Another year of VBS has come to an end, and we all had fun at Cave Quest. There were 61 kids who attended at least one day. Our mission project of collecting money for “Group Cares” brought in $150. This money will go to help rehabilitate needy folks' homes and make them a safer place for kids to live.

There are many who need to be thanked for all their hard work and time spent putting on a great program. The station leaders, who do most of the work were

• Bible Story: Mattie Wingfield assisted by Matthew Mason
• Snacks: JoAnne Sanders
• Imagination Station: Bonnie Price
• Games: Beth Lawson
• KidVid Cinem: Debbie Norton (Christ Episcopal Church)
• Singing: Denise Ayers (Forest Hills Church)

The snacks were creative as usual. JoAnne was assisted in the kitchen by the helpful crew of Pearl Minter, Marge Dunn, Cathy Stone, Lang Mauck, Nancy Baker, Monica Stevens, Joan Montgomery, Nancy Davis and Tracy Hinchcliff.

Mattie did a GREAT job again this year with the stories and I hope everyone had a chance to see her room decorations. If you missed seeing Bonnie Price’s room, you missed a real work of art. You really felt like you had entered a cave. The room kept getting darker each day until Friday there was no light. She could not have done it without the help of Tyler and thanks again to Susan Smith for helping Bonnie all week. Bonnie also expresses thanks to Jim Beard who helped with the rock collection. While Beth Lawson has helped in the past as a group leader, she did a super job taking over the games this year. How about that huge slip and slide on Friday? A fun week? You betcha!

More thanks go to the group leaders who took the kids from station to station. 

• Kindergarten/1st grade: Lynn Henderson (Lutheran Church) and Jenny Spivey—it was great to see Jenny and her girls again!
• 2nd/3rd grade: Elaine Button (Forest Hills Church)
• 3rd/4th grade: Kym Tatum
• 5th/6th grade: Brooke Cundiff. Brooke also doubled as Claire, a character in a skit each morning.

What’s the definition of “chaos”? The first morning of Bible School! About 20 new kids signed up that morning. Helping with the chaos were Lynn Pritchett, Barbara Tatum and Ashby Pinkard. Lynn Pritchett was there all week keeping the paperwork straight. Chuck Cundiff did a great job again taking pictures for the Spotlight Drama each day. The kids loved seeing themselves on the big screen. All the teens that helped also deserve a round of applause. As you can see it takes a small army to put on a successful VBS. The attending kids came from 17 churches and 12 indicated no church. Did we touch their lives? I hope so!

And last, but certainly not least, Sam Smith was my “right hand man.” He and I started decorating about the middle of May, and Sam probably did the majority of the decorating. He was also so very helpful in many other ways. He is currently back at Hollins College working on his thesis—good luck Sam! He is an amazing young man and I am happy to claim him as a friend.

Janet Fentress, VBS Co-Director