Commanders' Note

Awana Clubbers and Families: Awana starts on Wednesday evening September 12th at 6 pm with SUPPER served from 5:15 to 5:45 pm. Awana is ready to kickoff another great year. This year we are making some key changes that we feel will help families who want to participate. First of all we are starting and ending each evening a half an hour earlier. We will begin at 6 pm and end each evening at 7:30 pm. With the earlier start we are going to offer a warm meal from 5:15 to 5:45 pm with an express meal served after that until 5:55 pm for those who wish to enjoy. We are doing this in response to having the kids tired the next day for school because of getting to bed later than usual. The meal is being provided for all family members. With the busy schedules we all have we encourage everyone to take a few minutes to sit down and take a breather. The menu will be simple such as sloppy joes or soup & homemade bread with finger veggies and a cookie. Once supper is over you are free to stay & help or go about your evening & let the kids to us until 7:30. Another special feature that is being offered this year is a 15 passenger van which will be available to bring kids to and from Bloomfield for AWANA each evening starting September 26th. The van will be picking up and dropping off the kids from the north end of the Pamida parking lot. The van will leave the parking lot at 5:25 pm and return promptly after AWANA ends. Visit with us and let us know if you wish to use this service. The first evening on September 12th is going to be our Roundup and will begin with supper being offered at 5:15 and club events at 6:00. This first meeting will not be a normal night as we try to get organized and we anticipate it ending before 7:30. We will be registering, going through procedures, reviewing handbooks, introducing leaders and answering questions. Therefore, we encourage all parents who can stay to do so. The AWANA program has grown over the years and so have its needs. Because of this we will have various sign up sheets for different ways to volunteer and help out if you want to. The ways we may need help are on Wednesday evenings with club activities, providing treats or decorating for special events, helping coordinate special events and picking up kids that need rides. The church takes offerings throughout the year during church services for the financial needs of the club. As the club has grown, donations in a monetary form, or now in the form of ingredients for the meals are welcome. If you wish to sponsor a scholarship for a child that may need help in our club for books, materials and uniforms, we welcome that also. We ask that you bring with you any books that were not completed last year. This will help us insure that your child starts off this year at the proper spot. We will need to do the same with uniforms, vests or shirts at this time also. With this letter you will find a card(s) that we would like for you to fill out and bring as well. This has key information for each child. You will notice we have asked for phone numbers and emails this year. We would like this only for the purpose of contacting you in case of an emergency or cancellation of an evening's activities. We hope to see you all there ready to learn about the Lord and have fun. Please call Chris Payne @ 675-3692 or Brian Knapp @ 929-3554 with questions.