The Friday Finish – December 13, 2024
Chili, Crafts and Christmas Culture
Christmas can be a busy time for families, but it’s also a good time to bring families together around a common purpose. Melanie Adams, Red Bird Christian School Guidance Counselor, cooked up chili for student families Monday evening to eat while working on Christmas craft projects for Family Reading Paint Night. Templates were provided for each person to paint a seasonal design on plates and mugs.
The event was sponsored by a grant from Thompson Scholars Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes academic excellence and equity for children in rural Clay County. In addition to providing opportunity for families to create a unique Christmas craft, books were given out for family reading time during the Christmas season. By reading these books together, families will learn about Christmas celebrations in other communities and cultures.
WYMT Mountain Classic Scholarship for Sarah Adams
One-hundred twenty-five (125) high school seniors in eastern Kentucky were recognized for their accomplishments and encouraged in their pursuit of a college education. Red Bird Christian School’s Sarah Adams was among those receiving a $1,000 scholarship as part of the 2024 WYMT Mountain Classic Scholarship program on Tuesday. The Mountain Classic began almost 40 years ago highlighting outstanding students during the week of a regional basketball tournament. Today, several foundations, families and academic institutions participate in funding the scholarships that not only help with college costs, but the distinction of being a Mountain Classic Scholarship awardee aids in students obtaining further financial aid for college.
Sarah, the daughter of Kelton and Melanie Adams, plans to pursue a degree in Early Elementary Education at Alice Lloyd College.
“It makes me feel good!”
It was no small task to pack up 277 Christmas baskets for senior citizens living in the Red Bird area, but participants at the Red Bird Mission’s DeWall Senior Center worked with focus and determination on Tuesday morning. Red Bird Elderly Ministries and Work Camp staff stepped up to do some of the heavy lifting to complete the work in about an hour after beginning.
The fruit and baskets were funded by a special grant, but it was the love and giving spirits poured into each basket by the DeWall participants that will communicate blessings. Many of those receiving a basket do not have many visitors due to the location of their homes, but there’s sure to be smiles a plenty when the basket is handed over. A prayer shawl given by a support church, devotional book, Christmas card from Red Bird Community Outreach, winter hat and scarf were included with the oranges, grapefruit, pears, and apples in every basket.
Taking a deserved rest at the end of the pack out, Helen testified to the emotional lift it gave to everyone saying,
"It makes me feel good to do this!”
And, there was a physical benefit, too. She said,
“It limbered me up!”
Snow Falls, Christmas Love Delivered
Shimmering white snowflakes fall from the sky as blankets of snow cover the mountains. Children are building a snowman, soaking in every moment of pure joy on a December “snow day” for Red Bird Christian School. Despite the cold outside, you can feel a warmness as you step inside the Red Bird Christian School Early Childhood Development (ECD) preschool classroom decorated with stockings, gingerbread men, and a tiny Christmas tree for “Miss Amy’s” tiny preschool students. Among the decorations is a Nativity Scene on the classroom window.
“I want them to feel excited when they see the decorations. This is such a special time in our classroom, I enjoy the opportunity to teach them the true meaning of Christmas,”
says ECD Coordinator Amy.
An anticipated delivery from the beloved friends of Red Bird Mission took place at the ECD and Red Bird Christian School Wednesday. With Santa hats on their heads, Christmas bells around their neck, and bright smiles on their faces, the guests have arrived with Christmas cheer! Carrying in their arms are great big bags filled with gifts, each wrapped with care. On the outside of these bags were lists that most certainly have been checked twice just like Jolly Old Saint Nick.
These wonderful “elves” are not from the North Pole. They have journeyed through the snow from middle Tennessee. Karen, a beloved friend and member of Saint Mark’s United Methodist Church (UMC), expresses her love for the community and people of Red Bird by saying,
“We love Red Bird and feel like y'all are our extended family in Kentucky!”
For nearly a decade, special members of Cookeville First UMC and Murfreesboro’s Saint Mark’s United Methodist and First United Methodist churches have made a Christmas tradition of preparing and delivering large bags of gifts for each and every child of the ECD program and Red Bird Christian School. These special and beloved people are fulfilling the wishes and needs of every parent’s child, bringing peace and hope to the heart of every parent.
The Christmas wish list made by the parents is attached outside every bag. Inside, the hand wrapped gifts could be a doll, a truck, art supplies and even brand new clothes. A mother expresses her gratitude by saying,
“The gifts brought by the generous souls of the church organizations allow me to breathe and feel less guilty about not having as much for my children under our tree. I am incredibly thankful every year that my children never have to go without a single Christmas present thanks to them.”
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