West Central Minnesota Chapter
Upcoming 2010 Meeting Dates
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 (7:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 (7:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 (7:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 (7:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 (7:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 (7:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 (7:30 p.m.)
CHAPTER UPDATES
BRAT STAND FUND RAISER
Our group will be working at the Brat Stand at Cub Foods in Willmar again this year. We will be raising money for our group to assist in our outreach efforts to newly bereaved families. We have also found that this has become a unique way to let the community know who we are and what The Compassionate Friends is all about. The dates for the Brat Stand are June 18th and 19th, 2010. If you have a little time to donate, we would welcome some assistance with running the stand. Please call Bob or Betty Hermann if you would be able to help. Their phone number is 320-693-6782. We also encourage you all to come and visit us at the stand and buy a brat!
ANGEL OF HOPE MEMORIAL
Now that spring is here we are hoping that we will be able to get the 'Angel of Hope' sign completed at the memorial site soon. After that is completed, we will be planning a dedication service for the new wall and a reading of the names of all the Angels who are remembered there. When a date is set, we will have the information in this newsletter and we will also be sending out post cards with the information to every family who has a brick.
If you are interested in a brick in memory of your child, please call Paulette at 320-366-3421 and she will send you the order information. The cost of a brick is $125. If you would like to make a donation to the Angel project, you may send it to Kay McLane, 613 Lakeland Ave SE, Willmar, MN 56201.
MONTHLY MEETINGS - TIME CHANGE - 7:30 PM
The time for our monthly meetings will be changing to 7:30 PM starting in December. We meet at the Lakeland Health Center on the lower level, 502 SW Second Street, Willmar, MN, the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
Website & Email Newsletter Information
Contact our webmaster at ddblackwell@hotmail.com if you have information you would like to see on the site or if you want to receive the newsletter via email. For more information about Compassionate Friends, visit TCF’s national site at www.compassionatefriends.org.
YEARLY EVENTS
The Compassionate Friends Fall Picnic
We will meet again for the fall picnic at the home of Bob and Betty Hermann. There will be a Memorial Service with a Balloon Release and Cannon Salute at around
Bob and Betty’s address is as follows:
66608 Mn Hwy 24
Phone 320-693-6782
When you come into Litchfield on Hwy 12 from the west, turn east onto Hwy 24, which is across from the Dairy Queen. The farm is 8 miles on Hwy 24, on the left (or north) side of the road. Watch for the green “8 mile” marker.
If you cannot attend and would like a balloon released in your child’s name during the balloon release, send a note/postcard with a message to your child on a 3 x 5 card with your child’s name to Bob and Betty Hermann at the address listed above. We will release a balloon with their name with the others. This is a beautiful and special experience. It is a nice way to remember our children.
World Wide Candle Lighting
Held annually the 2nd Sunday in December. This unites families and friends around the globe as they light candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age form any cause. As candles are lit at 7:00 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of people commemorate and honor children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries. This years date is December 14, 2008.
Believed to be the largest mass candle lightning on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who are no longer with them.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but has since swelled in the numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance.
The Worldwide Candle Lighting gives bereaved families everywhere the opportunity to remember their child/children....that their light may always shine.
