Feasts and Celebrations

 I love to sit down to a feast set at a long table filled with good things.  We had the opportunity to share just such a feast recently.  Robin and I decided to invite ourselves to my brother and sister in law's house for Christmas dinner.  And while we were at it we decided to invite ourselves to sleep over as well!  It was a great feast of turkey and salad and good wine.  What a blessing to enjoy such a feast with people we love.  

 Of course the star of the gathering is my granddaughter, Zoe.  You can tell she is the star by the fact that she has a star on her shirt in the photo to the right.  She is a whirling dervish of life packed into a little 18 month old package.  Grandchildren truly are the greatest reward for surviving youth and making it to old age.  Zoe is blessed with an abundance of grandparents on both sides of her family.  It is a joy to watch her mother try to  keep up with an incredibly sharp mind and equally keen will.  Zoe will grow up to do great things, I am sure of it.
This feast we also a chance to visit with my niece, Kari.  She now lives in Huston, Texas of all places on God's (somewhat) green earth.   Kari has developed an appreciation of wine over the years, so it is always fun to talk with her about what she has been drinking.  We started our meal with an '06 St Innocent's Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.  From there we proceeded to a Washington State Riesling.  We brought Kari an '06 Bethel Heights Pinot Noir to take home with her to Texas.

Wine reminds me that I am a rich person.  It certainly is not necessary for life.  It is an extravagance.  So, I try to be thankful for just how blessed I am.  Part of that blessing is good wine.  Part of it is being surrounded by family and friends who love me and put up with me.   Part of it is feasts at which we can eat much more than we need for our daily bread.  This feast culminated in a pinochle tournament!  We ended up staying overnight and then into the next day and on into a second supper.  We were graciously asked if we'd like to spend another night.  But we know that "fish and friends start to stink after three days" so we made our way home, driving past the very wineries that had produced the wines we had just enjoyed.  And that's the final blessing.  I live in a wonderful, green, beautiful place, where they make truly beautiful wines.  

Farewell Wednesday Wines

 That's Kathy Campbell talking to Robin in the photo above.  Kathy has been the public face of Wednesday Wines since we opened shop in 2007.  A year ago Robin and I decided we would not be able to continue as partners in the shop.  At about that same time we gave up our lease on our 3rd Street location.  Wednesday Wines continued on at the Saturday Market for almost a year.  Now Kathy and crew are closing that location as well.  Kathy is now going to be running an events center here in town called The Venue.  If you are planning a party, or reception, go visit her.  It is located on Highway 99 right across from the high school and behind the Sears Store.
It is really sad for me to see this little shop go.  We opened right as the economy was heading off a cliff.  We didn't know what we were doing, and we didn't have sufficient funds to keep us going until we could learn how everything worked.   I so loved the idea of having a space where folks could gather, share a glass of wine and talk.  I led a number of my Theology of Wine classes in the shop.  We all put a lot of ourselves into it, and it is so hard to shut the doors and walk away.  It seems to me when one part of our lives is shut down, that space gives God the chance to build something new.  But I talk about the new, I wanted to say thank you to Robin, Irma, Garry and especially to Kathy for taking this chance and for allowing me to pursue this project.
 
So, this door is closed.  Kathy is moving on to an event center, and God is busy doing a brand new thing.  We have a beautiful, industrial kitchen at our McMinnville Cooperative Ministries.  I've dreamed for a long time of using it to do ministry.  It has been wonderful to see some of our members, David and Delia Hammond put together a Saturday morning breakfast that feeds hundreds meals each week.  I also have a dream of doing a food ministry out of the kitchen as well.  Enter Pete Rahier.  That's a pizza Pete made to the right.  He calls it the Mediterranean.  It features grilled zucchini, fresh mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, and Kalamata olives.  Pete makes it with a regular red sauce as well as one with a pesto sauce.  Pete is a professionally trained chef, who has been making his living working at local home improvement store.  I've been thinking for a while that Pete might be the one to get us going on this project.  There is only one problem.  Our church has absolutely no money to fund the new position.  So, we did what we often do.  We issued Pete a call to be a member of our church staff, but didn't offer to pay him anything.  (And he said yes!)
That's Pete taking a pizza out of the fire oven.  The oven is located at the Saturday Market.  We have to get up bright and early in the morning to get the fire going so that the oven is up to temperature by the time we want to use it.  I was feeding wood into the stove a little before 6:00 AM last Saturday!  The money we are making from the pizzas will help us to secure funds to begin this new project.  Pete jumped off his own financial cliff at the beginning of the month and quit his job.  I have to say I have never seen him happier.  It's powerful what happens when we free ourselves to follow our bliss.  We were out making pizzas last week, freezing our toes off and having about as much fun as people can have.  I'm just so excited for where this is all headed.
Pete has a beautiful wife who is partnering with him in this endeavor.  She and Pete also make the most amazing tamales I have ever tasted.  They take orders for them every other week or so.
If you live around McMinnville, come on over some Saturday afternoon for some amazing pizza.  If you are visiting, make sure you let us know.  I love to show people around our wine country to taste the beautiful creations made so close to where we live.  And by all means, order some tamales from Pete and Jeanne (they go very quickly when they are available).   These two are a joy and a pleasure to know and work with. And don't worry.  Kathy is also a part of this new venture.  She's the only person I know who can work with the OLCC in this state.  She also is passionate about this new ministry, and it is so wonderful to see it coming together.  Eventually we hope to be training folks who are in recovery, or being released from prison.  In the mean time Pete is busy taking catering gigs.  If you have a party coming up, let us know.  We love to celebrate!

A Piece of Oregon Wine History

 Last weekend I took a whirlwind trip up to Tacoma, Washington.  My good friends Skip and Judi Rash have been leading a small group and they have been using my Theology of Wine text as their weekly study.  I wanted the chance to get some first hand feedback from the group.
This is the second Theology of Wine group that Skip and Judi have lead at their church.  They attend Little Church on the Prairie (which is neither little, nor sits on a prairie!)  I was once the youth director at the church and served there right before I went to seminary.  After using the Theology of Wine material for the first class Skip called me and said "Judi and I are going to help you edit this material, and then we are going to get it published.  Little did they know what they were getting themselves into!  We have been editing (and re-editing the material ever since.  It has been slow and time consuming work, but it has vastly improved the work.   That's a part of Skip and Judi's group in the photo above.  (Thanks to Cathy Norberg for the photo!)
It was especially fun to meet with this group since I've known some of the members for over 30 years.  It was great to re-connect with Bill and Alice Amblad who worked tirelessly with us on the youth programs when we were on staff at Little Church.
In the photo to the left Skip is standing in front of the island and Judi is to his right.  Bill and Alice are standing to the right of Skip.  Now about that piece of Oregon Wine History.  Ted Wier gifted me with this bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir.  The winery is now simply Erath, not Knudsen Erath.  Knudsen moved down the hill to start another winery and Dick Erath became the sole proprietor.  I doubt the wine is still good to drink  Ted stores all of his wines standing upright in his furnace room.  But is is fun to own a souvenir of the early wine industry in Oregon.  It was wonderful meeting with this spirited group of people.  They have offered some very helpful guidance for us.
So, you may be asking when do you publish this work?  It may be as soon as this summer.  We are currently looking for more small groups to test out our material.  Just leave a comment and we can connect up.  It is an exciting venture for me and I am extremely thankful to Skip and Judi for making it possible.