March Youth Events include:

March 1- Crafting! The monthly scrapbookers have decided to be more inclusive. If you enjoy scrapbooking, jewelry making, sketching, or whatever, then join us Saturday, March 1st at 10:00 a.m. Make a morning of it by coming earlier for breakfast. We'll have plenty of tables set up so that you can have room to do your craft. Come on the 1st and join in the fellowship and fun.

March 1- Summer Camp??? Yep, March 1st is the opening day for summer camp registrations. There are camping experiences for grades 1-12 and beyond. There are canoing, cooking, photography, art, dance, and even ice cream camp. There are camping opportunities if you like the Harry Potter books, want to ride horses, get dirty, or scrapbook! Check out all the camps in the booklet at the back of the church. Early bird registration ends on May 1st. There may be camp scholarships available- see Kris or Pastor Mike for more details.

March 16 - Concert Cross the Line Tour-with Superchick and other Christian bands. 2:00 pm at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Marion. We will leave after church that day and stop for lunch on the way to the concert. Transportation will be provided. Cost is $12.00.

March 30- Is the fifth Sunday which means the Youth are in charge of the worship service and the luncheon afterwards. Youth will be putting on an Easter play and will be doing the liturgy, greeting, and music selection. A sign up sheet will be circulated for lunch donations. We'll need items for potato and vegetable soup and desserts. Come to Teen Bible Study on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 to find out what you can do on March 30th.

April 25-26-The 30 Hour Famine will take place from Friday at 6:00 p.m. until Saturday evening. The Youth will stop eating at noon on Friday. Then will report to the church at 6:00 for prayer, fellowship and activities. We'll send out sheets for sponsors in early April. Rumor has it that a talent show will be in the works.

A film crew will be on hand!

Other Newsletter News

Volleyball- The 1st UMC Volleyball team had its first double win on Feb. 16th. This year's team consists of team captain Craig Penix, Steve Soria, Sarah Laferty, Brittany Tinch, John Patrick, Shelly Patrick, Jodi Muntis, Michelle Benedict, John Jeffrey, Meghan Pry, Doug and Kris Bruce. We have many loyal fans that cheer us on every week, but we can always use more! Our last four games are

• March 1- 7:15 p.m.
• March 8- 6:30 p.m.
• March 15- 7:15 p.m.
• March 22- 5:45 p.m.

Thank You-

The Youth would like to thank everyone who supported their Souper Bowl Sunday canned food drive and Soup Lunch that followed. We collected $200 for Youth activities. Thank You!

Crafting- The Scrapbooking group has decided to become the Crafting group. Everyone who enjoys doing small projects are invited to bring their craft on March 1st right after breakfast. In fact, stop in for breakfast and then stay for crafting. We have plenty of tables set up and lots of fellowship and laughter. Bring a snack to share if you like. Sometimes we even run out for lunch. It doesn't matter if you scrapbook, knit, quilt, whittle, make jewelry, or even build ships in a bottle- we would like you to join us. Come join our lively group on March 1st at 10:00 a.m. Kids welcome.

Youth Worship and Lunch- On March 30th the Youth will be in charge of the worship. They'll be presenting an Easter themed play and after church there will be a soup and sandwich lunch. Please plan on staying to support the Youth. We will be serving potato and vegetable soups and hotdogs and mock chicken (Sloppy Henry) sandwiches with dessert and drinks. A free will donation is appreciated with proceeds to go towards Youth Group activities.

More Newsletter News:

Meijer Community Rewards Program
Meijer has changed the way it is providing "cash back" to UMC. Current members should have received a letter that stated they had to re-enroll with a Meijer credit card to participate in the program. Another change is that gas charges are now going to count towards the total that gets sent to UMC. If you use the Meijer credit card, you will also get three cents off per gallon of gas. If you have any questions about this change or would like to help UMC get "free money" please see Kris Bruce.