Reporter

Officers for 2010 are Linda Meyer, President; Deb Schademan, Vice President; Marcia Beck, Secretary; Gwen Lindberg, Treasurer; Marjorie Hass, Christian Growth. If you are interested in joining LWML you can contact me at 372-2864 or e-mail at alfalfa@skyww.com. Our Circles meet on the 4th week of the month in Jan, Feb, April, May, July, Aug, Oct and Nov. We meet together as a group in March, June, Sept and Dec. Circles meet on Tuesday and Wed afternoon, Thurs evening and Tues morning.

Spring Workshop will be held at Zion, Bancroft on April 19th at 6:30 p.m. with a salad supper. The proposed Bible Study topic is "The Great Flood of 2010". The NE District North LWML Convention will be held Jun 4 & 5th at King of Kings in Omaha.

Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s Christmas program and cookie walk at the Nielsen Center. Proceeds of the cookie walk were $1,455.25 plus $250.00 from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER

Faith can move mountains!

Our theme this year at St. Paul Lutheran School emphasizes this point, and our students have studied several “Heroes of the Faith” from Scripture who experienced God’s incredible power in their lives. Yet, for many of us the day-to-day routine of life seems to get in the way. When confronted by the everyday “mountains” of life, we try to go it alone and shut out those around us…especially God. We think we are the ones who can move the mountains instead of putting it in the hands of a loving God who has promised to always be with us. We forget that God has placed in our lives a body of believers, friends in Christ, who are there to uplift us and encourage us. One of the lessons we attempt to teach the students at St. Paul is that being a friend to others is the way we can help others experience God’s love in their lives. May God help us all learn that lesson!

The National Lutheran School Accreditation process is fast approaching another major event, the team visit. Our visiting team has been approved. It includes: Captain, Dallas Koffarnus from Lincoln, D J Weddle from West Point Public, Sister Mary Ann Tupy from Guardian Angels, and Mary Dahlhauser from Trinity Lutheran School in Fremont. They will be visiting our school April 19-21 and observing classes and speaking to parents, teachers, students and other individuals involved with the school. On Monday evening there will be a reception and dinner for the visiting team as well as all Board of Ed members and committee members who worked on the accreditation process.

We are also looking forward to holding our second annual banquet and dance at the Nielsen Center on Saturday, February 6. I would like to thank the committee for all their hard work in planning this special event. Tickets are $125/person and are available through the school, church and at all local banks. This year we are trying something new by offering corporate tables for 8 people for $900. Please contact Deb Skaggs if you are interested in one or for more information. The event also has an official name, EAGLE (Empowering Another Generation in Lutheran Education). We hope to see you on Feb. 6 for an evening of fun, fellowship and celebration.

Finally, I would ask those of you with children entering Kindergarten or Preschool next year to mark Thursday, March 11, on your calendars. On this day St. Paul will hold its annual Kindergarten and Preschool Roundup. More details will be shared with you as the time gets closer.

Please continue to pray for the ministry of St. Paul Lutheran School as we strive “to assist and support parents in providing a Christ-centered education.”

Dennis Rosenthal

This winter sure has been crazy for the teachers and students! Anyone who prayed for a snow day got more than they bargained for. We must remember God always has a better plan than we do.

Basketball is in full swing for the boys and girls. Their first tournament was in Battle Creek at St. John’s Lutheran School. The boys took 3^rd place and the girls took 4^th. The girls played Hooper at home and won. The boys had another tournament at Trinity Fremont and took 2^nd place. The girls had a round-ball tournament Jan. 23 and 24 in Madison. The boys will have a round-ball tournament in Hastings Jan. 30 and 31. Our St. Paul Tournament will be Feb. 13. The following weekend, Feb. 19-21, the girls will travel to Seward for the C-Club Tournament, and the boys’ C-Club Tournament is the weekend after that, Feb. 26-28.

Our recent fundraisers were very successful this year. The paper drive that was held in December brought in $222.60. The pre-school Cookie Walk raised $1,855.00, which included matching funds through Thrivent Financial.

We received $1,000.00 from Qwest for all the volunteer hours provided by Don Brockmann. Thank you Don.

Our Soup and Sloppy Joe luncheon is Thursday, Jan 28. Proceeds will go towards the purchase of a new Reading curriculum.

Pending approval, the PTL will purchase a new popcorn machine for the school and will pay miscellaneous fees for the Accreditation process. There is a PTL meeting after church on Feb. 14 since the school children sing that day. Our PTL officers are Sarah Hughes and Jessica Conant, co-Presidents; and Kari Haase, Secretary/Treasurer.

Winners of our Geography Bee are Shania Hass, first place; Anna VanderGriend second and Elizabeth Eckmann third. Shania will take a written test soon which will be sent in and to qualify for the State Bee.

Congratulations to Reece Snodgrass, Bailey Hickey, Destiny Kubik and Nathan Groth who were students of the month for December.

Principal’s Honor Roll: Cole Hughes, Leigh Jahnke, Garret Meyer, Ben Jahnke, Anna VanderGriend, Ty Haase, Hunter Schroeder, Elizabeth Eckmann.

Honor Roll: Justice Bettenhausen, Megan Groth, Brittney Hinkel, Janae Skaggs, Heidi Marksmeier, Nathan Groth, Heath Schroeder, Shania Hass

Empowering Another Generation in Lutheran Education Last year’s 125^th anniversary celebration banquet and dance was such a success, it will be an annual event to fund our tuition assistance program.

Our tuition assistance program provided almost $6,000 in scholarships to 10 families in our school last year. Without this help many of these families may not have been able to send their children to our school. With your help we will continue to guarantee these children can receive a Christ-centered education.

This year’s formal event is Saturday, February 6, at the Nielsen Community Center. Social hour begins at 6 pm, followed by a banquet, music and dance.

Come celebrate Christian education, reunite with old friends, and assist the current students at St. Paul Lutheran School.

Tickets are $125.00 per person and can be purchased at St. Paul Lutheran School or Church, F&M, Charter West and Wells Fargo Banks or by mail.

If you are unable to attend and would like to purchase a ticket so someone else can attend, or make a contribution of any amount, that would be greatly appreciated.

Ladies Aid held their Christmas party and gift exchange December 3 with 22 guests who have been faithful helpers by serving at funerals this past year. Each guest received a gift of an angel and again we do thank them for their help. It is very much appreciated. We served twelve lunches this past year.

New officers installed are Kay Hoffman, President; LaVonne Woodka, Secretary; Visiting committee, Bernice Miller, Darlene Schwinck and Marjorie Hass. Currently serving as Treasurer is Betty Bettenhausen and Vice President is Eileen Meyer.

Ladies Aid prepared and delivered 36 cheer boxes at Christmas time and phone card gifts were sent to our members in active military service.

We sponsored a radio broadcast with our Birthday fund and voted to send $100.00 to Orphan Grain Train for Haiti Earthquake relief.

We will provide 30 dozen cookies for the Blood Mobile February 8. All donations of cookies are greatly appreciated.

Remember there are greeting cards for all occasions available for sale in the showcase in the social room. Payment can be given to the church office. Valentine cards are in the case now and Confirmation and Easter cards will be available soon.

A poinsettia was given by Ron and Mary Neiman in honor of their 45^th wedding anniversary on December 27.

Bill and Alice Reeson by Marlin Reeson, Sheryl Sukup and Dawn Adams and families;

Dwain and Adeline Muller, Frank and Alvina Kreikemeier, Terry Muller and Mary Jo Kreikemeier by Ron and Linda Kreikemeier and family;

Niel & Irene Heyne and Allen and Evelyn Reimers, by Jim and Carol Reimers & family;

Marriage Encounter weekends are for a husband and wife who love each other and desire to better their communication and increase their appreciation for each other and their marriage. Newlywed couples to couples married fifty or more years are encouraged to consider this opportunity. The next opportunity for a Lutheran Marriage Encounter weekend is March 5-7, 2010, at the Good Samaritan Retreat Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The cost is $45 to register. This reserves your room and meals. A freewill donation is taken at the end of the weekend. Questions? Registration? Check the website: www.Godlovesmarriage.org or contact:

Thank You from Debbie and I to all those who expressed their wishes of Christmas blessings with cards and gifts this Christmas season.

Thank You to Ladies Aid and all the individuals for the Christmas gifts, cards and Christmas wishes received. It is a blessing to have your love and support.

Thank You to Don Brockmann and the Qwest Foundation for the donation of $1000.00 to St. Paul Lutheran School in recognition of Don’s volunteer hours at St. Paul School.

Salvation Army
Thank you to Alco, Graybeal’s, Lincoln Street Market, and Pamida for your support and allowing the Salvation Army Bell Ringers at your locations during the Christmas season.

And thank you to all those who volunteered to ring bells for this year’s campaign, and to those who made contributions to the kettles. West Point bell ringers raised a total of $1,780.24. It is only with your generous support that the Salvation Army is able to help those in need.

Giving Tree
Thank you to all those who gave gifts from the giving tree. Items given include baptism candles, communion wine, postage stamps, printer cartridge, Nebraskaland subscription for school, donations for Christian assistance, Sunday school and the church library. Thank you to the circle for making the tags and setting up the tree this year.

Pictorial Directory
If you missed signing up to have your picture taken for our pictorial directory, there’s still time. Due to the snow storm, February 9 has been added to the schedule and there are still a few openings. Just call the church office to sign up.

SURFING THE WEB—

+The Haiti earthquake can be helped by your dollars. Check out Lutheran World Relief at www.lcms.org/worldrelief

+Orphan Grain Train is helping. Check www.ogt.org and click on “donate now.”

Mousie likes her comfort and is very happy living in St Paul’s church building. So when she peeked her nose out the door the other day, she decided to stay inside and not venture out into that cold white stuff.

But she wondered how all those big people could bundle up, brave the weather and tackle the parking lots! They came with scoops and big machines and made short work of the frozen tundra.

Please remember to notify the church of your new address. Each returned piece of mail costs us.

Lutheran Women In Mission