Monthly Community Suppers The 15th of every month

Free to All 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Call/email for reservations

Dear Friends, Words can’t begin to express my appreciation for everything you have done to help me during these last weeks. All the delicious food, the many rides

to the doctors even my vehicle emissions test! Your prayers, cards, flowers, calls and visits brightened my days. We are truly blessed in this Church to have such

caring friends. Marge Griswold, and Howard too

A monthly publication of the Somers Congregational Church, UCC Gathered in Somers, Connecticut, March 15, AD 1727 Volume 286 Number 2

The Reverend Dr. Barry Cass, Pastor

The First Sunday of each month is Name Badge Sunday!

Be known! Wear your Name Badge.

The Celebration of Confirmation was held last month and eleven young people were brought into the

Church Membership. Our new Members are as follows: Veronika Bedard, Corey Brown, Anna Conley, Owen Foye, James Harland, Cassandra

Holmes, Megan Jewell, Kyle McCahey, Madison Renaud, Marissa Savona and Eric Wheeler.

Church Email Addresses:

Barry Cass - bcass@somerscongregational.org Janet Bergeron/Church Office – somerscong@somerscongregational.org Liz Scanlon - lscanlon@somerscongregational.org Jacqueline Nappi - jnappi@somerscongregational.org Barbara Anderson – careroom@somerscongregational.org

Website: www.somerscongregational.org

I talked with some people the other day who were in the office wing of our building for the first time. They were exclaiming, as so many people do, about how welcoming and light the lobby is, how beautiful the windows and feel of room 206 and how great it must be to work in such a space. They were, of course, right. Now that the restoration work has been completed in the Bugbee and Office wings

of the building we do have a top notch, welcoming and useable space. Being in and out of the building pretty much every day we can take what we have for granted. But I do stop and think now and then about how fortunate we all are to have received the facilities we have from the people who have gone before us. In making sure future generations would have adequate space for worship, education, ministry, mission, outreach and parking they have given us a marvelous gift. We are also fortunate to have had a Finance Board that thoughtfully prepared for the “what if” of a catastrophe we did not want to think about. There foresight in making sure we were insured against a loss we hoped would never happen, but did in fact overtake us on January 1, 2012, has meant that the building of the new Meeting House has been less of a nightmare than it could have been. I do not pretend to know or to understand all the ins and outs of our insurance coverage, but I can testify to the fact that we were well covered and for that we can thank the Finance Board. Life after the fire has also been made less of a nightmare by the fact that past members of the Board of House and Grounds kept good, clear records of purchases of major items through the years. They also had a pretty complete photographic archive of the facilities and its contents. We were able claim contents that we might have forgotten had we not seen the pictures of them. The hour is approaching when it will be our turn to build on the work of the generations that have gone before us. Everyone has worked hard in the past fifteen months, pulled together well and helped as we have recovered from the fire and moved ahead. In the next couple of months we will be challenged to help create the base for future generations as we come together to support the building project and help the Meeting House take shape. These are exciting times. I am grateful that I have lived through the past fifteen months with all of you. I am grateful for the way the congregation and community have responded to needs as they arose and how we have been able to focus on the important task of building our fourth Meeting House. The journey has challenged us to be sure, and will continue to challenge us for the foreseeable future, but the community we have built is strong, the commitment we have made will secure our future. Every day we prove that even though the building is gone, the church remains and is strong and faithful. Peace - - - Barry

New Church Bell Dedication Since the fifth century, church bells have been calling people to worship. Until January 1, 2012, the Somers Congregational Church’s bell had been ringing for over 150 years in the center of Somers. The ringing of our third meeting house’s bell has been missed by many in our congregation and community. It’s exciting to announce that a new bell will be ringing soon in the center of town. In April, you will have an opportunity to view our new bell right before it’s hoisted into place where it will rest in the new church.

Because our 1850 bell was not salvageable after the fire, the Artifacts Committee wanted to find bell manufacturers that could create a replica. David Morton took on that project and organized a presentation by two vendors. After the presentation, the Artifacts Committee recommended to the Building Committee to select the Verdin Company to create our new bell.

On March 1st, a new bronze replica bell was cast in Cincinnati, Ohio by the Verdin Company. It includes the raised “Arm and Hammer” design that made our original 1850 bell special from other bells of its era. The design is surrounded by the Latin motto “Percute Dolce Cano” meaning “Strike me and I will sing sweetly”.

Sweetly our new bell will sing for many generations to come!

We will be celebrating the dedication of our new bell during the second week of April. The exact date and time will be posted on our website as soon as they are available. The Verdin Company will be on hand to unveil their handiwork with everyone in attendance. Bring your cameras because this will be the only time that you’ll have the opportunity to get a “close up” look at the bell.

Here’s the exciting part…following a short dedication service, you can watch the new church bell as it’s hoisted by a crane into what will eventually be the bell tower. Following the installation of the bell, refreshments will be served in Room 206 in the Church office building.

Please join us for this momentous occasion! If you have any questions, please contact Janice Morton by calling 860-749-5980 or email janice@integritymartialarts.com

. Weekly Scripture Readings for April 2013

April 7 (Communion Sunday) Second Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27-32 Psalm 118:14-29 Revelation 1:4-8 John 20:19-31 April 14 Third Sunday of Easter Acts 9:1-20 Psalm 30 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19 April 21 Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 9:36-43 Psalm 23 Revelation 7:9-17 John 10:22-30 April 28 Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 11:1-8 Psalm 148 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35

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Somers Congregational

United Church of Christ Free Community Supper

5:00 to 6:30 P.M. Monday, April 15th

EVERYONE is invited to share this free Community Supper and to enjoy the fellowship and good time. Bring your family and friends. Let us know you are coming by signing up at church, or calling or e-mailing the church office. We are also looking for hosts for the months to come. The church provides all the funds for the meal and all the supplies needed. Hosts plan, cook and serve the meal. If you are interested, or want more information, please talk to Barry.

2013 Chili Cook-Off – Somers Pleasant View May 4th Once again this year Champ’s Place will be receiving a substantial donation of food through the Annual Chili Cook-Off. As in the past, the Cook-Off will be held at Pleasant View on South Road and will feature hundreds of chili chefs and other booths and displays. A portion of the money raised will be contributed to the Somers Volunteer Fire Department. There are thousands of attendees and everyone is urged to make a contribution to Champ’s Place as part of the cost of admission. Each non-perishable food item brought to the Cook-Off earns the contributor a discount in admission cost. CHAMP’S PLACE NEEDS HELP during the Chili Cook-Off. Volunteers are needed to receive the food items, sort them and load them onto a truck. With thousands of food items being received, many hands are

needed. Volunteers are also needed back at the church to help unload the food from the truck and get it into Camp’s Place. Call the Church Office, or Sign-Up at church to help. The Chili Cook-Off is the single largest food collection Camp’s Place has each year. We are grateful for their support and count on members and friends of the church to support their efforts as well.

__________________________________________ The Book Group Tuesday, April 9th – 7:00 P.M. -- Open to EVERYONE! April's book is Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Stone A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life—mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead “checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.

 

Altar Flowers for the Month of April

April 7th - OPEN

April 14th - OPEN

April 21st - OPEN

April 28th – OPEN

It is our custom that altar flowers are donated in memory of or in honor of loved ones

Arrangements can be bought or hand-done An individual or a group of individuals can donate them AND There can be more than one bouquet on any given Sunday

Sunday School Calendar

April 7th Sunday School / Communion

(Grades 6-8 stay in Church) April 14th Sunday School April 21st Sunday School April 28th Sunday School Note: Please remember to put your child’s name and parent’s envelope number on each Sunday School envelope, to be sure our collector attributes these gifts to your giving account. If you need more Sunday School envelopes, please see me or each classroom has extra too.

The next teacher’s meeting will be on Sunday, May 19th at 9:15 a.m.

Liz Scanlon, Christian Education Director

Vacation Bible School 2013 ~ Kingdom Rock ~ July 8th – 12th (Please watch for possible date change due to snow days the school year might incur)

Preregister Now!

Kingdom Rock – Where Kids Stand Strong for GOD 9:00 a.m. to Noon Ages 4 – 12 years

$5.00 a Child / $20.00 Family max For  more  information  you  can  email  Liz  at  the  following  address:  

lscanlon@somerscongregational.org  

 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Worship at Blair Manor

On the Second Tuesday of each month our church is responsible for a worship service at Blair Manor. Led by our pastor, worship begins at 10:30 A.M. and lasts about a half hour. We are fortunate that Anne Larson accompanies the group in singing two hymns most months. Other members and friends of the church are more than welcome to join us, to be a part of the service and to add voices to the singing. If you have any questions, talk to Barry.

The next Blair Manor worship service will be Tuesday, April 9th at 10:30 A.M.

Spring Photography Show May 13-25

The Music and Arts Committee is sponsoring its second annual Photography show, on display May 13-25. The title of the Show is, “Somers Sees a New Season,” and will feature (but not be limited to) photos of Somers and the surrounding area as it is reborn again this spring. Although last year’s show was in the fall, we moved this year’s to the spring for several reasons. Most important, the theme of the show resonates with the idea of our church being reborn from last year’s fire. Second, it will give photographers a chance to portray our town and area from a very different perspective than our fall show. Third, we foresaw that next fall could be filled with special events as our construction nears completion. We had over 40 photos entered last fall and hoping for even more this spring as we now have more wall space on which to exhibit. All participants are welcome to submit up to four photos by Wednesday, May 8. Information and entry forms are available in the lobby after church, at the church office, and on the church website. We will again offer prizes for the favorite photos, by vote of those who view the exhibit.

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New Artist-in-Residence Program at Somers Congregational

On March 19, the Church Council voted to accept the recommendation of the Music and Arts Board to name Christa Rakich as Artist-in-Residence for the Somers Congregational Church.         As   Artist-­‐in-­‐Residence,   she   will   working   with   the   Music   and   Arts   Board   to   connect   us   other  concert  musicians  of  all  kinds  for  concerts,  lead  educational  efforts  about  our  organ,  perform  concerts  at  no  charge  at  our  church,  advise  about  services  and  events  for  our  church,  and  do  exchange  concerts  with  other  artists  at  reduced  fees.      For  this  and  other  suggested  activities,  she  would  have  the  title  of  Artist-­‐in-­‐Residence  and  access  to  practice  on  our  new  organ.     Christa   is   a   concert   and   recording   organist   who   directs   the   music   program   at   St.   Mark   the  

Evangelist   Church   in   West   Hartford,   CT.     She   has   also   served   on   the   faculties   of   Westminster   Choir  College,  Brandeis  University,  and   the  University  of  Connecticut,   and  as  Assistant  University  Organist  at  Harvard.     Her   Artist-­‐in-­‐Residencies   have   included   the   University   of   Pennsylvania,   St   Paul‘s   Episcopal  Church  in  Brookline,  and  First  Lutheran  Church  in  Boston.    As  a  Fulbright  Scholar,  Christa  studied  for  two  years  with  Anton  Heiller  at  the  Hochschule  für  Musik  in  Vienna,  Austria.      She  holds  Bachelor’s  degrees  in  Organ   and   German   from  Oberlin   College.     After   receipt   of   her  Master’s   degree  with   honors   from  New  England  Conservatory,  she  was  asked  to  join  the  faculty  there,  where  she  taught  for  many  years.       As   a   good   friend   of   our   organist,   Jackie   Nappi,   Christa   has   a   direct   connection   to   our   church.      Members  of   the  Organ  Committee   first  met  Christa  when   Jackie  arranged  an  afternoon  with  Christa   in  West  Hartford,  during  which  she  educated  us    (and  demonstrated  for  us  at  two  different  churches)  about  the  types  of  sounds  from  different  kinds  of  organs.      She  spent  about  four  hours  with  us,  answering  our  questions  and  talking  with  us  about  organs  and  our  search.     The  Music  and  Arts  Board   is  excited  about  working  with  Christa  and   looks   forward   to  planning  now  for  our  music  program  in  2014.    The  Board  will  be  planning  a  reception  for  Christa  later  this  spring  so  that  people  members  and  friends  of  the  church  can  meet  her.  

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Bu i l d i n g o n G e n e r a t i o n s o f C a r i n g  The  Capital  Campaign  to  rebuild  our  historic  meeting  house  has  begun!  The  Campaign’s  goal  is  to  provide  funds  for  the  changes,  requirements  and  improvements  that  we  will  need  to  see  our  congregation  grow  in  the  years  ahead.  We  have  met  with  Susan  Mitchell,  our  campaign  consultant.  She  will  be  returning  to  work  with  committee  members  in  April.  The  financial  goal  of  the  campaign  will  be  determined  once  we  have  a  final  insurance  settlement.    The  following  people  have  offered  their  time  and  expertise  to  lead  us  in  a  successful  campaign.    Leadership  Gifts  Co-­‐Chair:  Becky  Antonacci  and  George  Warner.  This  committee  leads  the  effort  to  present  opportunities  for  church  members  and  friends  of  the  church  to  make  leadership  gifts.    Commitment  Stewards:  Co-­‐Chairs,  Sara  Mulvihill  and  Rich  Mazur.    Sara  and  Rich  are  responsible  for  recruitment  of  commitment  encouragers.  Also,  they  will  plan  the  home  visits,  which  are  central  to  our  success!    Giving  Potential:    Co-­‐Chairs  Lois  Lindell  and  Sandy  Kerry.  These  dedicated  members  review  and  analyze  the  congregation  giving  potential.  They  work  closely  with  our  Pastor  and  members  of  the  Finance  Board.    Printed  Materials  and  Publicity  Chair:  Amanda  Marshall.  Amanda  has  the  responsibility  to  create  ideas  for  the  campaign  and  use  her  skills  in  the  creative  process  and  to  manage  communication  with  the  community  at  large.    Campaign  Administrator:  My  overall  responsibility  is  to  work  closely  with  the  Pastor  and  help  organize  and  manage  the  campaign  goals.  I  also  work  with  each  committee  and  reach  out  to  the  congregation.  Thank  you  for  continued  support!    John  Panto,  Campaign  Administrator  

 

Council Corner March 19, 2013 Restoration Committee. Green Construction has finished the punch list. They will

remove the propane boiler after new heating system is ready in the fall.

Insurance Update. A recent meeting was held in Hartford for further discussion

of the insurance issues. Petra is preparing additional information that will show

current market value on many of the subcontracted items now that contracts

have been signed. We are still hopeful that the insurance can be settled soon.

The Building Committee and Insurance Committee will have a joint meeting when

the insurance number is given in order to give a joint recommendation to the church council.

Building Committee. The steel has arrived and the shape of the new church can now be seen driving by on Main

Street. (see article by Mark Marshall).

Community Supper. The April community supper will be hosted by the CE Board. Looking for volunteers for May &

June. Don’t forget to sign up so food can be planned for enough people.

Building Fund. The Church Council approved funding for expenses for two additional pieces of furniture restored

by Hitchcock for $550.00 as well as the balance that will be owed to the Capital Campaign consultant of $11,250

that will be paid in 10 monthly installments after the campaign is completed in June.

Online donations. Donations to the Building Fund can be made online through the church website by credit card,

debit card or direct withdrawal of funds from your bank account.

Capital Campaign. The Capital Campaign Committee held their first meeting with our consultant, Susan Mitchell

during her visit March 6-9. (See update from John Panto).

Appointments. The Church Council appointed Deb Barry, Karen Wojcik and John Panto to the Safe Church

Committee. The council appointed the Celebration Committee: Pat Jones (Chair), Janice Morton (Church Bell

Dedication); Lisa Gay (Church Open Houses); Jo-Ann Hornyak (Church Dedication); Kim Kelly (Reception for Church

Dedication); Heather Loupe (Organ Dedication) to the Celebration Committee.

Ad in the Somers Directory published by the Somers Economic Development Commission every other year.

Council decided to take out a half page ad in the directory. We will use the theme of the Capital Campaign: “Building

On Generations of Caring”

Artist in Residence program. Bill Kirkpatrick (Chair of Music & Arts Board) presented the information on a new

position called Artist in Residence, which would be at no charge to the congregation. Church Council accepted the

recommendation of the Music & Arts Board to approve Christa Rakich, an experienced organist as Artist in

Residence for Somers Congregational Church (see separate article in Highlights).

Coffee Hour Signups. Boards and Committees were encouraged to sign up for one Sunday for their committee to

do greeting and coffee hour to assist the Reception Committee.

Internet access in the church office building and Bugbee Center: password is sccpublic599.

Questions or Comments about the new church? If you have any questions or comments about the new building,

the Building Committee still wants to hear from you (sanctuary, chancel, narthex, Pilgrim Hall, church kitchen).

Please send comments to: build@somerscongregational.org. Anne Kirkpatrick (abksomers@aol.com)

Somers Congregational Church

Building Committee – April 2013 Highlights Building Committee Members: Jim Jewell, Pat Jones, John Jones, Diane Joseph (secretary), Tom Mehl, Sara Mulvihill, Mark Marschall (Chair), Barry Cass ex-officio, Anne Kirkpatrick ex-officio. Donna Hanks is working with us as Treasurer. The Building Committee continues to work with our architects, Clohessy Harris & Kaiser, LLC (www.chkarch.com) and our construction manager, Petra Construction (www.petraconstruction.com) as we enter into the steel erection phase of our new Meeting House. The past few weeks have also been a period of transition as Hugh Schweitzer, our primary architect, announced he was leaving CHK Architects on March 14th to assume a new position with the Town of West Hartford, CT. While Hugh was a significant factor in the selection of CHK Architects over a year ago, the depth of their firm was a major factor. Fortunately, Steve Hine has been supporting Hugh on our project and he will assume Hugh’s responsibilities. No time is a good time to lose a major team player, but the design phase is essentially complete and the construction phase is well underway. Hugh will provide assistance to Steve during the next month to ensure a smooth transition. We wish Hugh much success as he opens a new chapter in his career. He will be missed and the project team will move forward. After Hop River Concrete poured 70 yards of concrete on February 15th to form the new slab, everything was covered up with plastic sheeting and thermal blankets to protect it so it could cure. The target date of March 6th to begin the erection of steel was not met by QSR Steel Corporation due to their own delays which Petra Construction assured the committee they will make up. The delay in steel delivery will be navigated around and the next critical path item (exterior wall) will commence on time in early April. Petra Construction will work with QSR Steel Corporation to make up lost time at the subcontractor’s expense. The end date of the project will not be further compromised by this delay. You may recall the project did suffer a 6 day delay when QSR Steel Corporation could not get materials into their plant after Winter Storm Nemo. This led to their failure to meet the original March 1st delivery date. Well, on March 12th, QSR Steel Corporation delivered the first truck of steel to the site along with a crane to unload it. The long awaited steel delivery finally arrived. The next day, a larger crane was brought on site to begin lifting steel into place. Since then, there has been steady progress to erect the steel and the skeleton of the building is rising from the ground. Once the horizontal and vertical sections are installed, steel decking will be installed on the Sanctuary level and Balcony level and concrete will be poured to form the base for the floors. We recently learned the bell will be placed on its platform in the steelwork for the steeple in the April 5 – 15 time frame. Petra has been working with The Verdin Company in Cincinnati, Ohio to develop the plan to install the bell and build an enclosure to properly protect it once installed. The Verdin Company cast our new 990-lb church bell on Friday, March 1st at 2:00 pm as planned. Fourteen people viewed the live stream at the Church Offices and Stephanie Roig actually was able to be present in the audience at Verdin to witness the event. Photographs of the casting along with a videotape will be sent to the church for our archives. The plan was to “break the mold” on March 8th and polish the bell w/b March 11th. Pictures will also be provided of these finishing steps for our archives. The bell will be ready to travel to its new home atop our church when Petra is ready for it.

Petra Construction and Avery Construction had another meeting on site with CT DOT this month to get the necessary approvals to run the new electrical feed lines from the CL&P utility pole on the south side of the bank. Since then, the DOT permit has been received and recorded with the town and the work began on March 26th.

The Building Committee accepted the recommendations from Petra Construction on the following nine bid packages this month: Bid Package 2 - Division 8 - Wood Windows awarded to Pella Windows & Doors of Monroe, CT Bid Package 2 - Division 8 - Metal Doors, Frames, Wood Doors and Finish Hardware awarded to Kelley Bros. of Trumbull, CT Bid Package 2 - Division 9 – Plastering awarded to Thomas Cardillo Plastering of Bethel, CT Bid Package 2 - Division 4 - Mortar, Unit Masonry, and Cut Stone; Stone Masonry awarded to Connecticut Stone Erectors of Granby, CT and Unit Masonry awarded to B.W. Dexter of Danielson, CT

Bid Package 2 - Division 7 - Asphalt Shingle and EPDM Roofing Systems awarded to Weather Tite Inc. of Plainville, CT Bid Package 2 - Division 6 – Architectural Woodwork awarded to Petra Construction Corporation Mill Shop of North Haven, CT Bid Package 2 - Division 9 – Acoustical Ceilings awarded to Central Conn. Acoustics Inc. of Wallingford, CT Bid Package 2 - Division 9 - Tile Work, Resilient Flooring, Broadloom Carpeting, and Wood Strip Flooring awarded to Dalene Flooring of South Windsor, CT Bid Package 2 - Division 8 - Custom Wood Windows and Stained Glass awarded to Stained Glass Resources of Hampden, MA for the stained glass and Kingsland Company of Norfolk, CT for the custom windows. Since receiving the award, Kingsland has withdrawn from their award which also affected Stained Glass Resources. Petra Construction is currently working with alternate bidders to present another recommendation to the Building Committee. The bid package for pews is nearing the point where Petra will make their recommendation to the committee. We are currently looking at churches that have pews made from the two bidders being considered. We have received an adjustable sample pew from one of the vendors so we can “test” a pew for comfort with different angle settings for the back and seat. The committee is also working with the two bidders to get bids on the Chancel furniture which is being replaced as part of the contents settlement with the insurance company. There may be economic benefit in addition to matching appearance if the same contractor is used. The committee and members of the Technology Committee have worked with Clayton Acoustics this month to finalize the audio/visual specifications so this element of CHK Architects’ design can be finalized and turned over to Petra Construction to put out for bid. In the next few weeks, we will do the same for the security design so we can finalize the bid package for that as well. Richards Fowkes & Co. has provided the following February 22nd update on our organ that they refer to as the Opus 21 Project: PIPES: They are slightly more than 50% complete with the pipe work for the organ. They are currently working on the façade pipes (the visible pipes) and will soon finish casting all of the remaining metal for the completion of the pipes. The most recent stop completed is the 8’ Oboe. Completing this work is an important step because of the pre-voicing that occurs in the shop prior to delivery. When key personnel return from their Cleveland project, they will begin giving the pipes their initial speech and sound. At this time they project they will finish the voicing work in Cleveland around mid-March. As you can imagine, creating all of the pipes is one of the biggest tasks in the entire building process. WINDCHESTS: The windchests are also one of the most time intensive elements of an organ project. The chests for the Great and Swell are well underway and a little ahead of schedule. The manual chest was 40% complete the end of February. The pedal chest will follow the completion of the keyboard chests. Their goal is to have all of the windchests ready to mount in the organ case once it is standing in the shop so the action work, pipe racking, and winding of the chests can all proceed on schedule. ACTION: Building the action involves the creation of many thousands of parts that are then assembled at various stages throughout the entire project. At this point the individual parts for the stop and key/pedal action are being produced and are well underway. Having all the pieces assembled in advance allows for a smooth completion of the action once the case is standing and the windchests are in place. BENCH: The bench seems insignificant but since it involves a height adjustment mechanism it does requires both woodworking and metal fabrication, and final staining/finishing in coordination with the case. All of the parts, metal and wood, are completed and will be assembled at a later point in the project when the exterior of the instrument is completed. CASE: The casework will begin in mid-March. This project will take 8-10 weeks to complete for the external case and the swell box. Additional work will be required internally once the case is erected in the shop. KEYBOARDS: The manufacturing of the keyboards will begin in March. This task will take approximately 6-8 weeks to complete. Another update will be provided in March. On March 4th, our insurance company’s adjustor sent our insurance agent a response to Petra Construction’s twenty-one items that differentiate Petra’s estimate from his estimate to rebuild the Meeting House as it was prior to the fire. A face-to-face meeting to review this document was held on March 15th in Hartford, CT with members of the church, our insurance agent, and the insurance company’s adjustor present. It was decided to review the adjustor’s numbers and his position with Petra Construction’s estimator in order to prepare a timely response that includes input from our construction manager, architect, and consulting engineers. Our focus continues to be on factual information from both sides as the means to reach a settlement. Petra Construction now has actual bid information that can be shared to justify

our numbers. While being close to a settlement, there is still a difference in the estimates which we feel we can work with our Insurance Committee to justify to the insurance company to add to the final figure. Finally, the pace of the project has definitely increased. By the number of bid packages awarded this month and the few that remain to be awarded, Petra Construction and CHK Architects have been very busy reviewing submittals, shop drawings, and completing all the necessary work behind the scenes to get materials on order so everything comes together on schedule. We are excited Spring is here and the pace has ramped up and visible progress is being made every day. It certainly is a welcome sight to see our new Meeting House being built at 599 Main Street. The Building Committee welcomes any questions or information you wish to share as well as any pictures you have of our new construction. Send them along via our e-mail address: build@somerscongregational.org Respectfully submitted, Mark Marschall ____________________________________________________________________ This Month Champ's Place, our church's food pantry, is seeking donation of nonperishable food, and is especially in need of Jelly of call kinds for making sandwiches and Juice boxes that can be put in the snack packs for kids. Kathy Moulton and Kit Devlin, Champ’s Place coordinators, also remind us that monetary donations are always welcome. The money donated can go a long way in purchasing needed items at Foodshare. For instance, $120 at Foodshare can buy 1,400 lbs. of food! Our money used at Foodshare has more purchasing power than it does when we make our own purchases locally for Champ’s Place. Checks made out to "Somers Congregational Church" with "Champ's Place" on the memo line can be sent to the church or dropped in the offering plate any week. Food can be brought to worship on Sunday or dropped off at the office during open hours. Thanks for being a part of this important ministry of our church! _______________________________________________________________________________

The 2013 Feinstein Challenge: March1-April 20, 2013 HELP FIGHT HUNGER IN OUR AREA

For the 16th year in a row Alan Feinstein is giving away $1 million dollars to help fight hunger in the U.S. The Feinstein Challenge has become the greatest grass roots campaign ever to fight hunger in the U.S. Your donation of food or money makes YOU a partner in this campaign. The more you give, the more we receive from the Feinstein Challenge. We will track any food and money that we collect for our food pantry-Champ’s Place March1-April 30. If you are making a donation by check, please make your check to the Somers Congregational Church and note in the memo line Feinstein Challenge. At the end of the campaign we will submit our report to the Feinstein Foundation. The best new is that whatever food and money we collect and whatever matching funds we receive stay right here to benefit people in our area! Won’t YOU help fight hunger in Somers?

 MEMORIAL      EASTER      LILIES    Name  of  Donor(s)   Memorial  Intention  

       The  Bothwell  Family   In  Loving  Memory  of  Henry  &  Barbara  Howe  

    In  Loving  Memory  of  Anna  and  Michall  Ganley       In  Loving  Memory  of  Sherwood  and  Mae  Bothwell  

Bob  &  Margaret  Festi   In  Memory  of  Loved  Ones  Grace  Horka   In  Memory  of  Joseph  Horka  and  Rachel  Quill  

Janet  Bergeron  &  Richard  Landry  Families   In  Loving  Memory  of  Paul  Michael  Bergeron       In  Loving  Memory  of  Albert  F.  Bergeron       In  Loving  Memory  of  Robert  Landry  

Women's  Fellowship   In  Loving  Memory  of  All  Past  Members  Kathy  &  Stan  Lombard   In  Loving  Memory  of  Family  &  Friends  Aland  Faith  Gelinas   In  Memory  of  Loved  Ones  

Robert  &  Patricia  Mihancki   In  Memory  of  John  &  Alice  Remor       In  Memory  of  William  &  Pauline  Mihancki  

Helen  Austin  &  Family   In  Memory  of  Loved  Ones  Far  and  Near  Randy,  Heather  &  Kinsey  Loupe   In  Memory  of  Randy's  Father,  Robert  Loupe  

Melvin  and  Marilyn  Sladek  &  Family   In  Loving  Memory  of  Marie  Sladek  Pat  Jones   Mother,  Florence;  Father,  Mike;  Brother,  Ron  

    All  who  missing  Loved  Ones  Dick  &  Lois  Lindell   In  Memory  of  our  Loved  Ones  

David,  Liz  &  Brandon  Scanlon   In  Loving  Memory  of  our  Father/Grandfather,  Richard  Young  Scott  &  Donna  Hanks  &  Daughters   In  Memory  of  Loved  Ones  

B.  Glennis-­‐Hopkins   In  Memory  of  Loved  Ones  Charles  &  Claudette  Colby   In  Memory  of  Loved  Ones    Robin  &  Raymond  Russell   In  Loving  Memory  of  Bob  &  Lois  Russell  

Mazur  Family   Easter  Blessings  Joann  Hornyak     In  Loving  Memory  of  Allen  Hornyak  

 The  Zdebski  Family   In  Loving  Memory  of  Loved  Ones    George  &  Shirley  Warner   Everett  &  Charlotte  Elliott    //    Clayton  &  Helen  Warner  

 Trish  Endweiss   In  Memory  of  Family  and  Friends  

Message from the Church Office –

We are in the middle of updating al l of our Member, Mail ing and Email Lists, so please bear with us as

we are consolidated numerous information. So i f you have encountered problems in the past, we are

hopeful that al l corrections wil l be up-to-date. Please note that postage has increased and i f you wish

to receive the Highlights via electronical ly please cal l the Church Off ice @ (860) 763-4021 and ask for

Janet. Thnx!

Deadline for next Highlights is April 17, 2013

Missions Thanks You for Supporting “Soldier On” “Soldier On” homeless veterans continue to need gently used: Men and women’s wool socks. New flip flops or shower shoes. Adult sweaters, warm coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, & boots. New bed pillows, twin bed sheets, blankets and comforters. Bath towels, hand towels, washcloths and new alarm clocks. Dishes, glassware, silverware, pots, pans and small appliances. All toiletries. Kitchen and bathroom cleaning supplies. Walmart gift cards, movie passes, DVD’s games and books.

www.wesoldieron.org    VA  Homeless  Shelter           Contact  Kim  Kelley  @  (860)  265-­‐2098  Leeds,  Massachusetts           if  you  need  items  picked  up  at  your  home.    

As you are spring cleaning, gett ing ready for the Church Tag Sale, or moving . . . keep your missions committee in mind. We reach out to local organizations on a regular basis that are in need of gently used clothing and household i tems. Champs Place, Department of Children & Famil ies’ Covenant to Care Program, The Network (Against Domestic Abuse), Friendship Kitchen, Loaves & Fishes, Soldier On, and Youth Challenge -- Al l benefi ts from items you no longer need. Donate to the Church Tag Sale or ask Members of Missions before you visit the dump. Thanking you in advance for your generosity!

The United Church of Christ offers 5 opportunities to support Our Church’s Wider Mission. Our church’s mission board chooses 3 of these to support each year. Basic Support is a monthly donation to provide funding for the UCC conferences, national and global ministries. This helps our church provide resources for our Christian Education programs.

The Christmas Fund. An envelope is available Christmas Eve and your donation helps provide pensions and health premium supplementation to low-income retired clergy.

The 3rd special mission is One Great Hour of Sharing. We choose this collection each year to include your children in the process of giving to help other children. The Sunday school kids received a giving bank along with a calendar that asks them to put one or two coins into the bank for certain items and advantages we all take for granted. For example: Every day, 3,000 kids under age 5 years old die from diarrhea’s dehydration, malnutrition and weakened immunity. GIVE 2 COINS FOR EACH CHILD IN YOUR SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS. 3 years after the earthquake in Haiti, almost 4000,000 people still live in camps with one shower for every 1,200 people and one latrine for every 77 people. GIVE ONE COIN FOR EACH TOILET AND EACH SHOWER IN OUR HOME. The calendar has two week’s worth of giving.

We thank the congregation for donating to this special mission. It is not too late to turn in your giving bank or envelope with a donation. Checks can be made out to “Somers Congregational Church” with OGHS in the memo line.

**SAVE THE DATE**

Annual BIG Tag Sale BUGBEE CENTER -UPSTAIRS

AT

SOMERS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Saturday May 11, 2013 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Sunday May 12, 2013 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Donation Drop Off Saturday, May 4th (9am-3pm), Sunday May 5th (12pm-5pm)

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, May 6th - May 8th (9am-7pm)

(We regret that we cannot accept any clothes, large exercise equipment, computers, printers, large outdated televisions, record albums, encyclopedias, or items weighing more than 50 lbs. with the exception of furniture).

We need your help the week prior to the sale and/or the day of the tag sale.

Jobs include sorting, tagging, pricing and testing donations. We will be working days and evenings all week.

We are also in need of a separate clean-up crew after the sale. If you would like to find out more on how you can help – please call:

Jill Conley 749.8687 Dorian Jones 749.1946

FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE INVITED TO SHOP AT OUR

“BEAUTIFUL THINGS” PRESALE ON OUR FIRST DROP OFF DAY SATURDAY MAY 4th FROM 9AM-3PM

**ALL NEW MERCHANDISE FOR SALE**

Sunday Worship: 8:15 A.M. & 10:00 A.M. Office Hours (M-Th.): 9:00 A.M. TO 3:00 P.M. & on Friday: 9:00 A.M. TO 12:00 P.M Telephone: (860) 763-4021 Fax: (860) 763-5146 E-mail: somerscong@somerscongregational.org Web site: www.somerscongregational.org Senior Pastor: The Rev. Dr. Barry Cass Administrative Assistant Janet Bergeron Organist/Music Director: Jacqueline Nappi CE Director: Liz Scanlon Care Room: Barbara Anderson-

Somers Congregational Church 599 Main Street, PO Box 295 Somers, CT 06071

Address Service Requested

U.S. Postage Paid Non-Profit Org. Permit Number 334 Enfield, CT 06082