It is 8:38 p.m. Nov. 12 and our family has just finished our celebration of Thanksgiving this year. We all adjusted our schedules so that most of us could get together for a holiday usually celebrated with in-laws. And it worked out quite well; stores were less crowded, traffic on the roads leading home were relatively free of congestion and less frantic, and there was an extra day to travel because of Veterans Day. All good because, as a family, we needed time to decompress and sort out feelings about the election and this gave us a good time to do so.

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The Gathering Place recently was the recipient of an incredibly generous gift from the Paul Ford family. Paul was a member of the writers’ group that meets at First Presbyterian and became a good friend to all of us as he shared his life stories. All the personal stories that make up a life- meeting and marrying his wife Nancy( who typed all his stories), his experiences during the Korean War, taking grandson cousins on vacation trips across the country, and his role during the fear-the- bomb 50s. Paul shared — and we loved him for that — and his kind and gentle nature. And now his family shares this legacy of caring with The Gathering Place and, consequently, to our community’s benefit. Thank you, Paul, for enriching all of our lives.

We had a chance to welcome Nancy Ford and her daughters to The Gathering Place on Oct. 29. They were there to see the room the Ford family gave in memory of Paul and present us with the check that will make it — our largest classroom — possible.

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Another wonderful event happened when our French cooking class met Thursday night. Sarah Mc Cully of State Street Grill had everyone on their feet stirring, poaching and torching as they all worked together to create a fabulous meal of Salad Lyonaise, Provencal Bouillbaisse and Crème Brulee. People talking learning and eating together: it doesn’t get better than that. And I thought, this is how we can bridge differences and learn from each other in a non-threatening way — making delectable food to eat while we get to know each other as human beings. We’d call it Coming Together Cooking. In many ways, our instructors have inspired us and we wish to thank them all for the giving of their expertise to their fellowmen.

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We continue to be approached by businesses wishing to help us raise funds for the completion of The Gathering Place. Body and Soul brought their massage chairs and tables to Talbots and spent the afternoon doing good for us, as well as for their clients. We thank them and can truthfully say many hands worked for good that day. Sonja’s Contemporary Clothing and Pure Suds will have a shopping event for us from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 30 where we will receive a percentage of the sales that day for our renovation. Thank you, Sonja and Jessica.

Camelot will hold a Celebrity Bartender Night from 6 to 9 p.m Dec. 8. Sid Kavulich, Barry Kaplan and Selena Waters, Pat Martin and perhaps a few more from the improv group “Here We Are in Spain” have agreed to do the honors, and we’re hoping everyone comes out for a fun night. We will have an horsd’oeurve menu available, a guitar melody in the background and drinks especially named for our night.

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Our participation in downtown events continues. We had a great day with the Trick or Treaters Oct. 29. The Gathering Place Teen Board Member Kyler popped and filled 100 bags of popcorn to pass out to the youngsters streaming along State Street. Many people took advantage of our open door policy that day to take a look at our progress, and it raised our spirits to hear so many supportive remarks and meet so many people watching our project with anticipation.

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For the latest, check out the website www.gatheringplaceCS.org

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Adult Education

Emily Rancier

Reach the Abington Journal newsroom at 570-587-1148 or by email at news@s24528.p831.sites.pressdns.com.