Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today (June 3), we had the funeral of Jane Norelli. Jane was one of our oldest St. Margaret’s parishioners: she would have been 100 in just a few weeks. She was part of our parish for many decades. And as I spoke with her family and friends, I heard lots of stories about St. Margaret’s in years past. Among which… apparently, she did not enjoy cooking (although she very much enjoyed eating!). So she left cooking for parish events to the men! The very first Shrove Tuesday dinner I came to after I arrived at St. M was still put on by the men. Mack and Donna threatened each other playfully with spoons and spatulas as they jockeyed for griddle time to prepare pancakes and sourdough flapjacks. It must be in the parish’s DNA. (I have the evidence!)
Jane was very organized. For decades she ran her high school’s alumni gatherings. Her family showed me the yearbook, where she had written comments and reminders on many of her classmates’ pictures. And, alas, the dates of some of their deaths.
That excellent organizational skill also made her useful at running parish fundraisers. Her daughter, Karen, found a newspaper clipping from the 60’s about a hat sale in which she participated. Jane LOVED hats her whole life! The clipping is a historical and nostalgic bit of St. Margaret’s history. If tech cooperates, you’ll find it on the back of this letter. Hope it brings a fond smile to your faces. And reminds us all to share the stories—serious, loving and quirky about St. Margaret’s, which is so much a part of our lives.
An announcement from Dodd Lamberton:
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem resumes its free-and-open Bach at Noon summertime concerts at St. John’s Lutheran, 5th St. at Walnut, Allentown.
Tuesday, June 10, at 12:10pm, they will perform Carissimi’s Jeptha, a drama based on the Biblical story of a faithful daughter facing her own death because her father Jephtha promised God that he would offer to God as a burnt offering the first living thing that came out of his house, after a tremendous military triumph over his enemy the Ammonites. Tragedy of tragedies: that first thing was his own daughter!
Read the story in Judges chapter 11, and come hear the remarkable work from the late Renaissance.
Praying daily with you, for our nation, our parish, and the world,
Mo. Laura
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COMING UP!
- June 19 Dine to Donate, BJ’s Brewhouse, Hamilton Crossings, 11:00-7
- June 29 9:00 service, Baptism of Teddy N.
- **Wednesdays, noonday prayer via zoom at 12:00
- **Saturdays, Seventh Day Adventist congregation, 9:00-3:00