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When Gar and Shirley Nortrup were new to their neighborhood, their friends and neighbors, Barb and Fred Kelly extended an invitation to visit Grace then located on Main Street.  The minister at that time, Bob Holmes, was Barb Kelly’s uncle.  That was ten ministers ago!

Shirley and Gar have two children, Kevin and Kim.  Both were baptized and confirmed at Grace.  Kim was also married here.  Today the family is spread over several states and now includes six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Gar grew up on a farm near Meredosia on the Illinois River.  He first came to the Champaign-Urbana area to attend the Barry Castle Business College.  After graduation, Gar got a job at the Champaign Post Office where he worked for 42 years until retirement.  Gar enjoys walking (He is one of those dedicated people that walks even in the coldest weather.) and he reads westerns.  He uses some of those farm skills learned as a boy to grow tomatoes and red raspberries in his home garden.

Shirley grew up in Chicago.  She attended the University of Chicago and then came to the Champaign-Urbana area to attend the University

of Illinois.  She was a registered dietitian and worked at the University of Illinois until son, Kevin, arrived.  Shirley court watches for the League of Women Voters.  This activity is done in conjunction with the University of Illinois College of Law.  Court watchers observe all court procedures to be sure they are carried out in a fair and timely manner.

Having been a part of Grace for so many years, the Nortrups have both have served in many ways from Sunday School superintendent and trustee to being co-chairs of the finance committee.  Currently, Gar is an usher and Shirley helps process our weekly monetary contributions.                Top

Small Group Spotlight – Softball Team      -by Karilyn Newnam

“Take Me Out To The Ballgame” was the motto for members and friends of Grace Church and the First United Methodist Church of Urbana as players joined to form a softball team this summer. The softball team was coming off a successful season last year when the coed team won first place in the league. This season has also been very successful, although the competitive coed league took a year off.

Members and friends of Grace who have played this season include: Vic Christman, Josh Cox, Jim Ferguson, Todd Heath, Richard and Darrel King, Terry Morgan, Chad Pioletti, Todd Searing, Jeremy Shaw, Mike Smith, Doug and Jimmy Gherna and Jake Foley.

The team has won eight and lost two games this season, earning a tie for first place. The season will wrap up in late August as the team enters the playoffs with the second seed.

The team is organized through the Champaign-Urbana Church Sports League. This is the sixth year of a softball team with members and friends of Grace.  Other sports the league organizes for churches in the community include basketball, volleyball and bowling.

The softball games are played on Monday in Dodds Park in Champaign, near Parkland College. Enter from Mattis Ave.  and the fields are near the Eddie Albert Gardens. There is a large parking lot and the bleachers, restrooms and concessions are convenient to the playing fields.

The team has appreciated friends coming to the ballpark to “root for the home team” and showing their support during the games. If you didn’t have a chance to see a game this year, be sure to include this in your plans for next year. At this time, we don’t know the final outcome of the playoffs, but we know that regardless of the outcome, great friendships and fellowships are growing.

If you are interested in playing or organizing any church sports, please contact     Todd Searing (tsearing@usd116.org).

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Fall Festival, Saturday, October 1

Planning is underway for the UMW Fall Festival and we need your help. Features of the festival include:

Coffee Shop (tasty treats and coffee) - Joan Neumann, Margaret Hudson

Bakery Goods (homemade pies -homemade pies cannot include cream pies, pecan or pumpkin due to health dept. regulations-, breads, rolls, and more) - Irene Milliken, Rhoda Willard

Plants (for green thumb enthusiasts)  – Virginia Sadler, Donna Reed

Jewelry (Twice-around) – Jessica Hartke, Lisa Searing

Harvest Table (Jams, jellies, caramel popcorn and more) – Mary Hackl, Shirley Jenkins

Attic Treasures (gently used items) – Wanda Adams, Nancy Welch

Crafts (handmade items) – Elise Fears, Karilyn Newnam

We are asking for donations for the features listed above as well as people willing to help. Anything you can contribute is greatly appreciated. For more information, contact any of the individuals listed above. Proceeds from the Festival go to missions.                 Top

Thank You

(Some of our thank you notes are late because we haven’t had a newsletter for a while.  We do feel they are important and want to publish them.)

Dear Church family,

   We wanted to thank all of you for sharing our special day through your presence, thoughts, prayers (& for those of you there – your laughter).  Yes, I did hit Pastor Mike, but if ever it was justified that was it!  Be sure to ask him what happened, then call me for the other view point!  Thank you for being a loving, supporting family.  I love & miss you!

                                                     Love,

                                                    Jill (King) & Steve Anderson

P.S.  We received a gift of beautiful glass Christmas ornaments with our Wedding date & names on them but no card attached.  I’d really like to know who they were from so I could thank them.

 To Grace UMC,

   Thank you so much for allowing us the use of your building for the past 2+ years.  It was a wonderful place for us to meet.  We appreciated what you did for us and our community and we helped nursing mothers and their babies.

                                                        Warmly,

                                                        LaLeche League

To my wonderful church family,

     Thank you for all your support, cards, calls, visits and food during my father’s illness and death.  My family and I feel a great loss in our lives.  Having my church family’s support is very important to me and helps to make this loss a little easier. 

     Thank you to the UMW for the wonderful meal after the service.  This is such a wonderful service provided by the women of our church.

                                                        God bless you all,

                                                         Janice Roy and the family of Dick Brown

To Grace UMC,

 It’s a pleasure serving you.  Thank you for choosing our services.  Your business is greatly appreciated.

Hoveln Heating & Cooling Inc.

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XYZs Having Fun!

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General Clean-Out Scheduled

As we prepare to move on to the next phase of our Education Wing renovation project, the Trustees have approved a general clean-out of all the rooms and closets.

Over the years, many people have gifted Grace with a wide variety of items, from books to electronics to furniture. We have made good use of these items at one time or another, and we appreciate your generosity. However, many items have either out-lived their usefulness, or we have simply acquired too many of them.

Therefore, we are asking anyone who has given Grace items that you personally would like to reclaim, please do so before Thursday, Sept.
15. After that date, we will be giving things to Goodwill or the Salvation Army or will be disposing of them.

*Note to Sunday School teachers and various group leaders:
Please make a written note of any item not currently in your classroom that you would like to have if it should become available and give it to the office.

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