The Carillon Page 1
Trinity Cathedral
The Carillon for September 2014
The Carillon is the monthly newsletter of Trinity Episcopal
Cathedral
Sara Calkins, Editor
www.trinitysj.org
Dean’s Desk Page 2
Canon’s Corner Page 3
News from South Sudan Page 4
Cassey Remembrances Page 5
Opportunities & Outreach Page 6
Music News Page 8
Internet Insights Page 9
Celebrations! Page 10
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Trinity Cathedral Staff The Very Rev. David Bird, Ph.D.
Dean and Rector
Mr. Michael Joyce
Music Director
Ms. Heike Merino Cathedral Administrator
Mr. John Davis Sexton
Volunteer Staff
The Rev. Canon Randolf J. Rice, J.D.
Canon Residentiary
The Rev. Canon Lance Beizer, J.D. Canon Vicar
The Rev. Jerry W. Drino, D.D. Priest Associate, Sudanese Ministries
The Rev. Lee Barford, Ph.D. Deacon
The Rev. Penelope Duckworth
Stuart Johnson Artists in Residence
Mr. Paul Archambeault
Treasurer
Graciela Velazquez Coordinator for Latino Ministries
Who was St. Peter?
There are many stories about St. Peter and he appears frequently in our gospels stories of the life of Jesus, but it is often difficult to get a full sense of who he was. Preachers often have compared the impetuous and erratic Peter before the Resur-
rection of Jesus with the brave preacher afterwards. Perhaps they are right but even if they are we would much better to look at some of the contemporary re-search which has gone into trying to get a better grasp on who he was. One excel-
lent source for this is the BBC religion section, to which I am greatly indebted for much of this material.
We know that he was seen as the leader of the apostles and that he was a fisher-man. There is a very ancient tradition that Peter’s recollections of Jesus’ ministry
are strongly reflected in the Gospel of Mark, the earliest Gospel we have and a ma-jor source of both the later Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But is there more?
First, let’s consider what it might have meant to be a fisherman in that era and kin
the area of Capernaum where Peter plied his trade. Often when we think of fisher
folk today we think of small row boats and fishing rods or the large fishing boats or
ships of today’s professional. Peter may well have been in his day and age the
equivalent rather of today’s professionals than the small fishing boat variety. The
Bible tells us that Peter was a fisherman by trade and that he lived in the village of
(Continued on page 7)
The Carillon
September 2014
Trinity
Episcopal Cathedral
“A place at God’s table for everyone”
Diocese of El Camino Reál
The Right Reverend Mary Gray-Reeves, Bishop
Dean’s Desk
Trinity Cathedral Established 1861
81 N 2nd Street, San Jose CA 95113-1205
24-hour phone 408 293-7953 Fax 408 293-4993 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.trinitysj.org
Submissions to The Carillon may be sent via e-mail to the office or to editor, Sara Calkins, at [email protected]. Please indicate “For the Carillon” in the subject line.
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This month’s look at someone commemorated in Holy Women,
Holy Men is particularly intrigu-ing—St. Matthew, the man whose name is on the first gospel
in the New Testament. It’s in-triguing because we don’t know a lot about him. We don’t even
really know if he wrote the gos-pel that bears his name. “What?” you ask. “Why not?”
Well, it’s because signing works as the author was not a custom in the ancient world. Indeed, it was more com-mon to attribute something that represented the
thoughts of someone well known to the readers to that well-known individual, irrespective of who was actually the author. Unlike today, when you run the risk not only
of offending someone by doing that but of losing a job, or even of prosecution, since such behavior would be
thought of as forgery, it simply didn’t carry that sort of onus when the gospel was produced. Hence, there are also gospels attributed to
Thomas, Philip and Peter, as well as to Mary Magda-lene—even to Judas.
So you can see the prob-
lem. Even letters can be tricky. A couple of letters attributed to Paul are in a
vocabulary and style so unlike some that we know
he wrote that it just frankly seems nearly im-possible for him to be the
actual author. I know that when I write something there are phrases, sen-
tence structures and ways of analyzing what I’m writing about that seem to reappear in everything I write. I sup-
pose that, if I concentrated, I could write in a different style, but there would be so much effort required that I’d have to ask why a writer would want to go to such lengths
not to sound like himself. The most likely explanation then is that someone either wrote those letters at Paul’s direction or simply wished to have the thoughts in them
carry his authority.
Another reason it doesn’t seem likely that the apostle
named Matthew is the person who wrote the gospel that bears his name is that, as one introduction to the gospel
puts it, the author is clearly a man who knows the Jewish religion and customs well and means to call on his listen-ers or readers to keep those customs close to their hearts,
not a typical portrait of someone whose background was that described in the gospel—a tax collector, someone much more likely to be on the outer fringe of society.
In brief, I think that, however interesting the question of
authorship may be, who actually wrote Matthew’s gospel is less important than the fact that Matthew is depicted as a tax collector, a form of work much despised by both
his fellow Jews and by his Roman employers. If you think IRS agents in our society are both feared and, at the same time, the object of derision, believe me, their position in
American culture pales by comparison to the low esteem in which they were held in Roman-ruled Israel. First of
all, they actually made their living by taking money from their own people to give it to a hated oppressor. So it
wasn’t only, as here in
America, that folks grum-bled about having to pay so much tax. It was that
the tax also was going to the wrong people. Sort of
like the WW II movies you’ve seen in which the French were always grous-
ing about collaborators. And then there is the fact
that the tax collectors did-n’t make their living through a salary. In es-
sence, they got it by ex-torting more from the people they got the tax
from than the amount of the tax itself, pocketing the dif-ference for themselves. The people Matthew collected
from, then, got hit with a double whammy. They sup-ported both him and the hated occupying authorities.
Indeed, other references to tax collectors give us even further insight. There is the wonderful story from Luke’s gospel in which Jesus compares the Pharisee who beats
his breast to proclaim how glad he is that he is not like that tax collector in the back of the room, so careful is he
(Continued on page 8)
Canon’s Corner
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News from South Sudan
Scholars for South Sudanese Awarded for the Twelfth Year
September marks the twelfth year that Trinity Cathedral
through Hope With South Sudan has awarded scholar-ships to young South Sudanese in Kenya and Uganda. Many of the some 55 students are orphans now ranging
from third grade into college. The continuing conflict in South Sudan has brought more orphans into the care of the network of foster families who are a part of the Hope
with South Sudan in East Africa. We still have ten orphans that we would like to provide scholarships for this term
and urge readers to join as a partner in this effort. Tui-tions range from $52/month for primary school to $107/month for high school including boarding. Go to
www.hopewithsouthsudan.org to see how you can par-ticipate in the matching fund of the Merrill Hancock Foun-dation through the Silicon Valley Foundation to help to
sustain this ministry now in its second decade and allow new refugee children begin their education.
South Sudanese Sports for Peace and Recon-ciliation Now Has UN Endorsement
Hope With South Sudan has become a key partner in an effort to establish a peace center in Kakuma Refugee
Camp, Kenya where nearly 130,000 South Sudanese have fled the conflict in their country. In March we invited
Bishop Mary of our Diocese along with the Bishop of the Diocese of Olympia (Washington), Trinity Church, Seattle and the American Friends of the Episcopal Church in Su-
dan/South Sudan to support the efforts of Bishop Abra-ham Yel Nhial of Aweil Diocese. One of the outcomes of
the first training in peace and reconciliations was the idea of Michael Rambang, the brother of our own Angelina Rambang, to develop soccer tournaments for boys and
volleyball tournaments for girls with mixed teams made up of youth from the various tribes that are in conflict
back home. The UN and the Kenya police have endorsed this effort and will provide space and security for the matches. St. John’s, Aptos provided a generous gift that
was matched by a donation from the Merrill Hancock Foundation and the estate of Mary Koppel. The combined donations provided for a week long training in peace and
reconciliation of 17 South Sudanese university students from seven tribes studying in Nairobi. Joined by Bishop
Abraham and Bishop John Gakket of the Diocese of Ben-tiu, the participants prepared themselves to go as teams to Kakuma, to select and train mix teams. Not only would
they prepare youth to play the games together, but more importantly to help them become peace makers and am-bassadors back in their communities. We are now search-
ing for funds to underwrite the formation of the organiz-ing committee in the refugee camp and then the actual
tournaments later on this year. If you are interested in helping go to www.hopewithsouthsudan and contact Fr, Jerry Drino [email protected]. We are
looking for contacts with the San Jose Earthquakes to in-vite them to sponsor the matches.
- Jerry Drino
South Sudanese Sports for Peace and Reconciliation August 15, 2014 – Nairobi
Conclusion of week-long peace and reconciliation training
Michael Puot Rambang – Front Left Bishop Abraham Yel Nhial – third front/center
Bishop John Gakket – fourth front/center
The Rich Men by Samuel Deng, 2009
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Cassey Remembrances
Feast Days of Anna and Peter Williams Cassey and Henrietta Lockwood
September marks two feast days of three San Jose pio-
neers, abolitionists, educators and members of Trinity Church. On September 3 we remember Anna Bessant Cassey who died in 1875 and is buried at Oakhill Ceme-
tery. She came to San Jose in 1860 with her husband, Pe-ter Williams Cassey, and her mother Henrietta Lock-wood, a nurse. They were a part of a small band of free
African Americans who chose to make their way in the raucous first capital of the State of California. Henrietta’s
father was an English doctor who settled in South Caro-lina and recognized her as his own legitimate daughter. Her interest in medicine moved him to train her as a
nurse. When she married a Mr. Bessant, their daughter Anna was educated in all subjects and became proficient as a pianist. Mother and daughter are buried together at
Oakhill Cemetery where a service of thanksgiving will be offered on Wednesday, September 3 at 12:30 pm.
On September 16, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco will
celebrate the Eucharist at 12:10 in honor of the Rev. Peter
Williams Cassey and Anna Bessant Cassey. The Dioceses
of California join our Diocese and the Dioceses of Los An-
geles and Florida in placing their names in the calendar of
saints.
Peter was the first person of color ordained west of the
Mississippi at our Trinity Church on September 13, 1866.
He came from an illustrious family of four generations of
freed African Americans. His maternal grandfather was
the first African American priest of the Diocese of New
York, the second in the American Church. Peter was bap-
tized at the African American Episcopal Church of St. Tho-
mas, Philadelphia that had been founded by the first
black Episcopal priest, Absalom Jones. His parents were
leading abolitionists, a part of the black elite of that city.
Peter arrived in San Francisco in 1853 and worked as a
barber. He quickly became a part of the Underground
Railroad and a leader of the Congress of Colored Citizens
of California.
When he and Anna and Henrietta arrived in San Jose they
continued their work of freeing slaves that were bound in
Santa Clara County. Peter was a founding member of Trin-
ity Church in 1861. In 1862 they opened St. Philip’s Acad-
emy and Mission for Colored Children and Trinity served
as a sister congregation until 1875. In that year the school
and mission were closed. The State Supreme Court ruled
that all children, regardless of ethnicity could attend pub-
lic schools. Peter would eventually be called to serve in
parishes in North Carolina and Florida where he died on
April 13, 1917. Donations are being received to purchase
and place a headstone on Anna and Henrietta’s grave at
Oakhill. Brochures on their lives are at the back of the
church or at the history display cabinet in the Great Hall.
- Jerry Drino
Collect
God of justice and mercy, we remember before you this day your servants Peter Williams Cassey and
Anna Bessant Cassey, who, in the face of slavery and discrimination, sought to give the blessings of the
priceless gift of education and a spiritual haven for those pushed to the margins. May we strive in our
own lives to be fearless in the face of injustice and work for blessings that will touch those whom the
world does not count of value, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives
forever and ever. Amen.
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Opportunities and Outreach
Support Trinity Cathedral
Help Trinity raise money. Shop at amazonsmile.com. It is the same as the Amazon you know, except now 0.5% of your purchase goes towards Trinity Cathedral. Just use
the link provided and start supporting Trinity. http://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-1156841. Thank you!
Acolytes and Ushers Urgently Needed
We are in need of acolytes and ushers to help at the Sun-day services during the 8:00 am (Ushers) and 10:30am
(both) services. If you or your child (for acolytes boys or girls, ages 9 and up), Ushers (ages 12 and up) is inter-ested in these fulfilling ministries please contact the office
at [email protected] or 408-293-7953.
Lunch for People Who are Homeless For the first of two lunches in August, a good-sized group
of 11 volunteers gathered on Saturday morning to cook and serve one of our favorite dishes – pasta with chicken
and spinach. The main dish is served with garlic bread and green salad, along with milk, ice cream
sundaes, and an assortment of pies and fruit.
First of all, a big thank you goes to Erin McCauley for buying all the
groceries (also thanks in advance to Sandy Dilling who will be the shop-per for next Saturday’s lunch that
will be served to families with youngsters at the San Jose Family Shelter). Thank you to Darryl Parker who was our head
cook, slaving over the hot stove sautéing the chicken and veggies and creating the crowd-pleasing dish. Thanks to
Roger Lobbes who brought to boil the big pot of water for the pasta and helped with prepping the chicken and washing veggies and dishes.
Many thanks to “friend of the parish”, Barb Purdy, who is
a high school teacher and took time out of her busy schedule to help with both cooking and serving the lunch. Also thanks to returning volunteer Elizabeth Finkler-
Hanasaki, who helped with prepping the chicken and veg-
gies in the morning before departing to do an audition in the early afternoon. Joining them to help with washing
and cutting up veggies were parishioners Raj Anthony with his wife, Suseela, and their young boys, Benson and Jose. Also thanks to Karen Gillette, who will be coordina-
tor for next Saturday’s lunch at the San Jose Family Shel-ter, and to Kimberly Fong, her last stint as a volunteer before heading back to school, homework, and science
projects!
Thank you, once again, to Rick Hawes, for bringing the lettuce and veggies for the salad, several containers of juice, a big bag of oranges, apples, and bananas, and a
couple of pies and some wonderfully rich cheese cake. Fr. Bird dropped by on his way to perform some errands and immediately noticed the delicious aromas emanating
from the kitchen. His visit was cut short as within 5 min-utes of his arrival, his services were needed to attend to a
dispute across the street in the park. With such an experienced group of helpers, we were able
to quickly finish the prepping and cooking and trans-ported the food to Cecil White Center in plenty of time
for the 12:30 meal service time. Meeting us there was parishioner, Suzzette Engdahl, along with her niece, De-lanie Medina. While Delanie served salad, Suzzette
worked the dessert counter along with Barb and Suseela. A big thank you goes to Lucky supermarket, at the corner
of Saratoga and Pruneridge Avenues in Santa Clara, and especially managers, Andrew and Reuben, and bakers,
Bertha, Ernie, Amina, and Sandy for their continuing sup-port. They donated loaves of hot and fresh French bread for our garlic bread and many mouth-watering cakes and
pastries. Finally, another thank you goes to Darryl for ar-ranging, picking up, and delivering the baked goods.
The next lunches will be held on Saturdays, September 13 & 20, 2014. At least 10 volunteers are needed for this
local mission activity so if your schedule allows please consider coming and helping. We start the lunch prepara-tions at 10:15 AM in the Parish Hall kitchen. No experi-
ence is required, just a desire to help those less fortunate than ourselves. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin
board in the Parish Hall. If you have any questions, please ask any of the volunteers or Fr. Bird.
- Alan Fong
(Continued on page 9)
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Capernaum on the shores of Lake Galilee. Early in three
of the gospel accounts there is a story of Jesus healing
Peter's mother-in-law, which clearly implies Peter had his
own house and that it accommodated his extended fam-
ily. All these details are historically plausible but recent
archaeology has been able to support them with hard
evidence.
Excavations in Capernaum have uncovered the remains
of a synagogue and several houses, one of which could
be the very house of Peter himself. The original structure
is a series of rooms around a central courtyard, easily big
enough for a large family.
Scholars agree they may
never know for certain if
it is the home of the
apostle but it is clear that
the site was venerated
very early on by Christian
believers. The evidence shows that the family home be-
came a public meeting place and several shrines were
subsequently built on the site. Today a Catholic church
stands over the ruins.
However, the house is not the only significant find in the
area. In 1985 after several years of drought, the water
level of Lake Galilee had dropped and one day two walk-
ers saw a very distinctive shape in the mud. Archaeolo-
gists uncovered the remains of a boat, amazingly pre-
served since its use on the lake before the 1st century.
The boat was partly made of expensive, imported wood
and was so big that it would have needed at least 12
people to handle it. For the first time archaeologists had
a precise idea of the type of boat Peter owned; the one
that transported Jesus and his disciples.
Furthermore the BBC gives strong support for the possi-
bility of Peter’s bones even being housed in the Vatican.
Again I offer the BBC’s treatment of this issue:
Certainly the BBC site which discusses The Apostles sug-
gests this and I can do no better than repeat what is on
their site: in 1939 routine alterations under the floor of
St Peter's unearthed an incredible find.
Archaeologists discovered a whole street of Roman mau-
soleums, highly decorated family tombs of both pagans
and Christians dating to the early centuries AD. They
asked for papal permission to dig towards the high altar
and there they found a simple, shallow grave and some
bones. It took years for these bones to be analyzed and
the anticipation grew but the results were bizarre and
disappointing. The bones were a random collection con-
sisting of remains from three different people and sev-
eral animals! But this was
not the end of the saga.
Years earlier, one of the
Vatican officials oversee-
ing the dig removed some
bones from a niche above
the grave for safe keeping
after the team had gone home. Amazingly no one gave
them a second thought until one of the experts asked
whether there had ever been anything found in the
niche. These bones were then analyzed and the tests
showed they were the remains of a man in his 60s or 70s
and of stocky build. Yet perhaps even more revealing
was the fragment of graffiti-covered plaster discovered
next to the bones. The words were incomplete but could
read petros emi, which means 'Peter is within'. It could
be that the remains of Peter the apostle had finally been
found.
There is much more to be learned about St Peter from
the Gospel narratives themselves but the newer ar-
chaeological work described by the BBC is referred spar-
ingly. I hope that leaning something about this might
make you yet more interested in pursuing the story of St.
Peter, that brave but sometimes uncertain rock of the
church and leader of the disciples.
- David
(Continued from page 2)
Dean’s Desk, continued
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Canon’s Corner, continued
about his religious observance, whereas the tax collector
simply hangs his head and admits that he is a sinner. It is the tax collector, however, who Jesus declares to be part way to Heaven.
There is also the story in the gospel attributed to Mat-thew in which there is a conversation about what to do
about someone who sins against you. Go to him, the gos-pel says, and admonish him in private. If that doesn’t
work, bring his behavior before the church. If that also fails to persuade him to admit his guilt, then, it says, throw him out of the church and treat him like a tax col-
lector. Given the fact that the advice was allegedly writ-ten by a man who was a tax collector, it always provokes a smile in me.
What then should we draw from what we know of the
way that Matthew is portrayed? It is, I think, that what-ever we, or the Israelites, may think of tax collectors, the fact is that when Jesus asked Matthew to come with him,
he never hesitated a second. Others did. Remember the
rich young man who was told that to be Jesus’ disciple he should sell everything he had and then follow him. “Not
today!” was essentially the answer. But here we have a different response: In the words of the hymn we love to sing, “Here I am, Lord.” What more can we ask of a per-
son than Matthew’s response? Now, it may be that he was not so enamored about the life he was living, so low was the esteem in which he was held by all around him.
Nevertheless, unlike most others, he knew Jesus to be the Messiah when he met him. And what, consequently,
did he do next? He took Jesus to dine with his friends—other tax collectors—wanting them to have the same experience as he himself has had.
And so we have our own charge as well. Do we want to shut others out of the good news? Presumably not. God
wants everyone with him. And so should we! It is, after all, in Matthew’s gospel that we find the commission to
his disciples of the risen Christ: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations….” That is now our commission as well.
—Lance
(Continued from page 3)
Music News
August 2014 at Trinity
While the choir has been away on its August hiatus, we have had the op-portunity to enjoy soloists for our
musical offerings at Offertory and Communion times. We are so gifted
to have these friends and members of Trinity to make our services so special. Thanks to Alison Collins,
Kathryn Flores, Tim Anderson, Allan Hughes and Roger McCracken for their musical gifts.
The other part of August has been
the phenomenon of learning the holdings of our choral music library at Trinity. Unfortunately there is no di-
rectory, index, or database of the wealth of music in the drawers and closets in the music room. Re-
organization of the room and discov-
ering all the “surprises” therein has also been a challenge.
Call to Ministry
I’m so excited to begin our new sea-son with the choir of Trinity. Our re-
turn to rehearsals of the Adult Choir is on Wednesday, September 3 at 7:30pm. We do have a definite need
for increasing membership and thus allowing us to explore a wonderful world and wealth of choral music.
The Cathedral really deserves to have regular four-part male/female choral
music. Give the music ministry a chance, if it at all can work in your life. The rewards are so satisfying.
Let’s make this a wonderful season for the Adult Choir at Trinity!
Also, coming very soon will be the
complete plans for the Junior Choir at Trinity. This group will be co-
directed by our Music Director, Mi-chael Joyce and with Soprano, Alison Collins. Details should be in the an-
nouncements soon. Yet one more activity will be the an-
nouncement of the season of Even-songs (once a month on Sunday af-
ternoon, 4:00pm) to be celebrated at Trinity. That will be in the announce-ments and heard on Sunday soon.
Happy New School Year and a sea-
son of wonderful religious services!
- Mike Joyce
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Bible Workbench Meetings are on Wednesdays from 10am to noon in the
parish hall. Classes are ongoing and all are welcome. Fee per unit is $10.
Contact Jerry Drino at [email protected] for more in-formation.
- Diane Bird
Pledge Statements Mailed If you returned a pledge card to Trinity during the Stew-ardship Campaign for 2014, you will be receiving a state-
ment in the mail showing what you have paid as of July 31. You will also see what you should have paid through
July 31, how much ahead or behind you are and what you pledged for the year. If you also made a pledge for the Capital Fund, you will get a separate statement for that
pledge. If we do not have a pledge card on file for you, you will
not receive pledge statements.
Any questions? Call the office (408-293-7953) and leave a message for the Cathedral Administrator, Heike Merino,
or the Treasurer, Paul Archambeault.
Finance Report
At the end of July, Trinity’s year-to-date operating income
was $182,700 versus a year-to-date operating expense of $224,000. The vestry approved budget for 2014 shows finishing the year with an operating deficit of $64,663.
Much of the projected deficit was due to a sharp drop-off in the amount of income pledged for 2014 over previous
years. In 2012 the amount pledged was $210,700. For 2014 the total pledged by members was $168,118, a drop
of $42,582! Meanwhile our budgeted expenses increased from $364,984 to $391,697 in the same time frame.
-Paul Archambeault
(Continued from page 6)
Opportunities and Outreach, continued
Internet Insights
People are like stained glass windows:
they sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed
only if there is a light within.
-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, psychiatrist and author (1926-2004)
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Celebrations!
Lucy Amador 9/2 Sarah Platts 9/5 Elizabeth Melia 9/5 Lance Beizer 9/8
Diane Bird 9/10 Lynn Turner 9/11 Alex Ermides 9/11 Claire Nillson 9/11 Ann Beizer 9/12 Jeanelle Peck Hull 9/13
Michael Barry 9/13 Nathan Murphy 9/14 Janelle Darsey 9/16
Megan Franke 9/17 Bill Steigelmann 9/18 David Mooreland 9/20 Mary English 9/24
Sarah Greenaway 9/26 Jenny Estruth 9/26 Sarah Gogstetter 9/27
“O God, our times are in your hand: Look with favor, we pray,
on your servants as they begin another year.
Grant that they may grow in wisdom and grace,
and strengthen their trust in your goodness all the days of their lives;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Karla and James McLarney 9/9
Heather and Gerald Kepler 9/15 Samantha and Christian Parker 9/15 Cheryl and Scott Fletcher 9/20 Sarah and Tom Greenaway 9/27
Happy Anniversary!