Looking back on the Decade - 2003

Life at FBC Norwich in the year 2003

It was a busy year for the Property Committee. We removed all the pews and laid down a new tile floor in the sanctuary. Greg Maxim did the work and saved us a good amount of money. Several people made generous donations and we raised $10,000 to make it happen. We also laid a concrete floor in the basement. We hoped that this would solve some of the moisture issues we have every summer. Cliff Vanase volunteered to head up the effort and it paid off with his experience and background in masonry. We also did some touch up work on the sanctuary ceiling. It had begun to peel in a few spots and we promised ourselves we would not let it get as bad as it had in the late 1980's. Ray O'Connell did an excellent job for just over $2,000 and it looked great when he was finished. Finally, we moved our sound system to the back of the sanctuary and added a unit for the hearing impaired to complete the upgrades begun with the Access 200 CAMPAIGN IN 2000.

Gwyn Green served as chair of the Diaconate and oversaw the welcome of nine new members and several baby dedications. Zelda Earle, Janet LaFlamme and Sean Sullivan were baptized and joined Ginger and Bob Sullivan, Mark, Sue and Megan Ferguson, and Steve Contois as our newest members. Dave Jordan had a life changing experience and also was baptized. He was already a member of the church. Gabriel Villa, Andrew Kreger, Priscilla Rogers and Austin Briggs were all dedicated this year.

We said good bye to Buffy McFalls as our church secretary after 8 1/2 years. Buffy had served as my right hand organizing trips, arranging meetings, making budgets and keeping me on the straight and narrow. We celebrated her ministry with recognition in worship and a few gifts. In September we hired Sandy Callendar to serve in the office.

We hosted the AIDS Bike tour during the summer. Our teens took a trip to New Hampshire for the Soul Music Festival. James Brown came on board as a new coach in our Basketball program. Fred Green organized a golf tournament to raise money for our sound system upgrades. The Pretenders ( Cal & Lori Lord and Amy & George Rezendes) took the Bowling championship for the second year in a row. Casey Rezendes was the MVP of the Softball team.

Rosie Main took on a new role as our Church Collector and Brian Goldin took over as Property Committee Chairman. Guy Brown began mowing the lawn at church on a regular basis. It was a tough year financially and although we had pledges of over $100,000, we actually only received about $90,000. For 2004 we received pledges totaling a more modest $93,000. Our average attendance at worship was 107 for the year.

Debbie Muyres and Joe Sandherr were married in 2003 as were Curtis Royce and Tina Harrington and John DiBiagio and Pam DeChamplain. Ed Regets, Dorothy Macht, Stewart Hill, Alice Cote and Louise Strouse all passed away.

Cal