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The New Orleans Mission group has returned and some photos are viewable here. Also the group maintained a daily blog while they were there the link is http://5real.blogspot.com.

353 Rexland Drive - 20% of the proceeds will go to the FCC General Fund

Tickets will be available for $3 each, and the proceeds for the event will be supporting The Empty Space Theatre on Oak Street.

Additional features of the event will include a yummy bake sale and an opportunity drawing for items such as a puppet production for your next birthday party, a 26-inch mountain bike and season tickets to both the Flics foreign movies at the Fox Theatre and the Bakersfield Condors. Ask Don about buying tickets ($1 each or six for $5???such a deal!).

Past productions of the Omnipresent Puppet Theatre include Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel and Anansi’s Rainbow based on spider folktales from around the world. (For more information about the theatre, see www.omnipuppets.org). The Kruszkas make themselves available for workshops, teacher in-services and private parties locally as well as on the coast and in Southern California.

The door opens at 12:30 p.m. And, yes, parents and neighborhood kids are invited. So please help to spread the word around that piggies will be playing in Plymouth Hall on June 14.

• A carved 45î Dijareedoo from Indonesia
• Ethiopian Coffee (the birthplace of all modern coffee)
• Spa and Bath Gift Baskets
• Galilee Olive Oil and Olive Oil Soaps (co-operatively produced and organically grown by the womenís group,
  ìSindyannaî.  They buy from Arab farmers, advance the role of women,
  and bring together Arab and Israeli women to work together for peace
  and prosperity.)
• Glass candle holders and ceramics from the ìtaraî project in India, a group of Hindu and Moslem men who
  have joined together to stop their regionís abuse of child labor.
• Recycled bottle lanterns and wind chimes,
• Musical instruments,
• Chocolate: dark, milk, mint, and white,
• Many types of hand woven baskets,
• Organic yarns, jewelry, & more.

Concern for the Earth and earthís people.

Omnipresent Puppet Theater will perform its production of ìThe Three Little Pigsî as a fundraiser for The Empty Space Theatre in Plymouth Hall at the First Congregational Church at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 14.

Admission to the show is $3.00 per person. There will also be a number of raffles, including a 26-inch mountain bike, an Omnipresent Puppet show for your birthday party or event, and tickets for the Bakersfield Condors. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. All proceeds go to benefit The Empty Space Theatre.

The Empty Theatre, located at 706 Oak Street, is Bakersfieldís only theatre company that relies on public donations. Its purpose is to ìkeep theatre free,î giving people a chance to afford to see theatrical performances they might not be able to go to. Among the productions in the theatreís five-year run are Shakespeareís Macbeth, the musical Hair and David Mametís American Buffalo, as well as original plays written by Bakersfield writers. It has played host to rock bands, improv and sketch comedy troupes, stand-up comedians, and Omnipresent Puppet Theaterís bi-monthly public performances.

In addition to its stage plays, The Empty Space has had benefits supporting such causes as the Kaiser Permanente Latino Association funding mentoring and scholarship programs, The Kern Lifeline Projectñ an AIDS program, The Bakersfield AIDS Project, Bakersfield College Jazz Ensemble, and also worked with the Save-A-Teacher campaign to present The Miracle Worker at The Empty Space. For the past four years, the theatre has taken part in the Worldwide V-Day Campaign to end violence against women and girls, and has raised more than $14,000.00 for The Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault in that campaign.

Omnipresent Puppet Theater, Founded in Phoenix in 2003, has been performing in Kern County since 2006 at local libraries, schools, and other community events, including functions for the Bakersfield Association of Retarded Citizens (BARC) and the Bakersfield Museum of Art.

Come be apart of our Relay for Life Team. We need people to walk from 9:00 am May 3rd to 9:00 am May 4th. Youth, families, individuals sign up and raise money for a good cause. See Peghi Webb for details.

Louisiana and good food go together and good food is on the menu for our New Orleans Dinner Saturday, April 5th, 6 pm. – Jumbalaya, Mardi Gras Salad, Green Beans and dessert (Choice of Bread Pudding or Praline Squares) are all on the menu (Vegetarian substitute available). All proceeds to benefit the New Orleans Work Team scheduled to travel to New Orleans July 20-26th. We will have New Orleans-style piano courtesy of our own talented Jim Page and some Dixieland Jazz provided by a Shafter-based family group called The Dixie Nuts. Tickets purchased in advance are $15 for adults and $7.50 for children. (Tickets purchased the night of the event will be $17 and $8.) We will show a presentation of our work trip last year too for those interested.

Tickets will be sold at church on Sundays or call 872-3646 for tickets and information.
(Click on graphic to see poster)

more…

To support this year’s Get on the Bus project to help local kids
see their Moms in prison prior to Mother’s Day, we are inviting everyone in the congregation to a Fancy Bunch after church on
March 16.

We know for sure that quite a few children
would not have the chance to see either of their parents this year
because of the cost for transportation.  Many of the kids are being
cared for by grandparents who do not easily have the resources to take
them on out-of-town trips.

A new part of the brunch festivities will be baskets
filled with goodies.  You’ll be able to choose a basket
and buy tickets on the day of the brunch that will be part of a drawing
so that you might win the basket of your choosing.  If you cannot be
here on March 16, ask Shay DeWeese or Margie Bell about purchasing
tickets for the opportunity drawing. $10 for 4 tickets.