It was a busy weekend, July 13-15, at Gladstone Park as families began to arrive for the first “Lift Jesus Higher” afternoon of family fun. On Sabbath afternoon, stations were set for a few hours of fun and fellowship. Parents and grandparents found shady spots for their blankets and camp chairs and watched as kids made enormous bubbles, or joined them on a nature-themed scavenger hunt, or at the kite-making station. Many cooled off with a refreshing popsicle before everyone began to gather in the amphitheater for an inspirational word from Sunnyside Church’s Pastor Rose.
“Lift Jesus Higher” was a collaborative event incorporating helpers of all ages. “I had a helper named Sydney who made the event so much more special for me,” shared Pastor Jana Lee, who serves as Oregon Conference Children’s and Family Ministries director. “Having a helpful, friendly child greeting each family as they arrived and telling them about all of the fun things they could do, and then saying, ‘Then we’ll have a really fun worship time at the end!’ was so great! He explained the event to any newcomers he saw. He also couldn’t stop talking about the week he had just had at Big Lake. It was his first time going and loved telling people about it! It all just reminded me of how special it is to be in a conference that connects us all together – kids and leaders alike – in so many different ways!”
The weekend continued to lean into that interconnected community culture as Pathfinders fired up the Snack Shack kitchen for two busy days of serving Pronto Pups, Vegeburgers, kettle corn, Italian sodas and more in one final fundraiser for the upcoming trip to Gillette, Wyoming! A steady line of hungry visitors and church family stopped by for tasty food, lingering at picnic tables to reunite with old friends and meet a few new ones! Next door in Zull Hall, customers perused the rows of tables in the final hours of this year’s ABC used book sale.
While the Snack Shack sales numbers are still coming in, the Pathfinders were able to raise over $19,000 between the Snack Shack, a Sunday car wash, and donations over two days, with the largest single tip being a $100 dollar bill for a single bag of kettle corn! Hard working volunteers cooked up:
- 458 Vegeburger/Cheeseburgers
- 243 Corn on the cob or cup
- 71 Salads
- 260 Ice Creams
- 397 Drinks
- 174 Bags of Kettle Corn
- 2220 Pronto Pups, (including 96 bags of 10 to freeze!)
“We were opening at 10:00 AM, but we had customers that are usually camp meeting volunteers in line waiting at 9:00 AM on Sunday,” laughed Sandi Carpenter, who serves as the Snack Shack coordinator and as an associate coordinator for the Pathfinder Willamette district. “The memorable sale of the fundraiser, though, was selling 30 packages of 10 pronto pups in one sale! Patricia Jackson came early on Sunday and placed her order. We had it ready to pick up on Monday. When she came to pick it up told us it wasn’t for any special occasion. It was for her family. Her son figured out he could have 3 pronto pups a week!”
“All of the weekend’s proceeds are being split among three Pathfinder clubs based on the number of hours they worked,” continued Sandi. “We tracked all the hours, including volunteers that were not associated necessarily with clubs or are at the conference level. Together we contributed around 615 hours preparing, cleaning, selling, and then cleaning again!”
“On Sunday we had some additional activities for people such as a bicycle spirograph, Hungry Hungry Pathfinder, volleyball, and corn hole,” Sandi shared. “We just want to say thank you to everyone who came to contribute. We hope everyone had a least a little taste of camp meeting to last until next year!”
While summer has looked rather different this year, there are still many opportunities in the coming weeks to come together. The “Lift Jesus Higher” family fun event will be headed to Emerald Christian School in Eugene on July 27th, Lighthouse Early Learning School in Grants Pass on August 24th, and the Bend area on September 7th!
Keep an eye out for more announcements here in the near future and follow our Oregon Conference Connections Newsletter at oregonadventists.com/connections for the latest event announcements!
