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No down time allowed with lots of summer stuff, including Bible School
Sara Clarkson
Updated: July 15, 2012 2:08PM
The first week of the no-school, no-set-schedule, summer free-for-all is always hard for this parent. I’m the kind of mom who has had her children signed up for the high school sports camps, overnight and out-of-state camps as well as local community activities from practically the moment they became available. A child with things to do and places to go is a happy child with happy parents.
The fact is that there are way too many things to do, which is why most of us have chosen to make this our home anyway. The kids can join the public pools’ swim teams, take summer school classes as well as reasonably priced swimming, tennis and golf lessons not to mention ones in music and theater. There are a huge variety of day camps and other specialty studies, too.
One of those specialty studies is vacation Bible school. The Amazing Desert Journey: A Journey with Jesus is the theme of the annual vacation Bible school which Hinsdale’s Redeemer Lutheran Church will be offering this year from June 25 through June 29, according to Paula Hillier, the church’s Christian education director. The school portion is open to pre-schoolers ages 3 and up all the way through fourth-graders. After that age, the church recruits fifth-graders and older to be volunteers and what it calls caravan leaders to help with the vacation Bible school, so there is a nice combination of children there strictly as “students” and children who are volunteering — and by extension learning to serve. All have a great time.
Pre-school children have a program tailored specifically to their attention spans and abilities while grade school children have a more involved program. Regardless, all the children really enjoy the musical aspect of the program, according to Hillier, crediting the church’s music director Jared Stellmacher with that. Vacation Bible school at Redeemer Lutheran has no fixed cost associated with it, though a suggested donation would be $10 per day per child. Also, the church will be fundraising for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Clean Water Projects, which Hillier said she felt fit in well with the desert theme of the week. vacation Bible school will run from 1 to 3:30 p.m., Hillier said, which has turned out to be a great time to offer it as many VBS students have morning summer activities and are free in the afternoons. Registration packets for volunteers and students can be found at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 139 E. First St., or you can phone (630) 323-5530.
Union Church of Hinsdale, 137 S. Garfield St., is offering Operation Overboard: Go Deep with God as its Vacation Bible School theme during the same week from 12:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. June 25 through June 29 For more information or to register, call (630) 323-4303.
Christ Lutheran Church of Clarendon Hills and Christian Church of Clarendon Hills have teamed up for years to offer vacation Bible school, which alternating years for each to host. This year is Christian Church of Clarendon Hills’ turn for the week, which runs from from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. each day June 25 through June 29.
The program that these two churches are using this year is called Sky — Everything is Possible With God. Both churches really appreciate pre-registration as it helps with planning refreshments and crafts materials. Phone Christian Church of Clarendon Hills, 5750 Holmes Ave., at (630) 323-3456 or Christ Lutheran Church at (630) 325-2220 for more information or to register.
This weekend is the Daisy Days festival in Clarendon Hills as well as the annual Daisy Dash on Sunday. Bargains abound as well. For example, this is one of the times of the year that the Clarendon Hills Public Library offers up a variety of books, CDs and DVDs at such reasonable prices they are practically free. The sale starts on Thursday to library card holders only and then is open to the public Friday through Monday.
Also the Clarendon Hills Public Library, 8 N. Prospect St., is taking its summer theme Reading is So Delicious seriously with that idea behind the two free movies being shown this month. The first is “Julie & Julia,” the mouthwatering and fun film that connects a New York food blogger determined to cook all of Julia Childs’ recipes with the famous Julia Childs (Meryl Streep) and her start in Paris. It will be shown at the library at 6:30 p.m. June 21. You will never think of butter as less than ambrosia afterwards. “Dinner at Eight”—a dinner party comedy of manners—will be at 1:30 p.m. on June 25. Refreshments will be served at both flicks.
Also at 7 p.m. June 25, the library offers cake decorating tips courtesy of local expert Jennifer Surowiec, the Jenny of Jennycakes Cakes and Sweets, 102 S. Prospect St.. The library does request advanced registration for the movies and cake decorating class by phoning (630) 323-8188.
