On our third day of the LOL Vermont ministry trip, we had no shows. We did however, get to participate in Vermonts largest annual parade, then visit the inspiration for a cutting edge TV drama that was on in the early 2000's. Fortunately, this was the only day of the trip when we had no rain, because all our events were outdoors.
The Essex Junction Memorial Day parade is Vermonts biggest parade of the year. We were disappointed that Bernie Sanders, normally a regular, was out of town, but there were plenty of other intriguing people to meet during the line up. The middle school boys were thrilled that we were positioned quite near Miss Vermont and Miss Teen Vermont. The whole class met them both, and there were plenty of photos taken. We also met a group of Star Wars storm troopers, and the Vermont Bucks, Vermonts first and only professional arena football team. These guys were great, even passed the old pigskin around with some of the boys in my class. But we were something of celebrities ourselves. We were the only jugglers in the parade, and kids juggling machetes tend to attract attention. As Elijah said, " You know how you go to things and see people do stuff and you say,'I want to learn how to do that?' We're kind of like those people." Very true, Elijah.
The parade itself was a success. There were thousands of people along the route, and the jugglers did not disappoint. They were as energetic through to the very end; It doesn't always happen that way.
From there it was a two hour ride to Tunbridge, during which a large number of the team slept off the busy-ness of the past three days. Tunbridge is the home of Sue Thomas, the inspiration for the 2001-2003 TV series " Sue Thomas FBEye". Sue is a real person, and was the first profoundly deaf FBI agent. Her skill at lip reading allowed her to spy on " bad guys" from a distance. Now she and her personal assistant, Deb, live in the mountains of Vermont where they run a retreat center they named Waterbrooks. This is a beautiful site where they welcome groups to enjoy the quiet of nature and to listen for the voice of God. My team, refreshed from their naps, did a great job clearing brush, etc for a couple of hours before we cooked out on the grill. After burgers and hot dogs, we had a brief Bible lesson, then each person was encouraged to find a private space and enjoy the quiet. God met us during this time in sweet, personal ways.
After teary good byes to our wonderful hostesses, we headed back to Grace Methodist church for our final night at our base camp.