The event will be at the First Reformed Church, 9 Bayard St. in New Brunswick from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will be conducted by Brian’s Wine Store, Stelton Road, Piscataway. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward scholarships for needy and deserving New Brunswick high school students for post-secondary educational expenses.

The cost is $25 per person or $40 a couple and includes the wine tasting, light refreshment and valuable door prizes. Tickets may be obtained from the church office or the following members of the Hall Education Fund: Susanne Clark, David Waanders, Susan Kramer-Mills or Kathy Fekete. We hope to see you there!

Joe and Allen provided much welcomed insight in the actual market value of the treasures people brought. However, I deemed it even more important that they provided much historical context for the various objects, and they proved extremely knowledgeable. Consider the range of things: We had everything from colonial jewelry and furniture over British etchings from the 1830s, a New England gingerbread clock and an art deco one from France, all the way to a tribal doll from Africa and a mysterious cloth document from centuries ago in India.

The Fundraising Team with Janet Waanders and Lauren Bernhofer in the lead had prepared the event well, and many contributed to the well-placed bake sale that added to the raised funds. Kathleen Boyles, a member of our Confirmation Class, did a fine job selling items. There remains only one question: When are we doing this kind of an event again?

On January 7, from 1-4PM, Joe Bodnar (Bodnar’s Auction) will be speaking about antiques and appraising anything and everything that comes through our doors. The Historic Preservation Fundraising Team is sponsoring this event to raise funds towards our matching grant. There will be refreshments, contests to test your antiques knowledge, and plenty of opportunity to share the stories behind the stuff!

We need everyone’s help to sell 100 tickets at $10 per appraisal (includes admission) and make this event a success! For the spectator only, the entry fee will be $2.00 at the door.
Please invite everyone you know!

** Note – The appraisals are for fun and enlightenment, not insurance purposes.

Please tell everyone you know about this event and help us to make it a Huge Success!

On January 7, 2012, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.,, Joe Bodnar (Bodnar’s Auction) will be speaking about antiques and appraising anything and everything that comes through our doors. The Historic Preservation Fund-raising Team is sponsoring this event to raise funds towards our matching grant. There will be refreshments, contests to test your antiques knowledge, and plenty of opportunity to either share the story of your item or hear the story behind another’s treasure!

We are limited to 100 tickets at $10 per appraisal, so don’t delay! For spectators only the entry fee will be $2 at the door. Tickets will be sold through the Church Office, 732-545-1005.

Please tell everyone you know about this event and help us to make it a Huge Success!

MPG, our general contractor has been extremely caring regarding warranty and damage issues. Earlier last month, they replaced broken leaded glass in a door in the steeple that most of us do not even know exists (please see the attached picture). In addition, their subcontractor for painting the steeple louvers came right back when we discovered a small paint problem. Due to inclement weather, we are a little bit behind schedule regarding the replacement of the church roof.

However, we still believe the majority of the work to be accomplished before Easter. In addition, Paul Nulton will be back for the Sexton’s House this month. The current white color of the façade is just primer and will soon give way to a reddish brown with the shingles on the second floor dark brown. The amber of the trim will stay. In all this, we follow Margaret Westfield’s specifications. Remediation of groundwater following the removal of the underground oil tank is ongoing. We are currently in a phase of data collecting in order to decide on next steps. I am very happy that Lauren and Gary Bernhofer have accepted the appointment from Consistory to join me in a little Remediation Task Force. Lauren and Gary’s background in science has already provided great help in better understanding not only the reports from our contractor PTS but also the requirements from N DEP. I am also happy to report that we received this past month another reimbursement from the state for the work being done.

Unfortunately, as of now, there is no indication on when we might be able to close the case.

On July 16th, we were privileged to use the Crossroads Theater for a fund-raising concert we called A Spiritual Crossroads. The theater’s own name and philosophy inspired us to think about our congregation’s experience over the years of engaging with people from many origins and faith traditions.

Three of those origins and traditions were represented by the gifts of music at the concert. Raíces Cultural Center Ensemble played music from Afro-Cuban rumba spiritual masses and batá chanting and drumming from the Orishas or forces of nature. Jeanel LeBlanc sang hymns and spirituals originating in or important to the African American experience. And Wind of Anatolia played Turkish folk music in the Anatolian tradition. By evening’s end, audience members were dancing first in the aisles and then, at Pastor Susan’s invitation, on stage with Wind of Anatolia.

We truly experienced a time at a spiritual crossroads. And the historic preservation fund is $2,000 larger, thanks to ticket sales, to ads purchased for the program, and to donations beyond the ticket price.

Many thank-yous to many folks have been expressed, but we thank Ben Berman again for his leadership in planning and organizing the event, and Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission who, through the auspices of Johnson & Johnson, offered us the space and technical staff.

It has been another busy two months for the TCCDC, which I will just report with bullet points in order to make it easier on our readers.

1. Applications for various funds have been made to the Middlesex County Continuum of Care, Middlesex County Homeless Trust Fund, Johnson & Johnson Volunteer Grants, Housing Mortgage and Finance Agency, HOME Dollars through the city of New Brunswick.
2. The architectural agency Design Ideas met with the Consistory, presenting the next draft of their redesign plans.
3. Two program agencies have been identified as partners for the social services which will be offered to the residents. These are Women Aware Domestic Violence agency and University Behavioral Health Care. Meetings with these two social service providers have taken place in order to coordinate the program offerings.
4. An intern from Rutgers School of Social Work has joined the board for a year. His name is Jaime Johnson.

Following all this construction, there was some understandable damage: Tire grooves in the cemetery, broken tile pavers in the front of the church, and cracked handrails at the main entrance. Not all of this was caused by the construction work, but together with the new damages, it has reached a point where action is required. Fortunately both, MPG and D.D.S. proved to be very cooperative. D.D.S. filled in the tire grooves and organized the replacement of tile pavers, and MPG is producing a proposal for the handrails that takes into account the origin of the old and the new damages.
In September, MPG will continue to work on our premises when its teams will replace the church roof.

We hope very much for this to be completed by Christmas, so that we can celebrate our candlelight service in a newly restored environment.

The Date and Time? July 16th at 7:00 p.m.

What are we celebrating? Over the years, First Reformed Church has developed close ties with several groups that represent different parts of Christianity, different parts of the world, and different faiths. We have benefited greatly from these associations and want to celebrate that with music.

Who will perform? Come to hear Jeanel LeBlanc sing African-American Spirituals, the band Wind of Anatolia play and sing Turkish spiritual music, and the Raices Cultural Center Ensemble perform music from Afro-Cuban Spiritual Masses.

What does the concert cost? Ticket prices are $20 for premium seats, $12.50 for general admission, and $5 for children 12 and under. Call (732) 545-1005 to purchase tickets, or visit www.firstreformedchurch.net to purchase them online. You may also purchase tickets the evening of the concert; but don’t wait, because premium seats will go quickly.

What does the concert benefit? The historic preservation project at First Reformed Church is striving to raise $487,000 to match our grant from the NJ State Historic Trust to restore the exteriors of our historic buildings, all on the National Historic Register.

The next step is replacement of the huge slate roof on the sanctuary. Imagine that your ticket will purchase some slates for that project! See you on the 16th.

Crossroads Theater was made available through the generosity of Johnson & Johnson, Inc., Middlesex County
Cultural and Heritage Commission/Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New Brunswick Cultural Center.

Middlesex County Continuum of Care Grant – An application for this grant was submitted on June 13th with the request of $200,000. The TCCDC Board has been called in for a presentation the end of July. An announcement of the grant funding will come in the fall.

Johnson & Johnson Volunteer Grant – An application for this was completed June 28th and is made possible through Lauren Bernhofer’s volunteering at FRC. The amount may be up to $10,000 and is awarded in the fourth quarter.

There are still a few other grants that the CDC Fund-raising Team will be approaching in the next couple of weeks. Donations – John Keller has formulated a donations request letter which will be reviewed by the TCCDC Board at its next meeting.

Architectural Designs
There have been two meetings with the architectural agency Design Ideas Group, AIA (Jeffrey Venezia and Kevin Scott Dunn). At the first meeting, the regulations about the size of the permanent, supportive, affordable housing units and the amount of the units – at least ten – was of particular concern, as well as the entryway to the housing section. At the second meeting, Jeffrey Venezia, who had visited the church during a worship service and had sat in on the Visioning Event in June, felt that there needed to be some adjustments made to the developing design. There will be further meetings in July with the architect and another Visioning Event is planned for Aug 14th at noon.

There was some discussion about Design Ideas Group, AIA being the architectural firm for the re-design of the worship space in order to keep the communications flowing. Further discussions will follow.

Contracts and leases
All agreements – Lease with FRC, Contract with Lawyer Steven Hambro, READS, and Design Ideas Group, AIA are on hold until the loan approval with CSH has come in.

Benefit Concert: A Spiritual Crossroads

Tickets

Child ticket $6.00General ticket $13.50Premium ticket $21.00

With that division being so determined, there are then many other incidentals to consider, some of which the RCA architect, David Cooper inspired us to reflect upon. Therefore, a special Visioning Event is scheduled for May 13, beginning at 6:00 pm with a potluck dinner and ending by 8:30 pm. Lauren and Gary Bernhofer, 24 Poplar Avenue, North Brunswick, have generously opened their homes for this event.

Please, if you need a ride, contact me and I will arrange a pick up. All our church members are welcome to attend, since this is about how our future sanctuary will be designed.

The program consists of songs by Schumann, Massenet, Bellini and Donizetti, operatic scenes from La fille durégiment, Die Fledermaus, and The Magic Flute, and selections from the musicals South Pacific, Man of La Mancha, and Kismet. You will be delighted with the variety of music we intend to present, and I promise that you will leave the church that evening with warm feelings of love, springtime, and new life.

Although this concert is free, we are asking for donations of $20 for general audience members, $16 for senior citizens, and $12 for students. This is to benefit the preservation of the Historic Buildings of the First Reformed Church.

The concert will be in the historic sanctuary of First Reformed Church, at the corner of Neilson and Bayard Streets. Enter at 9 Bayard Street. The building is handicapped accessible. Please bring a friend, and help spread the word. For additional information call 732-545-1005.

At the end of March, the total money raised for the restoration and preservation of the exteriors of our buildings had reached $317,750. If you are someone who has not yet fulfilled your entire pledge, try to do that soon as the money is needed for us to receive matching funds from the state.

New Member-At-Large: Maria Paradiso, a Rutgers professor at the School of Social Work will be sitting at the board meetings and providing support, guidance, and suggestions. She comes with ample experience in community outreach and development.

The Finance Chair reported on our proposed budget. A collection of donations from the board members was made; $125 was received. Thus the Treasurer and President were able to open a bank account Amboy Bank on George Street, New Brunswick and to make a deposit.

Fund-raising: The board approved the recommendation to meet with the Finance Committee of First Reformed Church, requesting that the church be named as the CDC’s Guarantor for the $50,000 Pre-development Loan with the Corporation of Supportive Housing.

The board approved the final version of the application to become a Community Housing Development Organization with the city of New Brunswick. The application has been submitted to Glenn Patterson at the Department of Planning & Development.

A separate meeting with a small team for fund-raising was determined, which would then look into other grant and funding sources.

Progress may feel slow, but it is steady. And what is more important, it has proven to be sustainable! It is truly remarkable how far we have come.
Meanwhile, we have to thank Paul Nulton from our Regional Synod. He used his skills last month to renovate the little entry foyer to the Randolph Room. This means that, whenever we worship again in the Randolph Room, latecomers will not have to fear that the glass door entrance to the education building might be locked. It may very well be, but now we can enter the Randolph Room directly from the outside.

Finally, a thought regarding the often-asked question whether it is not more important to donate towards one of our ministries and programs instead of the Preservation Fund: In conversation with various potential donors, this question has come up again in recent weeks.

Here is my response: Our preservation project is not luxurious at all. It is neither a beautifying project, nor is it primarily something that satisfies historians or people with special aesthetic interest. From the church’s point of view, the main purpose of the project is to protect us from calamities like leaking roofs or more collapsing walls. The old truism applies in our case especially well: If we did not provide dry and safe space for our programs and ministries, we would not have these programs and ministries much longer.

To prove my point, I’d like to point out the brownstone windowsills that fell off the building on the Bayard Street side. There are currently no plans of putting them back in. Why not? Even though they are unsightly, still they do not pose a safety threat. We have filled the holes behind them. Unfortunately, we cannot afford energy or resources at this time to correct the situation.

Truly, even with this huge preservation project, we are doing only what is absolutely necessary to keep our interior dry and safe. We are at a point where every single donation towards the Preservation Fund benefits almost directly our programs, such as our family feeding “House of Manna”, the rotating homeless men’s shelter, or even our great lunchtime recital series. So that’s why our preservation project is so important!

We have added two new board members: John Keller and Ursula Cargill. John, who lives within the bounds of the city of New Brunswick, and thus meets the board’s requirement of having a of its membership from the city. John is also a great connecter to various other organizations, including Collaborative Arts Group. Ursula’s expertise is with finance and will be our board’s Treasurer. Already she and Stef have been communicating
back and forth regarding which financial program would be best to use. We are thankful to have each of them on the board.

We have received from the IRS our official nonprofit status. This was thrilling because of all the paperwork that the application required. We are thankful and glad that it is finally completed.

We have several applications for funding sent in and are waiting for approval – without this funding we are in a holding pattern for the drafting of the plans for the sanctuary re-design. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or anyone else who is serving on the CDC Board.