We had a good turnout for our first-Sunday-of-the-month breakfast potluck. Our special guest was Mrs. Nora Blackburn, whose generous donation of land to Girdwood Chapel has enabled us to pay down our mortgage debt!
During the service that followed, she was presented two gifts of appreciation. She then spoke to the congregation briefly about her memories of Alaska, including Girdwood Chapel.
Rev. Walt Hays followed with a message that described the history of not only Girdwood Chapel's beginnings, but of the Methodist Church itself.
After the service, Mrs. Blackburn traveled to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Her behind-the-scenes visit was arranged by Tom Yaeger, operations manager at the AWCC and husband of Lenore Yaeger, our chapel's Steering Committee chairperson. She writes:
"(Tom) arranged the tour. It went very, very well. Mona had an absolutely great time watching the brown bears, who were out. She was then able to feed the Sitka deer babies, a porcupine and the moose. She really, really loves moose who apparently really, really love bananas and feeding them I think was her highlight. It was a very good day. Mona was truly gracious and humble."
To learn more about Mrs. Blackburn, pick up a copy of last week's Turnagain Times. A reporter from the newspaper attended the potluck and service. Hopefully, we'll be back in the Turnagain Times again this week!
** Please click on the "Scrapbook" page for photos from the potluck & service.**