Compressor

It is one of those good news/bad news situations.



The bad news is that the compressor on our commercial refrigerator in the church kitchen gave out.



The good news is that it waited till the very last day of the summer meals program to do so. That day was Friday, August 13. What can I say?



So here is the technician reparing the refrigerator. It is certainly a speciality and few companies do the work.

Lights ON Resumes

Today is the first day of the resumption of the ELL (English Language Learners) Class here at the Church of Peace. Whenever something is beginning one hopes for a good attendance. And above is teacher Rachel with a fair sized group in the fellowship hall of the church. The extra feature of this particular class is that there is childcare provided for children too young for Head Start and school. So children are in appropriate childcare while parents are receiving instruction.

Here are leaders and students talking about registration.

This program is part of Lights On for Learning, and is a collaboration with Church of Peace, Rock Island School District 41, the Regional Office of Education, the Rock Island Library and Blackhawk College. It is a way of meeting the needs of new immigrants who live in our neighborhood and seeks to strengthen the educational experience of children in school.

In the Heights

One of the wonderful events of our California vacation was to see the musical In the Heights at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood in the evening of July 25. One of the special features of this particular performance was that Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of the show, sang the lead.

A lot of musicals qualify as chestnuts, but this one came to Broadway only in 2008 - and won a Tony that year as well. For lots of info: http://www.intheheightsthemusical.com/

What I especially appreciated was the consideration of the experience of many Latino folks in a community. Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans. And, as musicals so often do, the portrayal was of how life is still about boy-meets-girl, family loyalty, friendships, and what constitutes home. In a moment of our history where Latino immigrants are being vilified and portrayed as a great threat to the nation, it is good to have another perspective presented with such charm and energy.

The music is terrific, and we bought the Grammy award winning CD - and listed to it as we drove across the country, from California to the Midwest.