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Church Keepers

Just who are the Church Keepers???  What do they do???  Why do they "do" what they do???

The Church Keepers are literally the arms, hands, legs, and feet "auxiliary force" of the Facilities Committee.
Conscription?  NO WAY!  Participation is voluntary, guilt-free, and does not have to occur every Saturday.
They meet at the Church on Saturday mornings, starting at 8:30 and usually finishing by 10:00 -- depending on
the season, the weather, the amount of work that needs to get done, and the number of people showing up.

While the "demographics" of the Church Keepers has typically been that of men in their 50's through 80's,
there is nothing precluding women or older youth (age 16 and up for the typical safety considerations) from
joining to share in some hardy physical work activities among a bunch of good-natured and quite humorous
folks. Work goes fast with "the more, the merrier" philosophy and one gets to imbibe on delicious coffee
and bakery (or homemade) treats afterwards, while getting to know better one's fellow Church members.

The routine repair and maintenance tasks typically awaiting the Church Keepers include: lawn, tree, and
flower garden care chores; light bulb changing; touch-up painting; carpet stain removal; recycling pickup;
and other simple -- though sometimes tedious (like weeding!) -- activities. There possibly is some snow
shoveling to do during the winter months, although fortunately the 'heavy clearing' of the walkways and
parking lot is handled by a contracted vendor on a 24/7 basis as this is something that can't wait for Saturday
mornings to be done.

And thanks to the efforts of one of our former Church Keepers who is now keeping watch over our building
and grounds from his "box seat" in Heaven, the chore of watering the Church lawn has disappeared from
the Church Keepers' "to-do" list. We now have an automatic sprinkler system to take care of that!

There is a scheduled "fall cleaning and leaf pickup" day each autumn for the clearing of the tree leaves, the
washing of windows, and the cleaning and dusting of sills and other places/items within the building. This
event is advertised to the congregation for the enlistment of additional volunteers to aid the Church Keepers.
A similar "spring cleanup day" may be scheduled if deemed necessary.

One other twice-a-year activity the Church Keepers participate in is the Presbyterian Women's Rummage Sale,
generally conducted in May and October. The Church Keepers assist with the set-up and take-down of the tables
and hangers used for the displaying of the rummage sale items THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CHURCH BUILDING -- yes, it's that big !

So in conclusion, if you are a person who is interested in helping out at First Presbyterian with maintaining the
beauty of our Church building and grounds, and likes working with your hands (or feet), especially in the company
of others so inclined, AND who detests having to sit through evening meetings -- where one is either bored to the
point of falling asleep or else is wracking one's brain in some sort of decision-making process for which there is
no apparent "right answer" -- then the Church Keepers are "your kind of people". Come, check us out !