Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Tuesday, August 6th, 2024.
Have your host James J. Bailoff here at 430.
We're to welcome in our friends from the Southwood County YMCA, looking forward to that.
Right now, looking forward to talking to one of our favorite people, Reverend Beth Habhacker,
is with us.
Beth, good to see you.
Good to see you too.
Thank you for having me.
Always appreciate the time from you and appreciate what the Moravian Church does in our community.
You guys stretch beyond so many different things and reach so many different areas that we don't always get a chance to talk about.
And we're going to talk about that a little bit today.
I would like to start off if you don't mind Beth talking about the Grace Group.
Yes, so Grace stands for Greater Rapids Area Churches for Humanism.
It's a newly formed organization, kind of our ministerial association, but with an emphasis on doing things for the community.
So last year we began with a new event to help families in our communities that might be struggling financially with paying off food service debt.
At different high schools, we started with Nikusa and we're going to do it again.
We did it in May of last year.
We're doing it in September this year.
So a nice fall kickoff as the school begins.
So we're going to have it on September 7th, which is a Saturday starting at 8 a.m.
It's a little early, but it'll be nice and cool.
We don't have to worry about the heat of the sun.
So we're going to start this year instead of having it in Nikusa.
We're doing it here in Rapids.
And the starting and ending point will be at the first congregational UCC church on First Street South.
We'll start there.
We're going to have a couple of stops where we'll take a moment to just pray for our schools and for our students and our families and our staff to just kind of bless them that it's a good year.
It's about a one mile, one and a half mile loop.
If you want to do a full 5K, you just do the loop twice.
And then that way you get that in.
And again, this is, we'll be going to help families pay off school meal debt.
We want to make sure that our seniors can graduate and get their diploma when they graduate so that they have their transcripts to be able to go to college.
And this is one of the ways we can support families that may be struggling.
For those that don't know, if you don't have your debts paid, you are not able to collect your diploma.
Correct.
So that is a key part of this.
And even without that, just making sure that families, kids have food that they need.
They have the fuel that they need for to help them learn and to help them grow.
It's a wonderful idea and it's a fantastic thing that Grace Group has added to our community.
I do want to also take a shout out to everybody involved in the Grace Group.
We have learned a lot from our nonprofits in this area and better than most and I think learned before a lot of other groups did of how much better we are when we work together.
Absolutely.
How much stronger we are, but it sounds really good on paper to get human beings to pull it off and to do it is a whole other gamut.
It's very cool to see that you guys have been able to do that.
Along with a lot of our nonprofits in this area, I'm very proud of that and I like to note that whenever we have a chance.
We're doing something a little bit different and our group has really striven to pull together to show that we are one.
We need different denominations, we may have different political or theological slants, but we can still work together for the common good.
That's what we're really trying to do.
With this walk, different from last year, is this year instead of offering a suggested donation to be able to participate in the walk?
We're asking you to get sponsors.
Go to your friends and family and say, hey, I'm doing this walk.
I want to help relieve this debt. Would you be willing to contribute something to it?
We'll create a sheet for you and have you just in the weeks coming up.
Register, let us know that you're coming, get those sponsors, and then whatever we raised from that will be given to the schools.
That's a fun idea and it gets more people involved and more people having that good feeling of being involved in this.
There may be people that want to be able to help that ministry without being able to walk, or maybe they're not available that particular Saturday, but they still want to be able to support the schools in that way.
This is a way to support those families.
That registration, you mentioned, that's coming up soon.
It will be, as we get more information, I will pass that along so you can get it out.
Excellent, thank you for that, Beth.
Again, a big shout out to you and everybody involved in the Grace Group.
Doing some really good work there. We appreciate you.
We're looking, as forward as we are looking to the walk-off debt, which again is Saturday, September 7th.
I'm looking forward to other things that you guys might do too.
If you put all your creatives together and you get the passion that you guys have and everything, this community is going to be better for it.
On the worship side of things, we are doing two different community worship services coming up.
One will be for Thanksgiving. It will be the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
Then we're also doing a Blue Christmas service again this year for those who may be struggling during the holiday seasons.
Keep an eye out. Maybe I'll be able to get a chance to come back and promote those in particular as we get closer and let you know where and when and all of that.
From when I hear you've got some pretty good connections around here, you'll be back.
I feel like you'll be back. I feel like you'll be.
We're definitely going to appreciate both of those services that you guys offer.
We'll talk more about those as we get closer to them.
It is still summer. We are in the season of that and we are the season of Broughts and Brought Fries.
Yes. One of our favorite things in this area. You guys got one coming up?
We do. We enjoyed interacting with the community so much over the Fourth of July weekend that we wanted to do it again.
So in August on August 17th, that is a Saturday.
There will be an outdoor farmer's market and we are just a block south of that.
We will be having a Brought Fry in our parking lot starting at 9 a.m. and going to 2 p.m.
But that's not all. Wait, there's more. There's more.
We are also going to be offering a rummage sale.
So if you're looking for a couple of things, you want to help find a second home for things that people are willing to let go of,
come check us out. That will also be happening at the same time.
So the way we're going to do this is the Brought Fry will be in our parking lot.
The rummage sale will be out by that large brick cross tower on 1st Avenue right at the river.
So you literally can just take that extra little block down from the farmer's market.
See what we've got at the rummage sale and hey, you're there anyway.
Come around and have some lunch with us.
Legally in the state of Wisconsin, if you see a Brought, you have to buy it.
Oh, there you go.
You have to have one.
If you haven't had enough Broughts this summer, there is a number there you have to hit.
You want to get those Broughts in. You definitely do.
And I don't know a single person out here that does not love a rummage sale is a fantastic idea.
The only problem is I don't know if you've copyrighted it.
That's such a good idea. It's so good.
I cannot imagine how many people are going to enjoy this.
And especially nice timing with kind of, if you don't mind,
kind of combining it or piggybacking off of the farmer's market.
It's a great, people are down there already.
Come on just a couple of more blocks or a couple more steps really.
And you're right there for this.
You grab that Brought, you can eat it while you're walking over to the rummage sale.
Finish the Brought, you're over there and you're able to find some cool things, some repurposed stuff.
And enjoy yourself.
And I'll be around.
So if you have any questions about what in the world is a Moravian,
I would be glad to sit and have a conversation with you.
We'll also have some literature there to just explain who we are.
But basically we just want to serve Christ by helping others by sharing who we are and what we can do.
And it's a great opportunity to also expand your knowledge of this,
of what you guys do over there.
And knowledge is not just power, it's life.
And it's a way of understanding each other more.
Right.
So I think that's a really good note, Beth.
If you've been ever curious about this, encourage it or just head on down there.
I've mentioned this many times about you.
You're the first person I've been around, whether it is a rabbi, a reverend or anybody,
that I feel comfortable asking those questions too.
Now we got that through years ago.
So I got no more new questions for you.
But I do appreciate that.
And as speaking as somebody who has never necessarily been comfortable asking those questions of somebody in your position,
I appreciate that and respect that so much, not just from you, but from the Moravian Church.
So it goes a long ways, everybody.
And it's honestly for me what started out as nervous questions turned into curiosity
and really enjoying the information and the conversation.
And it's just a wonderful conversation to be able to have, I think, in this day and age.
So I encourage you to do that and get a broad, enjoy the rummage sale.
Yeah.
Coming up August 17th, 92.
Right. And as you mentioned, it'll be piggybacking kind of from the farmer's market.
Yes.
So you're going on down there for the farmer's market and enjoy these things as well.
Absolutely.
We're speaking with Reverend Beth Havagger from the Wisconsin-Ravism Moravian Church.
And Beth, I also wanted to make sure that we cover the book sale going on.
Yes. We're doing, we're glad to be able to offer this once again here in our community.
We are currently in the process of collecting books.
So if you have books that are looking for a second life, we would be glad to help you with that.
The bin is outside of our glass doors in the parking lot.
And that is available to put books in 24-7.
If you happen to be dropping them off during Monday through Friday, 9-1.
When our office is open, you are welcome to bring them into the building.
We already have people hard at work sorting them so that we can get them ready to be put out for the book sale itself.
That's wonderful.
Beth, whether we're, with the book sale, we're certainly, this is like a lot of book sales.
We're not just looking for any books.
We're looking for ones that are in decent shape.
Correct.
That's something to keep in mind with this.
But outside of really that factor, it, you know, will take all books here.
We're looking forward to it.
And we're focusing on books.
We try not to do magazines or anything like that, but we'll also take records.
If you have LPs that you're looking to get rid of, CDs, those kind of things.
We do take some of that as well.
We are really looking for anybody that might be willing to donate large print books.
We have a lot of older members of our community that come looking specifically
for those types of books.
And we always have a very small supply.
So if you know of anybody that is looking to possibly let go of some large print books,
we would be glad and rejoice in taking those from you.
How long will the bin be out there?
The bin will be out until September 15th.
That's where we're cutting things off so that we have a chance to make sure we've gone through everything
to get the basement set up so that we can welcome you in October to come and buy other books.
Yeah.
And so the book sale itself will go on in October.
It will.
It Thursday and Friday, the 10th and 11th of October and then Saturday, October 12th.
It's very similar.
All of our proceeds, anything that we raise that day will go towards scholarships at Midstate Technical College.
And I want to piggyback off of that, Beth, because everything we've talked about today
is really gearing up towards helping things in our community.
Correct.
Where you mentioned with the book sale and what that contributes to it.
And not just our community, but our future,
with helping something like that.
And certainly is that this case with the Broad Fry rummage sale,
where those proceeds are going towards, is it going towards this?
It's going towards things that the Bravian Church are putting into the community.
Correct.
It's going to help us be able to keep going to be able to offer these things to the community,
which is something that we really need to be able to do.
We've got a cleansing waters ministry as well, where we receive referrals from different agencies
to help families that are struggling to be able to do laundry.
And so we meet them at a laundry mat and we pay to do their laundry.
And that way the money that they would have paid for that will go towards something else,
maybe electrical rents, utilities, you never can tell.
So it's one of the many ways that we try to reach out and support the community
in which we find ourselves.
With the United Ways Al's report,
we've known better than ever how there is no real difference between you
and somebody, quote-unquote, struggling.
We're talking like a couple hundred bucks often
that are the difference between that and those.
And when it comes to being able to help those,
this is where we all hands on deck and in our community really steps up.
And it's noteworthy because these are things,
all of these things are things that are not handouts, they're handouts.
Correct.
They're lifting somebody up and giving them encouragement,
giving them confidence so that they can go out there and do these things on their own
and they don't necessarily need.
So then next person up, next family up, we can help them and they can go on.
All of this, I always like to cover every base weekend with these topics
and I think that there are a lot of people out there that we already had them.
They're already on board with this and want to be a part of it.
So those may be on the fence or fringe or anything.
I imagine that you care about your economy.
I imagine you care about your taxes.
All of these things help that, help bring those things down.
All of these things better our community.
There is no side effect to any of these.
Side effects may include none of that, none of that.
We got none of that.
All of these are positives, all of these are great things.
And while they're important things that they're doing, I also want to remind everybody
how fun all of these events are.
You do a masterful job.
And I should say the Grace Group as well.
Do a really good job of, okay, we have this important thing we want to bring attention to
and we want help with.
But we want to have a good time while we're doing it.
We want to enjoy ourselves.
You guys do a great job of balancing both of those.
They're going to be really fun events.
And all of this we're looking forward to.
And more, you know, as we continue to talk throughout the year and everything.
See what other things are going on.
If you don't mind Beth, I'd like to kind of rehash or revive over some of the things we've talked about today.
So the, let's go right from the beginning, the Grace Group,
and what you guys are doing with that coming up the walkoff debt.
Yes, we are doing a, it was thought to be a 5K,
but it will be a mile and a half.
And if you want to go that extra mile and a half to make it a 5K, you're welcome to do that.
We will be starting at the first congregational church on 1st,
2nd Street South in Wisconsin Rapids.
Walking a giant loop will be going by the school district offices and pausing to pray there.
We're going to go by, I believe that's how school on 8th Street, praying there,
coming back around to Veterans Park, having a prayer for the community there.
And these won't be prayers to try to convince you to be a certain type of Christian,
just an opportunity to ask God to bless the school year and those that participate in our educational system.
So we're looking forward to doing that and all of the proceeds from the sponsors that our walkers get
will go towards helping to pay off the school meal debt that some of our students find themselves having.
So that specifically our seniors can get their transcripts.
And there's the rummage sale and broad fry coming up this month.
That's correct on August 17th.
We'll have the rummage sale down on 1st Avenue, right along the river,
just a block down from the farmers market, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
And then you can come around to the backside of the building where our parking lot is
and grab a broader, a hamburger, some baked goods, and just enjoy a meal together.
And of course we have the community book sale going on.
That is running, you will let you have until September 16th to drop books off.
September 15th will be having our book been out.
And then the then itself will be happening on October 10th, 11th and 12th.
Very excited about all of this.
You can find out more at www.marivian.org, www.marivian.org.
And before I let you go back, there was some things that I didn't want to touch on that services
that you guys offer at the Marivian Church.
For one, those that are not able to get to the church for services
because of whatever disabilities or that, that you guys have a travel assistance
kind of a program that is available.
We do.
We never get the touch on that.
No.
I mean to all the time and I forget and stuff.
So I wanted to make sure to make a note of it today.
We don't, we want to make sure that everybody that wants to be at the church for worship
is able to be at the church for worship.
So if you're interested in coming to our services, just give us a call at the church office
and we'll try to coordinate a way to get you there.
And you can do that again going to www.marivian.org and you can find all the contact information right there.
And if that is not your interest, you want to take in services, but maybe you want to stay at home.
You want to be at home to be able to do it, especially after the pandemic.
You know this better than I do.
During the pandemic, there were so many people that wanted to continue to celebrate their faith,
to do things faith wise and weren't able to.
And some people kind of got a little bit homebound with it.
But you have this a program even for that at YouTube.
Correct. And we do have older members of our congregation that physically aren't necessarily able to get out of their house,
but still want to be a part of our congregation.
So we began having worships on Zoom and you can find that link on our website www.marivian.org.
Go to our worship tab and then there's a link in that area.
Or if you aren't able to make it during our worship time itself on a Sunday morning,
we live stream the service and keep it on our YouTube channel,
which is Wisconsin Rapids Moravian Church.
So go to YouTube, type in that and all of our services as much as we can.
Are there?
You can either look under live or videos and we've got services from I think the last two to three years.
Yeah. And they're not only meaningful and noteworthy services that are very timely,
but as somebody who's been on stage with this woman, you get a performance.
You get a good show, everybody.
Nothing but a good show from Beth.
It's a really nice service and encourage you to take it in.
Again, www.marivian.org and find them on your YouTube page,
just type in your search bar, Wisconsin Rapids Moravian Church.
And Beth, there's something else about recycling your ink cartridges
that I wanted to make sure to note as well.
Yeah. A lot of us have at home printers or photocopiers
and often we have to get new cartridges and we go,
we just throw out the old one, right?
Yeah.
Well, there's an opportunity to contribute that to the church and then the church can use that
and exchange it, take it back to staples, we'll take them.
And then we can get some credit and we're able to use that for other areas
and other things that we might need for the church so that we can shift money around
towards cleansing waters and other areas where we can help the community.
Yeah, it's a really cool program, really smart program.
And thank you to staples about that.
Thank you to your staff and everybody doing the leg work on that.
And thank you to, of course, the community that donates these at helps
and puts into this community.
We appreciate that so very much.
Appreciate the work that you all are doing over there.
Again, go to YouTube, type in your search bar,
Wisconsin Rapids Moravian Church and subscribe to their page.
And you can find out more at www.muravian.org, www.muravian.org.
Beth, is there any other contact information or for social media
that we should make sure to mention here?
We do have a Facebook page so you can find us under Wisconsin Rapids Moravian Church.
I have been trying to update my social media personally
so you can find WRMC pastor on Instagram, on Facebook.
Cool.
So we're trying to do our best to utilize this new technology.
I gotta find you on that.
I don't think I have you on that.
I gotta find you on that.
I like those pages.
I'll definitely do that.
And we encourage you to do that because it's not only a way of keeping up
to date on things at the Moravian Church, but oftentimes things in our community,
whether it's with the Grace Group or other things that the Moravian Church is doing
and a shout out to the Grace Group to the Moravian Church.
And do you, Beth?
And Grace does also have a Facebook page.
So if you're looking to find out a little bit more about the Greater Rapids area
at churches for humanism, you can look us up on Facebook as well.
Yeah, be sure to do that, everybody, and support those that support our community.
Beth, always wonderful hanging out with you talking to you.
We will probably be bringing you in on the morning show soon, so we'll talk soon.
Okay.
If anything, we will definitely be talking as we closer to some of these events and bringing you in.
We appreciate that.
Thank you.
We'll have more Midday Magazine coming up for you right here at 975 FM 1320 AM WFHR.
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