If you missed the canvass dinner yesterday, you missed a good time. Desserts were provided by Elba K. and William E. Needless to say, William’s strawberry rhubard pie was extraordinary, but I must admit I don’t even know what Elba baked because it was all gone before I saw any of it. Susan C. put together the entertainment, and Tracey M. (or was his name Erskine?) was the Master of Ceremonies. We got to hear excellent music by many of the usual suspects — Ruth C., Wendy E-G., Cynthia S., Kristin M. with her dad Tracey, Michael M., Lynn F. M., and of course Susan herself.

All the music was wonderful — this congregation has so many talented musicians — but I have to give a special mention to Caran W.’s non-musical contribution to the entertainment. Caran took her beloved Norton Anthology of Literature on a field trip to Chicago. She took photographs of various people with her Norton in some rather unexpected places, photographs which she shared with us in the form of a delightfully strange Power Point presentation. My favorite was the photo of the Norton with geese — turns out geese are not impressed when you try to read Faulkner to them.

One of the best parts of this canvass dinner is that we’re already most of the way to the goal. Instead of asking us for money, canvass chairs Jim and Diane E. were able to celebrate the generosity of this congregation.