October 20, 2017

Oct Parent's Night Out

Holy Cross held their second Parents Night Out (PNO) on Friday October 20th. It was another great opportunity for the youth of Holy Cross to spend time and learn from adults within the church. The kids started off by eating dinner together. Then they participated in stations that included crafts and hands on activities. As it was Autumn & near Halloween, they made paper fall suncatchers as well as monster puppets. They also had the chance to make & race paper airplanes. A special treat for the kids included one of the adults bringing robots. The kids wound down the evening with a movie and snack.

Parent's night out is always the third Friday of the month and we started it to not only give Parent's a "date night" but also as a fellowship event for our youth. They love spending time together and we are only too happy to make it happen!

October 14, 2017

New Prayer Garden

A hale and hearty group of Holy Cross ‘Ground Force’ volunteers arrived as usual Saturday morning to not only rake, weed and clean, but also to place the finishing planting touches on our transformed Prayer Garden. Placed adjacent to our Memorial Garden, congregants and visitors now have a lovely, peaceful area just outside the chapel to spend alone in prayer and reflection.

As you can see there are new stone paths circumventing the garden where previously there were roses struggling for lack of sun. The roses have been ‘re-homed’ into different beds around the property and the Prayer Garden now will entice visitors as one takes a seat on any of the benches, both donated by and dedicated to lovingly remembered congregants of Holy Cross. The scent of freshly planted rosemary and lavender will also assist in creating a most meditative environment.

A tip of the hat to Paul Zimmerman for heading the project, Darren Meyer for laying out the design, Cam Lawrence for her lovely plant selection, Ben Davis for assembling all the benches, Michael Cece for donating mulch and all the volunteers who gave up a sizable chunk of their Saturday to plant and mulch.

Check out the before and after photos below.

October 14, 2017

Kids Choir at Benson Hall

On Saturday Oct 14 our Children's Choir went to Benson Hall to serenade the residents. Benson Hall is part of White Oak of Tryon which is an Independent and Assisted Living facility in Tryon. Our Children's Choir is led by Jean Moore who is a member of our parish and does a wonderful job with the kids. They often sing on Sunday Morning's during service but many at Benson Hall cannot easily leave the building so we went to them. We also do a regular Sunday Eucharist at Benson Hall and so having our Children's Choir sing there was only natural.

October 08, 2017

White Oak Cocktail Party

Foyers - - It’s not just about the food!  At the same time that the tornado hit downtown Tryon on October 8 the Orchids foyer group (Liz Beam, Lucy and Tim Brannon, Eddie Hall, Barrie and Donna Heinzenknecht and Greg Wright and Peter Franklin) hosted a unique gathering.  In lieu of the traditional foyer dinner at one of the members’ homes, the group decided to host a cocktail party at White Oak Manor, where Liz lives.  Liz invited all of the Holy Cross members that reside at White Oak (about 20 folks) to join the party.  The foyer group members provided hors d’oeuvres and beverages and even on that stormy afternoon we had about 30 people in attendance!  It was a wonderful evening of fellowship and reconnection with some of the folks who are no longer able to make it to church.  Although the event was not held outside as originally planned (tornado passing through!) a good time was had by all. 

	The Tornado!

October 07, 2017

Holy Cross Trekkers

Holy Cross Trekkers, AKA 2X2

Our new hiking group seeks to introduce and encourage regular engagement with the beautiful area where we live and to better appreciate the wonders of God’s creation.

On 9/23, Faith Weathington, Joe Burgess, Carol and Larry Newton, and Craig Williams went on the first monthly HCK hike. This trip took us into the Shining Rock Wilderness on the East Fork of the Pigeon River Trail up towards Shining Rock for an up and back hike of about 8.0 -8.5 miles.

On 10/7 Gail Stockdale, Faith Weathington, Carol Newton, and Craig Williams again headed towards Shining Rock, this time taking the Art Loeb trail, near where it crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a blustery day with side-blowing mist-fog from the windward side of the ridge, which the trail follows over three balds, though the leeward side was much warmer and calmer. We ended up with about a 5 mile or so loop hike.

For the next hike, we will plan to stay a bit closer to home, taking the Palmetto/Blue Wall Trail off Dug Hill Road near the back of Lake Lanier, on Saturday 11/18 (weather permitting). The first part of this trail, which passes two lakes that are part of a Nature Conservancy land trust, are moderate and follow a gravel road, with a side trip to a small waterfall. This part of the trip would be a great trip for families with kids and is about a 2.5 mile out and back. After that, the trail cuts sharply uphill through a beautiful hardwood forest to Vaughn’s Gap and over Rocky Spur, down the masterfully engineered part of the trail through the Greenville watershed to Orchard Lake Campground near Saluda, and even beyond. Hikers will be welcome to go up and back as far as desired or hike all the way to Orchard Lake, where some generous soul will (hopefully!) pick us up. Or, if others like, Craig will be glad to show hikers a short cut that follows old logging roads through the woods, past an old moonshine still site, and comes out at Rock Springs Church on Dug Hill Road, about a mile from where Craig and Jacque live on Braewick Road. Come join us for any of these monthly hikes through. Call Craig Williams 859-3124 if you are interested in going on the November hike or have ideas for other hikes. WWJD? He would walk. Thanks Be to God.

October 04, 2017

Blessing of The Animals

In a scene right out of The Vicar of Dibley, our intrepid, yet sneezing rector, Robert Ard, as well as our associate rector, Mollie Turner, performed the traditional 'Blessing of the Animals' on the Feast of St Francis directly following the 5:30pm Wednesday service on October 4th.

In the past this popular service has been held at Harmon Field, but this time the four legged parishioners congregated directly outside the front doors of the church. Despite rather severe allergies, Father Robert blessed several dogs, including Fran Callaway's enormous poodles.

Mollie Turner, also vested in cassock and surplice, turned her attention to what was probably the first horse to ascend the front walk of Holy Cross, gave her blessing, and wasn't ungrateful to see a much more manageable pair of Chihuahuas:

Mollie reported there were no fights (between the animals) and expressed her relief that no snakes were in attendance! In the end our furry members gave an enthusiastic paws up (because they don't have thumbs) for this traditional service held during a golden autumn evening.

October 01, 2017

Visioning Process

On Oct 1, 2017 during the coffee hour one of our Vestry Members Larry Newton presented an update on the Parish Wide Visioning Process we've been doing. Below is a video of the update.

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