» homecoming

Playing catchup

Beth — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:56:00 +0000

Lots of things have been going on around here, so here’s the ‘cleanup’.
I went back to the doctor yesterday, fully expecting him to say I didn’t have to go back- nope, not yet. He says everything looks good, incision is healing nicely; he said to stop using tape on the dressing since it’s causing some irritation. Works for me- now I can shower and wash my hair without waiting for hubby to come home and help me change the dressing…I go back in two weeks – hopefully for the last time (not that I don’t like Dr. Daley, but I’m ready to move on -LOL)
A very good friend of ours was involved in a bike wreck on Monday night- he was leaving a meeting and hit a deer. Not nearly as bad as it could have been- God had His hand on his shoulder. A few broken bones, some nasty road rash, scrapes and bruises, but he’ll hopefully come home this weekend.
Another friend of ours is in the hospital with double pneumonia, so a friend and I went to visit him. We didn’t realize how bad he’d been feeling until we saw him at the hospital this morning. He was joking with us, asking about our husbands and what they were doing. He looks so much better than just a day or two ago.
Our town’s homecoming is finally here- we’ll start things off on Saturday with an arts and crafts fair, then a singing lesson by Ms. Regina, then a bluegrass jam festival that night. Sunday will start with a community church service at the Primitive Baptist Church, dinner on the grounds and singing in the afternoon.
My folks’ 50th anniversary is coming up and we’re working towards getting everything done for the celebration. We’re hoping lots of folks come and visit that afternoon.
Okay, back to your regularly scheduled blog. Thank you for your time.

A Homecoming Event

Beth — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:34:00 +0000

The Alabama Department of Tourism is sponsoring The Year of Small Towns and Downtowns in 2010. Each town that participates receives a free historic marker; Rutledge will be participating and we’ll center the Homecoming Weekend around the Primitive Baptist Church in Rutledge. It’s one of the oldest churches in Crenshaw County, and since Rutledge was once the county seat, the church is even more central to the county.
We’ve already set dates, and we also decided to have a homecoming weekend in 2009 as well – you might say it will be our practice run.
We’ve come up with several ideas on how to celebrate our town and it’s roots – we’ll be making videos of town members telling how it was to grow up in and around Rutledge; an art show is also being planned; we’ll have activities for the kids on Saturday; and Sunday we’ll wind up the weekend with a community church service in the morning, dinner on the grounds and an afternoon singing with local groups.
I’ve also come up with an idea to have a poster and postcard design competition among the residents of Rutledge. The winning posters will be used to publicize the weekend, and the winning postcards will be reproduced and sold during the weekend. Each winning designer will get a copy of all the winning designs. It will encourage the local folks to get involved, and any money raised will go towards maintaining the church building.
Check back for more details on how the plans are developing…

On Speaking Publicly

Beth — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:10:00 +0000

This past weekend, I had to represent our town at a family reunion. Most of the family had moved away from our area, so the hostess asked me to speak on the history of the town.
I contacted someone from our historical society and got some great information, and sat down to write my speech. I’m sure that my speech wouldn’t win any prizes, but I do think I did rather well, and most folks seemed to enjoy listening to what I had to say. Here are some of the things I did.
First I thought about how long I wanted to speak. I personally despise listening to long, dry, boring political speeches, and I hate to think about putting anyone else through that. I decided that 15 minutes was my limit, and I hoped to keep it less than that.
Next, I thought about all the things I wanted to say – I made about three pages of notes and ideas. My own personality is quirky, to say the least, so I knew I needed the speech to sound like me, and not a professional writer. I knew I wanted to bring some humor about living in a small town, but I didn’t want to sound like I was making fun of our town. I also knew I wanted to pique the interest of those who were learning about Rutledge, so they’d be encouraged to learn more on their own.
You also need to know that the hostess found out I ride a motorcycle, so she asked me to invite as many of my riding friends as possible, to escort me in. The clothes I ride in (jeans, t-shirt, leather gloves and boots, etc) do not lend themselves to what you normally expect from a speaker, so I knew I had to keep things light.
Then I sat down and wrote what I’d like to say, adding things from my notes, and deleting things, until it flowed like my normal speaking pattern. I printed it out on half-sheets stapled together on one corner to keep them together, and read through it in front of my mirror until I was comfortable with how it sounded, practicing the parts where I tended to stumble over phrases.
I didn’t memorize the speech, but I was so familiar with it, that I could work through it without looking like I was reading it, and I was able to vary a little on what I said.
By the time I was in front of the group, I was comfortable enough to make eye contact with different areas of the crowd while speaking.
I’m not going to say it was hugely successful, because only the listeners know for sure. But I was able to move through it, without my knees knocking too badly, and I did have several people tell me that they had learned something new about our town. That was my goal, so I feel good about it.
By the way, my friends sat in several areas of the group, so I was able to look at them while I spoke- it’s amazing how a friendly face in a crowd can help you get through public speaking!