Saints Among Us Read Free

asked.
    “In the Assembly Room at the chapel. I’ve already pitched the idea to the Seniors Social Circle and they liked it although they got a bit overwhelmed thinking about how to implement it.”
    “So you would chair it?” Alice asked. Heaven knew Ethel could organize a litter of kittens to walk in a straight line. However, she never would be listed on a Top Ten Tactful People list, and the potential for problems was a concern.
    Ethel nodded.
    “When would you have the first one?”
    “Sometime next fall. I was thinking October, around the harvest season.”
    Louise shook her head. “Everyone and his brother have craft shows while the weather is mild in September and October. Hold it the first Saturday in December, and market it as an opportunity to pick up hand-made gifts and Christmas goodies. That’s sure to be successful.”
    Ethel sat up straighter. “That’s a wonderful idea. If we do that, we could have one this year!”
    There was another silence around the table as the three younger women realized they really had heard their aunt correctly.
    Jane’s eyes were wide as she asked, “Don’t you think that’s a bit…ambitious, Aunt Ethel? The first week in December is only a month away!”
    “Yes,” said Louise. “I really don’t think’”
    “Oh, nonsense,” said Ethel in a robust tone. “So we’ll start small and expand it next year.”
    “If it’s successful,” Alice qualified.
    “Of course it’ll be successful.” In Ethel’s mind, that was a given. By now she was practically rubbing her hands together. “We’ll sell places for booths to local crafters, and the Grace Chapel congregation will also make craft items. We can profit even more if we run a concession area for lunch and have a selection of baked goods for sale.”
    “Goodness, that sounds like a lot of planning,” Alice said faintly. “I suppose if you’re going to try all those things, you might want to have each crafter donate one item for a raffle or a silent auction.”
    “I think that a silent auction requires too many volunteers,” Louise put in. “You need a lot of people to oversee the bidding, or you wind up with unhappy bidders who are sure someone else did something wrong.”
    “That’s true, unfortunately,” Jane said.
    “But you could let people purchase tickets,” Louise continued. “Place a box in front of each raffle item, and people could pop their tickets into the box for the item they want to win. They could put one ticket in several different boxes or fill one box with a bunch of tickets if there is something they want badly. Then at the end of the fair, a winning ticket is drawn from each box.”
    “Would people have to be there to win?” Jane asked. “That could be a hassle.”
    “No.” Louise shook her head. “We could ask them to write their names and phone numbers on each ticket. After the crafts fair is over, we could deliver the winning items or hold them at the church office and let the winners come pick them up.”
    “Oh, you girls have been an enormous help,” Ethel cried. “And you have such wonderful ideas. You all should be on the crafts-making committee.”
    “I don’t believe I’ll have time.” Louise barely missed a beat. “I recently picked up two new piano students, and I had hoped to visit Cynthia in Boston before Thanksgiving as well.”
    She barely had the words out before Alice said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t commit to that if I’m not even going to be in town. I probably will be able to help by the day of the event though.”
    “I can do that too,” said Louise.
    “Well,” said Ethel with a heavy sigh. “I suppose that leaves you and me to plan this, Jane.”
    “I’”
    “Why don’t you chair the crafts committee? If you’re able to take care of that, I’ll deal with the setup and the food and the raffle and all those types of details.”
    “I suppose I could do that,” Jane said faintly.
    As the one who was often on the receiving end of