Hebron Crossroads 10-17-04
By Jeff Gill

Poison ivy is beautiful. Have you looked at it lately? From a distance, yes, but look around at the fall foliage and some of the deepest, richest, most multi-hued leaves are from a vine coiled around old tree trunks, gnarled fence posts, and along the backs of sheds and outbuildings around these Hebron Crossroads.
For those with severe allergies to the oil, the sap of these common growths in our region, poison ivy is no joke; especially when brush piles alight on early autumn evenings contain the vine, the stalks, or even the leaves of the more modest ground cover variety. Yes, even the smoke from burning poison ivy can carry substance enough to trigger those highly sensitive to it. The red berries, the crimson, maroon, golden, pink, saffron colored leaves, the vines growing as thick as my wrist, is all uniquely lovely and still problematic.
Harvesters on the main roads, grain trucks spilling a golden trickle on corners, whether soybeans or corn, headlights in trackless fields by night tracing their humming square dance, all telling us that it is time to bring in the full and fulfilled growth of the long summer season now past. Be patient if you’re behind one, as the farmers have had to be patient since spring planting. (And be patient with the Lakewood football team, too; they’re not quitting in the third quarter, and that’s a victory all it’s own.)
Hallowe’en is always October 31, the eve of All Hallows, or All Saints Day Nov. 1, but official “Trick or Treat Night” for the village of Hebron is set for Thursday, Oct. 28, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Most areas around are using the same night, but times may vary, so check our fellow columnists here or see the list in our sister publication, “The Advocate.”
Geese have been flocking and vee’ing and honking their flapping way overhead, heading (generally) south. Saturday morning at Evans Park sees a steadily growing mass of vehicles jockey for parking spaces as if it were Polaris on Christmas Eve, dropping off or picking up either soccer players or flag footballers, or for some lucky families (!) both. Jackets get progressively heavier each weekend, as the chill sets in earlier each evening.
School pictures, soccer pictures, senior pictures, wedding pictures; fall is a favorite time for adding to our digital stash of memorabilia, with Mother Nature providing spectacular backdrops for free – the key chain picture, however, will cost $8 extra with or without foliage.
It’s a season full of memories, both those being made right now and those the smells and sights and sounds evoke. Perhaps a distant ancestral need to sharply etch on our gray cells where the final food stashes went is why this time of year carves so deep a mark.
Making this fall memorable for our family is that we will be leaving Hebron soon. We will not forget -- in fact, we won’t even be going very far from here -- but we will move shortly to a house closer to the Lovely Wife’s job at Denison and to set a new pace of home life for the Little Guy.
My five and a half years in Hebron have been wonderful, and we know that we were “meant” to be here; we also know that our plans as a family have always been that we would do whatever we had to not to have both of us in full-time, extra hours, professionally demanding careers.
When after a dozen years of forgetting even about our child care plans the Little Guy made his dramatic appearance, for a time we thought I might be the one staying and working from home on a part-time basis. Then the Hebron possibility turned that equation on its head, and the Lovely Wife worked off a laptop and the kitchen table for six years.
Now it’s my turn! I’m going to step back from full-time parish ministry and the 24/7 expectations (internal and external), but our editors tell me they may still have a place for my weekly scribblings – off of a laptop and on the kitchen table. We’ve kicked around “Out Centerville Street” or “Notes From My Knapsack,” but I most assuredly plan to keep writing, even if no one wants to publish it.
Through Dec. 31 I’ll still be preaching Sundays, and will continue passing along this weekly printed nod from those sitting by these growing, thriving, and memorable crossroads.

Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church (for a few more months!) and still plays Stone Soup’s “October Nights” every year at this time. If you have seasonal news or notes to share, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.

Press Release -- Interfaith Prayer Circle
Sun., Oct. 31, 2 pm

Octagon State Memorial, off West Main at 33rd St., is the site of an interfaith prayer circle led by Friends of the Mounds October 31 at 2:00 pm.

Sunday, October 31 and Monday, November 1 are "golf-free days" at Octagon State Memorial, which also contains a leased golf course. Members of many Native American spiritual traditions, along with those of immigrant traditions including Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist have been formally gathering once or twice each year since 2000 for a time of prayer.

Participants are invited to come join the prayer circle and speak or not in turn, as you are moved, according to your own sacred traditions. We join our spoken, sung, and silent prayers together at this ancient and significant site, noted as one of the "70 Wonders of the Ancient World" along with Stonehenge, the Pyramids, Athens' Parthenon, and only Chaco Canyon and Cahokia in North America.

The Scouter -- Simon Kenton Council – Nov/Dec 2004

Licking District Trailmarkers

September had the traditional United Way campaign kick-off with a parade through our county seat, Newark.

That’s not unusual (tho’ many counties long ago gave up on a UW parade, and Licking County is still going strong!), but what was unusually wonderful was their choice of Grand Marshall, our District Chairman, Trevor Gamble. Trig was the first recipient of the Ken Johnston Volunteer of the Year award last spring, and for his work with Scouting, at Denison during and after his retirement, in his community and church, the folks with the United Way put him right at the head of the parade!

Along the route, Scouting was represented in a number of ways, with Packs and Troops involved, and Pack 75 winning an award for “Best Interpretation of the Theme” and Pack 22 for “Best Unit Float.” Good job, Cub Scouts!

This fall – and beyond – we need to remind our Licking County friends and neighbors who work in Franklin and Delaware Counties to designate their United Way giving to Licking County. Out of county workers are accounting for a growing percentage (approaching 25%) of Licking Co. UW funds, and we need to put those charitable dollars to work in their home community. Some folks think this happens automatically: wrong!

Remember, the $10 registration each Scout and scouter pays goes to the national background check and record keeping system – none of it stays with Simon Kenton Council. United Way dollars and Popcorn sales, along with Friends of Scouting (FOS) is what keeps Scouting paid for at $110 per child per year locally. What a great buy those dollars are!

Please support your Popcorn Sale and local United Way work . . . and for units, remember that scheduling your unit’s family FOS presentation through Larry Lorance is part of what it takes to get free advancement materials.

If you have post-Jan. 15, 2005 info or announcements to share, send it to disciple@voyager.net.

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Charters Make Scouting Go!

Unit charters went out to unit commissioners Oct. 23; Nov. 16 is our first charter turn-in day, at the Newark 5th St. Red Cross building from 7 to 8:30 pm. Nov. 27 is the final sweep, from 9 to 11 am at Central Christian Church on Mt. Vernon Rd. in Newark. Questions? Come to the Roundtables in Nov. or Dec.; Nov. 2 at 7:15 pm in Central Christian Church, or there again on Dec. 7, always the first Tuesday at &:15 pm.

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Popcorn Pick-up

Sat., Nov. 20 (aka Beat Michigan Day) from 8 am to Noon at the Alltel Bldg. on Hopewell Dr. in Heath is Popcorn Pick-up. Bring checks dated to Dec. 6 made out to SKC/BSA from your unit treasury. We’ll be done in plenty of time to get home and fire up the grill.

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District Elections

January 2005 will see the next round of elections for district positions; Judge Tom Marcelain has agreed to serve as Nominating Committee chairman, a position he has well served in the past. All chartered organization representatives are voters for the leadership positions in Licking District, along with at-large members. If you have suggestions for nominations, bring them to Roundtable!

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Klondike Derby at Camp Falling Rock

January 22 is the annual Klondike Derby for our district; smoke rising from historic Franklin Lodge, feet thundering across the covered bridge, ice on Lake PeeWee and icicles off the cliffs are all part of the “can’t miss” experience in Scouting that is Klondike. Unit leaders will receive a mailing on this event shortly, and the lead article on January’s “The Scouter” (our next issue) will cover the snow forecast (it’s gonna!) and plans for having fun (you will!) at the Rock.