By Woodrow Polston
New Life Tabernacle hosted a Back-to-School Blast on Sunday afternoon on the church grounds. Despite the high temperatures, which exceeded 95 degrees, plenty of people came out to join in the activities. Outside, there was a station where parents could get school supplies for the coming year. They were also doing raffle drawings and giveaways for parents and children to win prizes. Terry Waters, the youth leader for the church, said that several local businesses contributed to the giveaways.
“We received donations in the form of gift cards and products from Dairy Queen and MFA,” said Waters. “We also have gift cards for the Ol’ Country Store in Farber and gift bags from Clad Love here in Vandalia. There are a variety of items being given away today. Everything from school supplies to bags of dog food and blankets,” he added.
Even though there was a heat wave, the children were still playing out on the lawn where the bounce houses were. The adults tried to keep cool under the pavilion and inside the building where the food was located. There were hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, cotton candy, snow cones and soft drinks available at no charge. Waters said that this was the first year that the church has done a back-to-school event.
“This is our first year giving away school supplies. Last year, we hosted our first Fall Festival, and it was a great success. We are planning to have it again this coming fall. We are giving a lot of items away today. The first 30 visitors who sign up today will receive a coupon for a free small ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. We have had a good experience interacting with residents here and we want to do our part to give back to the community,” said Waters.
New Life Tabernacle is located at 908 U.S. Hwy. 54 in Vandalia. Service time on Sunday is 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.