Headline: BETSY ROSS SAVES THE DAY!

Besty Ross (aka: Terry Trombley) Saves the Day!
Representative Brian Nelson graciously poses with Betsy.
I'm loving Brayden's hat and Kaity's new outfit! I can't take credit for the hat, but the outfit is my own invention. It's a man's shirt I bought at Goodwill for Gary last year, anticipating our annual 4th Celebration. I was hoping he would be able to fit into a large but not quite, so his loss became Kaity's treasure.
Check out the back!
You can't tell from the pictures, but the gym was fully decked out! We spent a total of 5 hours decorating and about 2 hours tearing down and cleaning up. Good thing for lots of helping hands!



Yesterday we held our 2nd annual July 4th Celebration at the Ward. Because I'm the Activities Committee Chairman, I was deeply involved and today I'm just glad it's over! We began planning for this year's event LAST year on July 5th! We deemed last year to be a big success with about 130 people attending the short patriotic program (which featured a surprise visitation from Ben Franklin and his wife) and a breakfast that followed. This year we figured we would be lucky to have that many people show up again because the 4th fell on a Friday and we assumed many people would take advantage of the long weekend. WRONG WERE WE! We served breakfast to over 200 people and most of those hungry souls also came to enjoy the program which was supposed to start at 8:30. We got started a few minutes late because the member of the bishopric who was conducting had to run his son home at the last minute to change his pants. Evidently he had a hole that had gone undetected until they arrived at the church and Jerry refused to let any son of his present the Colors with a disgraceful uniform. Thus, glitch number one.
Glitch number two requires a small explanation. Last year the Mayor of Apopka attended along with one of our state representatives. A ward member who took some great pictures of the event submitted them to the local paper and they ran the story. This year we made special invitations for those same dignitaries as well as the owner of said newpaper. Let me just say that I am counting my blessings that the newspaper was unable to attend and so were our wonderful neighbors Wally and Nicki. I had invited them the day before, thinking they might enjoy having an unusual way to start their 4th Celebration. The Mayor was also a "no-show" and before the program was over, I'm betting that Representative Brian Nelson was wishing he had found something else to do! Although the chapel was filled with many faces that I have never seen before, Mr. Nelson was our only dignitary this year.
Glitch #2: Mr. Nelson stopped at the local 7-Eleven store for his morning coffee and innocently carried it into the building with him. (It was only 8:15 after-all) I'm told that someone stopped him at the door and confiscated his coffee.
Glitch #3: Actually, GLITCH is not nearly a strong enough word. The war veteran who was supposed to deliver a 5 minute (emphasis, FIVE) inspirational patriotic spotlight went on for FIFTEEN miinutes. As if that weren't bad enough, he took the opportunity to climb onto his soap box and expound upon how corrupt our govenment has become, including topics such as Gun Control; Freedom of Speech, commenting that we have become so worried about being "Politically Correct" that if a person speaks his mind he runs the risk of being called a bigot! Don't worry, he didn't leave out our Founding Fathers never intending for us to pay income tax or to experience big government. He also expressed his disgust and paranoia that the govenment knows our every move! Those are just the high-lights! I got so nervous and angry that I stared into my lap for the final 9 minutes or so----but not before I stole a peek at Representative Nelson. He too had lowered his head and was staring at his lap!

I forgot to mention that I was sitting up front with the choir. The poor sister who was playing background music for his "oration" leaned over a couple of times and whispered loudly to me, "Can't you do something?" My butt was glued to my seat and I got so dizzy with fear and frustration that if I had thought of some wonderful way to stop the train wreck, I probably would have passed out with any attempt to stand up!

Finally he finished and gratefully, the next item on the program was a group of 12 children who marched around the chapel waving flags while the choir sang, "You're a Grand Old Flag". When we finished with a flourish, Betsy Ross, complete in a costume I made just for the occasion, made a grand entrance carrying an old 13 star flag and hollering, "Yes, she certainly is a Grand Old Flag!" Everyone was enthralled and my good friend Donna who was sitting next to me whispered, "Thank Heaven for Betsy, She has saved the day!" And she did! Those who had enjoyed the "bash the government speech" were relishing the icing on the cake and those who had probably been ready to walk out in protest were thankfully distracted by her wonderful performance and interesting information about her role in history. I have a whole new love and appreciation for my friend Terry who, at least for me, salvaged what was doomed to be a disastrously, memorable event.
We did witness a miracle of sorts however. Remember how I mentioned that we planned for 130 people? Well, as observant ward members quickly threw up extra tables in every spare inch of space, I asked the committee member who had taken care of all the food how short we were going to be. Her adult son who was helping, along with her husband remarked, "Guess we better pray for a repeat of the Loaves and Fishes story." "Get Busy on that," I ordered. When the last committee member was fed, we had 1/2 bag of pancake mix left and about 1 quart of orange juice! If Brian Nelson had stuck around for breakfast, I would have sacrificed my sausage for him. As it is, I think I will send him a "Thank You" note and include a gift certificate to Starbucks!