Destination Unknown - Snoqualmie Tribal Canoe Makers

We're driving in the van. "David! Where are we going!?!?" the kids ask for the millionth time. Destination: Unknown. This time I honestly don't know, I'm just following Joe and Marcia. We drive out the back way of town, and up "Hospital Hill".


Now we're turning into a driveway, and then behind a house to a covered work area. Three men saunter out to meet us. We disembark from the van. "I'm John!" says a distinguished gentleman. "I'm Bruce" says a white-bearded man. "Jacob" says a younger, quieter, black bearded man. I think I've met Jacob before somewhere.


These are the Snoqualmie Tribal canoe makers. John shows us how they are making river canoe by carving out the woods with hand-made tools. He explains how some day they'll open it up by steaming it. Then he shows us an ocean canoe and tells us stories about sailings and gatherings and skippers.


Rachael is turning red; apparently she's allergic to cedar! She leaves the shed and stands away from all the wood, nervously kicking rocks and crossing her arms. John complains about being 6'10" but I'm pretty sure that he's actually more like 5'1" by height. I'd say 6'10" in personality and poise though. He passes around bone-carving tools and a river rocks. The weather has been nice to us all night.


Before we know it, its time for us to be getting back. Another awesome Destination Unknown. Special thanks go out to Joe and Marcia who set this one up. And to John and crew for preserving the art of canoe making.

2010 Final BBQ and Year in Review!

The Kids, with David

For the second year in a row, we ended the Youth Group year with a BBQ at the church. Many of these faces we saw every week for around 40 weeks. We feel like these are OUR kids sometimes; and in some sense, they are!

The Kids, with Kate

We started the year with four youth leaders but ended with two and half. Attendence was steady all through the year at around 18-25 kids each night, sometimes up to 30 on the pizza nights. We had a very busy year, check out the table below for a list of our activities.

Count	Activity
9	Small Group
4	Destination Unknown: House of Hope, Museum, My House, Marcia’s House
3	Phone Home
2	sewing party
2	Trick R Treat
2	Stockings
	Work Party
	Bowling
	Caroling
	Epiphany dinner
	Youth service rehearsal
	Game Night
	Valentines
	Deliver Valentines
	Ash Wednesday Service
	Spring Party
	Guest Speaker
	progressive dinner
	Final BBQ

On behalf of myself, Kate Farrell and Gordon Kyle, we would like to THANK the Snoqualmie United Methodist congregation!!! Not just for trusting us with the most precious of all resources, the YOUTH, but also for supporting us during the following events:

• Shrove Tuesday Pancake Fundraiser
  
• Superbowl Sunday Subs
  
• The January Youth Service
  

Also, and this is no small thing, THANKS to all the following people who guaranteed that we were properly fed every single Wednesday. For some of our kids, I guarantee you that they wouldn't have gotten a hot, home-cooked meal if you hadn't given it to them.

Gordon & Kelly Kyle, Kate Farrell, Pearl Dennis, Mary Brown & Sue O'Donnell, Holly Bigoff-Young, Autumn Eadon & Sam McNabb, Jonathan &; Yuka Souza, Tom &; Linda Boord, Dawn Olson, Pat Kelley, Ernie & Norma Jenner, Peggy & Angela Richter, Rachel Coombs, Lucinda Hauser, Phyllis Huster, Denise Ritthaler, Noelle Rollins, Cheryl Eiger, Genie Fairhart, Steph Eakin, Toddie Downs, Ed & Barb Kelley, Alex Hulet & Laurie Edwards!

Heaven forbid that I might have forgot someone in there. If I did, I'm sorry! But thanks again to everyone for supporting and feeding us all year!

Destination Unknown: To Me Anyway...

One of the kids' favorite Youth Group events is this thing we do called "Destination Unknown."  We, the youth leaders and the youth council, work up some a destination, usually with a little spiritual message woven in, and we don't tell the kids where it is.


Every time we do this, each one of the kids will pull me aside and whisper, "David, where are we going?!?!"  because they all think that they have a special relationship with me that I'll tell them.  In fact, they ALL have a special relationship with me as far as I'm concerned but I still don't tell them.

In the past we have taken the kids to:

• Snoqualmie Falls - God's Power
• The Police Station - Sin is like a Jail
• The Snoqualmie River - God's Power within you
• The Museum - with a Native American speaker
• Women's Shelter - an Immigrantion story

Well on this particular evening, there was a Destination Unknown that the council had planned and they'd put it on the calendar and hadn't told me where it was.  That's never happened before I didn't think too much of it.  So on April 28th, I arrived at the church, and once all the kids had gathered, we got in the van, and they put a T-shirt around my head so I couldn't see anything.

Then Gordon, one of the other youth leaders, drove around until I was sufficiently disoriented and then we arrived at our destination.  They unveiled me just I arrived AT MY OWN HOUSE!  My wife, Amy, had set this all up, months in advance!  This was HER plan to have a giant birthday party and she got all the kids in youth group to collude.  About 30 people knew (maybe more!), including twenty kids under 15, and SOMEHOW they kept it a secret this while time!

Amy had made sliders and potato salad and cookies and two cakes.  I've never had a surprise birthday party before, it was awesome.

Thanks to Amy for giving me such a wonderful birthday present!!!