S. Mary Frances and Olympian Mom*
While “Windsock Time”* as we have known it has become a part of our Sacred History of “Vis in the ‘Hood,” our relationships with families continue to grow and grow, from one generation to the next!
The most recent family bonding time took place on Saturday, January 25, 2014, when we had 15 families come to our Girard house for an afternoon we dubbed “Family Winter Olympics.” As guests arrived, each family made a banner with name and decorations and mounted it on a pole. And then it was off to the Games!
“[O]ur relationships with families continue to grow and grow, from one generation to the next!” – S. Mary Frances Reis, VHM
Neighborhood teens ran eight different activities such as ‘Kick the marshmellow’, ‘Light as a feather’, ‘One yard Dash’ and ‘Eye on the Ball’….Each participant got a different household prize at every game, such as paper towels, trash bags, Kleenex, laundry detergent, bathroom cleaner and fun things like boxes of Valentines, cupcakes and cookies with the decorations to decorate as a family project at home, canned goods, and breakfast cereal. These were placed in a family box on the front porch. What a stash of stuff!!! Everyone needed a ride home on this day!
“Queen of all Party Givers,” Vicki Bailey surrounded by friends, neighbors and Sr. Suzanne.
The official Olympic music boomed out as each family joined a parade through the house complete with banners and tiny battery run torches. (It was reminded of how the first chaotic Palm Sunday parade must have been.) There were even some tears and goose bumps as our families marched together!
Not to be outdone, our Queen of all Party Givers, Vicki Bailey, ‘awarded’ each family member with an embossed Olympic medal on a red, white and blue ribbon.
It read: 2014 Fremont House winter Olympics Champion. One of the youth exclaimed upon receiving his, “I’m going to keep this forever and put it in my scrap book!!!” Later that week he and his family moved to St. Louis. We believe that this young man will not soon forget this special family time in North Minneapolis.
Not only did we have a great time, it’s our guess that these young families will be watching the BIG Olympics this year. We trust that this was an opportunity for all of us to grow closer.
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READ ON:
–To View More Pictures from the Family Olympics Event, click here.–Click here for more from our Archives on the Windsock Time.
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