Bethany
P.O. Box 68, 3 George S L0A 1A0 Bethany, ON, Canada

February Minutes for the Environment by Debbie Continuing on from last month’s information from Jen Gale’s book The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide where she talks about Sarah Lazarovic’s buyerarchy of needs we continue with Swap and Thrift. SWAP: Many people are familiar with swapping clothes for children, but what about such things as clothing for adults, children’s toys and books or a wide number of things. Even skills can be swapped such as one person hemming a pair of pa...nts and the other baking a birthday cake for the next birthday. *Note, check CRA re: tax implications if you are a business swapping services. THRIFT: I laugh now when I think about how I used to be hesitant to go to a thrift store because I was concerned that the clothing was dirty or that it was mainly made up of clothing from dead people. The author challenges us to find 95% of what we need at a thrift store and she suggests going with a friend who is a seasoned pro if you are apprehensive. She also suggests keeping an open mind and thinking outside the box when shopping there. Many thrift stores also donate various amounts of money to charity organizations so it is a win/win situation. Just beware that you don’t go overboard like the author who said the following: I got a little bit charity shop happy, buying four dresses in the space of a couple of days along with all kinds of little knick-knacks for the house and toys for the kids that they didn’t need. Consumerism is still consumerism. Page 25 Other places to look for items might be rummage sales, E-Bay, Kijiji or auctions sales. Often free stuff is also available. The author suggests searching online for the websites that connect people with stuff they no longer want with people who do. Next month I will continue with Make and Buy ideas. **Information from The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide by Jen Gale, Published by Green Tree, Great Britain 2020 Pages 19, 22-28 See more

January/21 Minutes for the Environment by Debbie Often, we use the phrase Just throw it away. Jen Gale from the book called The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide talks about there being no such place as away. I agree with her that sometimes we throw things away in a garbage bin or put it out for recycling and never give it another thought. She also points out in her book that over 50% of the world’s population don’t have garbage pick-up and that garbage mounts up in stre...ets, rivers and sometimes unmanaged landfill sites double up as people’s homes. She also says that it is a great motivator to find alternatives as there is no ‘away.’ Page 37 In her book she also has a diagram with the buyerarchy of needs by Sarah Lazarovic (Page 19) which includes the following: Start with -Use what you have, then borrow, swap, thrift, make, and lastly buy. I plan on talking about these points over the next little while. 1. (Use what you have) When we need something look around and see if we already have it hiding somewhere in our home in our shed, junk drawer, or clothes closet. Do we really need to upgrade our phone just because a new one is available? Could we upcycle something? 2. (Borrow) Do we really need that new tool? Could we borrow it from a friend or a tool library? If not, could we rent it? Perhaps there is a toy library in your area in which you could borrow a toy for your child. Could you try out that new fancy kitchen appliance by borrowing it from a friend before you purchase it yourself? Pages 19-22 Every purchase has a consequence whether we realize it or not at the time. Let us all be conscious consumers. *Information taken from the book The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide by Jen Gale. Published by Green Tree, Great Britain 2020. Pages 19-22 and 37. See more

During the current lockdown...

Please note that there will be no church service on December 27th. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everybody. Stay safe.

Atta go Andrew!

No Christmas Eve service but the bells sang out anyway.

Important Information regarding Christmas Eve Services As you are aware, yesterday the Ontario Provincial Government announced that we are moving into a mandatory province-wide lockdown. Leading up to the announcement, we were told it was likely to start December 24, but then the province decided to move the date forward to December 26th. However, the request from the Ontario Premier, as well as the Chief Medical Officer of Ontario, was that we begin to "Shelter in place" IMM...EDIATELY. With all the serious information presented, especially related to the speed with which the Corona Virus is spreading, and with the request to Shelter in Place Immediately, the decision has been made to move the Christmas Eve Service to online only. Our primary concern is that our congregation members stay safe and that we do what we can to stop the spread of the virus. Our Christmas Eve Service will be held via Zoom, at 6:00 p.m. Please join us from the comfort and safety of your home and feel free to sing - as loud as you want! If you need the link to the zoom service, please just ask. See more

After the awesome job done by Santa and his elves (aka the firefighters) in collecting during the Santa Run, the next group of elves gathered early in the week to transfer all the toys and food to the foodbank. Awesome job, everyone involved, especially the families of both communities who contributed. Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas Eve Services December 24, 2020 Please share.

Pontypool - Sunday December 13th

Hey Bethany, are you all just as excited for the Santa Run~Toy & Non-Perishable Food Drive, as we are?! Remember to mark your calendars for Saturday De...cember 12th! Can’t participate the evening of? Don’t sweat it! We have two other Covid-19 informed options available for people who still want to donate! Check out our detailed Facebook post below! Here are some throwback pictures from years prior to get us in the spirit!!

Christmas Eve 2020. Please share.

Christmas is getting closer and so is the annual Santa Run. We hope that everyone is aware that the Santa Run Food and Toy Drive will have a different format t...his year. These maps of the town will show the path we will be taking through town this season. We would like everyone to keep in mind three important requests. 1/ For those who may decide to gather along the route, please remain as family groups and respect all suggested social distancing guidelines. 2/ Please ensure that all food and toys are left in a sturdy bag or box for one of the firefighters to collect. 3/ Have a safe and wonder filled Christmas Season. We will post our location on our Facebook page throughout the evening to help everyone know where along the route we are.

Bethany - Saturday December 12th

A message from Santa to all the kids in Pontypool, young and old. Guess who is coming to town in less than a month? The Pontypool Firefighters Santa Run and Toy... Drive will soon be coming through town. This year our Santa Run Food & Toy Drive will be held on December 13th. As you might expect, Santa and his firefighting elves are going to have to do things a bit differently this season due to covid-19 restrictions. So here is how it will work: Santa will not be able to have the kids on his lap this Christmas. He is going to miss that just as much as you will, but he came up with a plan. Santa has asked us to take him past as many houses as possible so he can wave to the kids from the sleigh. We ask everyone to please wait for Santa at the end of your driveway and you can shout as loud as you can. Santa will hear everyone and give you a big wave and a jolly greeting from a distance. Please tell mom and dad to place non perishable food items and any toys at the end of your driveway in a sturdy bag or box and Santa's firefighter helpers will do a noncontact pickup. This year the food drive is more needed that usual. Santa is sad that he can't sit with the kids so he has given us firefighters a special mailbox to put outside the fire hall. Write Santa a letter this year and we will see he gets it. Make sure you put your name and return address on the letter and Santa will do his very best to send a letter back. Don't delay. Santa is very busy these days, so get your letter in soon. Tell Santa how you have been this year and something special about yourself. Tell Santa everything you would tell him if you were on his lap. In case it's cold out we will be sending the big fire truck to drive ahead of Santa. When you see the big red truck with its flashing lights coming toward your house you will know Santa will be right behind. We are going to be posting a map of the route we will be taking so mom and dad will have a better idea of when and where we will be. Again, don't forget to write Santa your letter. After December 20th he'll be busy packing his sleigh and he won't be able to write back.

well done, Santa and fire fighter friends!

Just a community reminder that there is still time to get your letter posted to Santa at the north pole. The letter box is at the front door of the fire hall on John Street.

There is another Drive-Thru Food Drive coming up on Friday, Dec.4th. Volunteers will be at Bethany church from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Just drive up and pop your trunk and we will collect your donation. Many Thanks to everyone for your generous donations to the Daily Bread Food Bank, supporting families in the Bethany and Pontypool area. Please share this post.

Minute for the Environment: In a perfect world we would have no need for recycling as we would have nothing to recycle and if we look back a few generations that was probably the case. In our home when I look at our blue box most of what is in there is related to a food or drink item. In my Grandparent’s day convenience foods were basically unheard of meals were homemade and usually from items that were available on the farm. Most homemakers would preserve their fruit a...nd vegetables and re-use the glass jars the next year. Flour and potatoes came in sacks that could be re-purposed. Little was wasted. I doubt if many of us are going to go back to those days. We all enjoy our convenience foods too much. Even though recycling is better than waste, many items still end up in the landfill because of various reasons. Yet there are positive steps that we can take which include the following: 1. Try to avoid buying food items with excess packaging. 2. Pay attention to the type of packaging. First of all, can it be re-purposed? If not, what happens when it is recycled. For example, if you buy something that comes in a can it may be a better choice, as in the book Trash Revolution by Erica Fyvie and illustrated by Bill Slavin it states that aluminum is entirely recyclable, that you can recycle it forever, without loss of strength and that recycling aluminum saves 95% of the greenhouse gas emitted to make new aluminum. (Page 42) 3. Bring our own containers to a Bulk Store when this option is once again available and we are comfortable doing so. 4. Shop at a Farmer’s Market and bring our own reusable bags or container. 5. Frequently do a quick audit of our recycling and determine if there are better options available. Thanks, Debbie!

We're back in our buildings for Sunday Services. And in order to do that, we are strictly adhering to the best safety protocols as defined by the local Health Unit. If you'd like to join us, please do! You just need to contact us beforehand - by email, phone, or through Facebook. That will ensure that we can accommodate you on the Sunday you'll be with us.... We are still providing our service by Zoom for those who are not comfortable with the in-person worship. If you'd like to join the Zoom service, we can easily add you to our email invitation list. Other than for the Sunday services, Both Bethany and Pontypool church buildings and the pastoral charge office are closed. Rev. Lynn and Sue are presently working from home. We can still be reached at 705-277-2204 or [email protected] or by FB message if you have concerns or need some assistance. Messages will be checked frequently. Take care and stay safe!