June 23: Bike Ride and Picnic

This Sunday - Pentecost - is our community bike ride and picnic after coffee hour ... read on for full details!

Please bring your bikes to the garage (9:45 to 10:30) to store them during the church service. We will have hot dogs for the coffee hour in Archangel Michael Hall. Every biker will receive a water bottle, and there will be water fountains available at the park space. Bikers are planning to leave at 12:30 pm and come to the picnic place at about 1:15 pm. Those who are not riding a bike can come directly to our picnic place in shelter 5 (click here for map).. This is easily accessible by driving north on Arcade (Hwy 61) and taking the first right after Frost Ave.

Bike route: We will ride south from the church to Phalen Parkway (Bruce Vento Trail) and west on the Gateway Trail. Maps will be available Sunday morning for bikers and drivers. (Please contact Eric Saathoff if you would like to be a chaperone during our bike ride.)

Food: Please bring fruits, veggies, meat, cheese, bread, salads, and anything you like to eat yourself and share with others. Drinks (juice and water) will be provided by Julia Melnik; beer is also allowed at our shelter. (Mina Jacobs, Joanne Bergman, and Juli Tarsney volunteered to bring your potluck food to the picnic place by their car. Please let Marina Ardichvili know if you would like to volunteer.)

Picnic time: The shelter is on the quiet side of the hill away from the road, and there are accessible public restrooms, a kiddies play area right beside our pavilion, and a field of our own for frisbees, etc, so feel free to bring your play equipment. (Please contact Andrea Basset for questions and suggestions regarding games and activities during the picnic time.)

June 30: Presentation on Changes to the Accessibility Project Designs -
Save the Date!

All the feedback we received from our series of parish meetings has been considered, and some of it integrated. The parish council has reviewed the changes and approved them. The city building inspector has reviewed the resulting preliminary plans and approved them. Come and see how things have evolved, and hear how the suggestions were considered. We hope to have visuals up in Archangel Michael Hall 2 weeks before the meeting and email you the updated plans at least 1 week before it.

Energy Audit Opportunity

HTOC's raingardens were featured at a May 30 "Greening Your Congregation Workshop" at Archangel Michael Hall, coordinated by the local nonprofit Alliance for Sustainability. One of the organizations at the workshop was Applied Energy Innovations (AEI), which does "solar electric and solar water heating design and installation, lighting efficiency upgrades, plus heating and air conditioning (HVAC) for residential and small commercial buildings." AEI will do a no-charge assessment of our campus for potential improvements and offer recommendations for our consideration. What is needed is a parish member to coordinate with the company to do a walk around at church, and help to present the information to parish council for its consideration of any proposals. If interested, please , who will put you in contact with the company representative

Speaking of Raingardens ...

If you haven't been out to look at the native plantings in the three raingardens in the side yard of Archangel Michael Hall, please do so when you get a chance. The prairie smoke just finished flowering, and the golden alexanders still look great. What will flower next? All the rain from the roof of the hall is now going into the raingardens, not into the storm sewers. There is an ongoing need for weeding in the gardens, but some care is required in recognizing what is "native vegetation" versus "weed." If you are interested in this stewardship opportunity, please .