Contributed by Patricia Ott
What did you miss during Covid? Well, I missed seeing the community come to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for our Holiday Market each fall. It’s back on October 7th this year and I am looking forward to seeing you and over thirty vendors that attend annually at our Holiday Market.
After a hiatus of several years, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church’s “Holiday Market” is back. We will have vendor spaces filled with unique homemade crafts, jewelry, woodworking, baked goods, and many other items. We will also have a silent auction, bake sale and Holiday Drawing. Plan to eat lunch at our Five Loaves Two Fish Kitchen. They will be serving delicious soup and sandwiches.
This year, Roger Hansen, a church member, has again donated a few prints of his aunt’s diverse collection of Alaskan artists. One of the prints is “Shore Birds” by William (Bill) Kimura, a former art professor at numerous Alaska Universities. It will be a part of our fund raising during this Saturday event. There will also be a Santa Clause collection for anyone who would like to add to theirs. I am excited about the woodworking projects. One of the donated items is a spice rack that holds 54 spices, just like the one I have in my kitchen. Also, there will be two quilts in our drawing. One is Christmas themed and the other a traditional quilt.
“What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a cucumber and when I’m old I want to be a pickle.” This was a conversation that was between our Preschool teacher and a 4-year-old student at Good Shepherd. You may have heard about Good Shepherd Lutheran Church’s outreach programs. Our Youth Ministries include a Preschool that teaches around twenty 3 and 4-year-olds three days a week, the Mat-Su School District’s Next Step Program that resides in our classrooms and office space to assist special needs students in working towards a successful transition to adult life. Beginning this fall, we will also host on our campus the Youth 360 after school program for middle and high school students. Our Five Loaves Two Fish Kitchen ministry sends meals every Thursday and Friday to youth at MyHouse Mat-Su Homeless Youth Center and families who are staying in a transitional shelter. Our Kitchen also sends frozen casseroles to families with students at local schools who need food throughout the weekends. Good Shepherd sponsors Boy Scout Troop 300 from which the largest number of Eagle Scouts have originated in Alaska. Other ministries include: Valley Interfaith Action, Turn A Leaf, Valley Residential Services, Strong Women Exercise Group, and Trapper Creek Lutheran Fellowship Mission. With your support, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church can continue to be the vehicle that supports these many community outreach missions as well as our Sunday Services and Youth Ministries.
We still have a few vendor spaces to fill and are looking for those that have home-based goods for sale to complement our handmade products. For anyone looking for a space at the market, please contact Kelsey Ramos at 907-232-3975 or kelseyramos7@gmail.com. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 7th from 10am-4pm at 501 E. Bogard Road in Wasilla. Free admission.