week-end. Allison Walberg and Jason Beit were married in Lisbon. I like to tell everybody that Allison was the first baby I visited in the hospital as I began my ministry here. Lori is quick to remind me that the first baby was actually our own daughter, Rebecca. She is right but Allison, and her parents Pam Maynard and Don Walberg will always be special in my book. At the reception Allison and Jason ran a slide show with pictures going all the way back to their births. One of the pictures featured me holding Allison at her infant dedication service.

Allison grew up in the Sunday School and was active in a lot of our youth outings. She played on our basketball team and invited her friends to join us. In almost every picture of a Christmas Pageant or a Children's Day program you can find Allison among the group. She was part of a core of kids that included Becky, Lord, Casey and April Rezendes, Roland Widstrom, and various others that were at everything.

When Allison went off to high school at Norwich Free Academy she got involved in the marching band and that demanded a lot more of her time. That's where she and Jason met and they became an item. Of course I saw a lot of her while volunteering in the pit crew, but her dad, Don Walberg, also kept us abreast of qwhat was happening in her life.

In 2004 she graduated and both Jason and Allison headed out to Western Connecticut State University for college. Four years later, they both graduated with degrees in music education. Last Fall they began their professional teaching careers in the area and set the date for their wedding. I was so pleased to be asked to participate in yet another special moment in the life of this family.

That's what long term ministry is all about. It is about relationships that span many occasions and even a few generations. Who knows? In a few years I may be called upon to marry Al and Wendy's daughter Jennifer or to dedicate one of the other couple's children and the cycle will continue.

What a great week-end for our church and its ministry.

Cal

Some softball stats and trivia.

I was going over the FBC Softball stats today and was pretty impressed with what our team has done so far this season. We have compiled a 14-4 record and been playing pretty good defense. Chip Chaffee and Dan Dutrumble are flirting with the .800 mark and right now both are on pace to set new records for a single season batting average. Chip set the record in 2004 with a .746 average breaking Mark Ferguson's mark of .742 in 2000. Today Chip is hitting .796 after going three for three last night. Dan is at .773 after going one for three.

Chip is also threatening the on base pct mark of .833 that Rich Ozga establish in 1999. Chip has a .852 average at the moment. He is also four times on base away for setting a new single season record. Andy Miller holds the record now with 55 times on base set back in 1997. Chip has been on board 52 times with three games left to play in the season. Chip also has 11 home runs and 51 RBI and he could claim the second highest single season mark in both categories. He already is in the number two spot in RBI with 51. He is two away from passing Bill Ericson's mark of 13 homers in 1994. He set the single season records for homers with 15 and RBI with 69 back in 2004.

Several players are already moving up into the top fifteen for single season records or about to break into the record books. Daryl Alves has been to bat 67 times and needs three more at bats to tie Cal Lord (1992) and Lee McFalls (1994) and Armin Harris (2005) for fourteenth place. Daryl is also just two run scored away from passing John Calash (1999), Armin Harris (2005) and Casey Rezendes (2006) to jump into 14th place with 31.

Chip Chaffee is already in the top fifteen in several categories including runs scored ( 9th - 32), Hits (12th - 39), Doubles (7th - 9), Walks (4th - 12), Sac flies (2nd with 5). Dan Dutrumble is 3 hitsd away from tieing Bill Discordia (1990) with 37 hits for fifteenth place. Dan Dutrumble and Daryl Alves both have 11 doubles already this season and are tied for third all time. Chip Chaffee and Mike Staron have 9 doubles each and are good for seventh place. Mike Young, Eric Larsen and Eric Poore all have seven doubles and need 2 more to to get on the list.

I was also looking at the all time list and the big numbers there for some of our people. For instance, we have 32 people who have played five seasons or more. That's pretty impressive. Here is the list.

George Rezendes & Cal Lord 19 seasons
Ken Kreger, Mike Staron and Bob Duntz 15 seasons
Marc Vaillancourt and Brian Goldin 13 seasons
Fred Green Sr and Malcolm Brown 11 seasons
Fred Stone and Dave Royce 10 seasons
Eric Poore, Steve Moon, Mark Dunaj, Curtis Royce and Gary Teczar 8 seasons
Mark Staron and Lee McFalls 7 seasons
Jay Mandeviulle, Casey Rezendes, Scot Rapoza and Bruce Startz 6 seasons
Daryl Alves, Kenny Marsden, Armin Harris, Corey Poore, Norm Boulay, Bill Discordia, Doug Bartkowski, Mark Ferguson, Bruce Royce and Bill Ericson 5 seasons

All time records are held by the following:
George Rezendes has played in 317 games and had 905 at bats. Mike Staron has scored 339 runs and has 422 hits and 96 doubles. Fred Green has 32 triples. Bob Duntz has 48 homeruns and 275 RBI. Mike Staron has been on base 540 times. Ken Kreger has received 116 walks and George Rezendes has had 27 sacrifice flies.

I need two more games and 1 more hit to make 300 games and 400 hits for my career. Chip Chaffee has 42 homers and 205 RBI in four seasons. He needs 7 more homers and 70 RBI to become the all time leaders in those categories. If we project out his averages, he could reach both by the end of next season or early in 2011.

Mike Staron has 96 doubles for first place and Fred Green has 58 for second place all time. Ken Kreger is the only other person remotely close to reaching 500 times on base. Mike Staron has 540, Cal Lord has 526 and Ken has 464. Steve Moon is next on the active list with 265.

No matter what happens the rest of the season (3 games remaining) Chip Chaffee and Dan Dutrumble will join Mark Ferguson (.649) and Bob Duntz (.619) as the only players with over 100 at bats to maintain a lifetime .600 batting average. They also have a good chance to join Mark Ferguson (.700) to be the only ones to have a lifetime on base percentage of .700 or above.

As a team our best year was 1993 when we went 15- 4 during the regular season and 2 -1 in the play-offs. We won the B Division Championships and the League as well. We won the B Division Championships in 1998 with a 13 - 8 record and 2000 with a 12 - 8 record.

Big Award Winners included the following for MVP and Rookie of the Year;

Most Valuable Players Rookie of the Year

1987 Bob Duntz

1988 Bob Duntz 1988 David Royce

1989 Eric Poore 1989 Mike Keithley

1990 Bill Discordia 1990 Bill Discordia

1991 Bob Duntz 1991 Lee McFalls

1992 Bob Duntz 1992 Mike Staron

1993 Bruce Startz 1993 Bruce Startz

1994 Bob Duntz 1994 No Award Given

1995 Bill Ericson 1995 Ted Phillips

1996 Bob Duntz 1996 Fred Green Sr.

1997 Andy Miller 1997 Andy Miller

1998 Andy Miller 1998 John Calash

1999 (A) Fred Green Sr. 1999 Rich Ozga

1999 (B) Mark Ferguson 1999 Fred Stone

2000 Fred Green Sr. 2000 Ken Marsden

2001 Fred Stone 2001 Carlos Estralla

2002 Fred Green Sr. 2002 Casey Rezendes

2003 Casey Rezendes 2003 Dave Mehlinger

2004 Chip Chaffee 2004 Chip Chaffee

2005 Fred Green Sr. 2005 No Award Given

2006 Fred Green Sr. 2006 Dan Dutrumble

2007 Armin Harris 2007 Craig Chapman

2008 Mike Staron 2008 Eric Larsen

Bob Duntz has won 6 MVP Awards.
Fred Green Sr. has won 5 MVP Awards.
Andy Miller has won 2 MVP Awards.

Aren't you glad we kept the stats for the last 23 seasons?

Cal