I said it last year and I’ll continue tooting the horn . . . First Presbyterian Church of Newark is truly blessed to have so many members of the congregation, those of the recovering community and our Boy Scout Troops, who are willing to give of their time and talents to help maintain our grounds and buildings. Because of this we were able to hold our First Annual FPC Yard Sale and Blue Jean Sunday! Many of you probably don’t know that we realized over $1800.00 at the yard sale! That’s an incredible feat! Start putting your items away for next year! Blue Jean Sunday was also a great success. In addition to weeding the flower beds and trimming the bushes, the overgrown boxwood hedge came down to let all who pass by see our beautiful church!

All our annual building, fire alarm, sprinkler system and boiler inspections and the Board of Health inspection of the Lower Sanctuary Kitchen for Montessori use were completed. The sprinkler system in Westminster House needed a booster installed to insure water gets to the fire in under 60 seconds. This was a $1200.00 expense we did not expect.

The Board completed the "drainage" project on the West–side of the Sanctuary that we started planning last year. A large catch basin was installed between the Sanctuary and Westminster House and the surrounding grounds were re-graded to direct all the water run-off from the Sanctuary roof to that catch basin to prevent water from seeping into the Lower Sanctuary and causing the mold and mildew problems we experienced in 2003 and 2004. So far, it is doing its job!

The Board of Trustees continues to let out to the lowest, most responsive bidder those jobs we could not complete on our own – mainly tree removal, which seems to be an annual event!

Projects to be considered by the Board for 2006 includes purchasing and installing a rack system for the garage so we can store our items without damaging them and get to them more easily; replacing the walk from the street to the Sanctuary; replacing carpet in some of the rooms of Westminster House; replacing the carpet in Memorial Hall West with something more durable; sealing and striping the parking lot; illuminating the cross on the outside of the Sanctuary, and, of course, take care of any unforeseen repairs.

I’d like to thank the following members, who are no longer serving on the Board - Bernie Alexander, Bob Crowder, Ann Ferreira, John Hamilton, Mindy Hidenfelter, Eugenia Nichols and Paul Stoecker, for their dedication. Please welcome with me new Board Members Dana Sheppard, Bob Schantz and Scott Sheldon.

We are looking forward to what challenges the new year will bring and will continue to strengthen and expand the programs already in place.