Schools in New Hampshire finally let out this past week, which means summer is here!

With summer, comes camp! We have a couple youth attending Calumet this year and due to generous donors, we were able to give scholarships that paid for half of their registration fee!

Not all congregations are able to be as generous as you all have been and so to help offset the cost of camp, Calumet has traditionally participated in “Reach the Beach.” This meant, in prior years, over 200 runners were on teams of 12 and ran for over 24 hours from Bretton Woods to Hampton Beach. In those years, this has raised over $100,000 per year for camp scholarships. Unfortunately, due to COVID, the event was cancelled last year by the organizers (it is a national race) and this year, even though the race is being held, due to much uncertainty and the amount of planning it takes to participate, Calumet opted not do it.

This meant, last year and again this year, Calumet needed to find ways to make up for the loss of the $100,000 which would come from that event. Last year, they put together “Reach the Beach 2.0” and had people run at their location of choice while raising funds from family and friends. It was a smashing success! We even had a group of about 6 people from Holy Trinity participate and ran together at Hampton Beach on a beautiful Saturday morning in September.

This year, Calumet is putting together an event called “Walk the Walk.” The goal is to raise over $106,000 by having 1,500 people register (only $25!) and walk a total of 200,000 miles. (Yes, 1500 x 25 = 37,500 does not equal $106,000. There are matching gifts to help make up the majority of the rest. Calumet will receive an additional $30,000 if 1,500 people register and an additional $20,000 if 200,000 miles are walked and logged). Registration is now open and people will be asked to log their miles between July 1 and Aug. 31.

Click here to find out all the information about this event.

When you register, you can be on a “team” that Calumet has set-up or each congregation in the synod is asked to form their own team. We have already done this at Holy Trinity and Mark Donahue and I will serve as our “captains.” While we are still figuring out how the miles will be reported, we believe it will mainly be done by Mark and I sending out an email with a “Google Form” for you to fill out and submit your miles. We will then submit them to Calumet as part of our “Team.” (This is subject to change.)

I am in contact with the other New Hampshire churches and putting together categories for some friendly competitions. These categories might be, “Most Participants,” “Most Miles Walked” or “Highest Average Walked per Participant.” Congregations that choose to participate will be asked to make an additional $100 donation in the name of the congregation that wins each category.

Additionally, we can have our own little friendly competition here at the church as well. We can have winners for the following categories.

• Most Miles Walked • Most Days Walking • Make a suggestion for a category!

You can register one of two ways. Click on the link and register yourself.

This Sunday, there will be an insert in the bulletin that you can fill out and we will register you. Once you are registered, you will receive an email that will provide a link in which you can make your one-time payment of $25 or you will be asked to send in a check.

A couple of weeks ago I started a journey to be healthier. As part of that journey, I have been going for walks after I eat my lunch. I have a route that uses our parking lot, the old exit/entrance road for the turnpike that is outside the church and Bernie & Phil’s parking lot. It is 1 mile and you can see a video of my walk from today HERE.) If you participate, you could start a new habit to increase your health and help Calumet at the same time. (Check out my video from my walk today!) Additionally, frequently, Vicky and I take our dog for a walk (those miles count!) and I run when I work out and I like to hike on my days off! (All those miles count!) Think of all the ways you already walk/move on a regular basis that you would count for you! Also, I just heard from Knute at Calumet and he said the miles your dog’s count, and cycling counts. Moving any distance from point A to point B counts! (That is human/dog powered, not machine powered.)

What is great about this, everyone can participate! The distance you are able to walk doesn’t matter. If all you can do is walk around your living room or apartment complex, do it! Designate a route, estimate how far that is in feet and then divide 5280 by that number (5280 is the amount of feet in a mile). That will tell you how many times you need to walk your route to make a mile!

Assuming we get people to register, we will organize several walks over the summer at various locations to get out and be together. Think about walks at Hampton Beach, Long Sands Beach or the newly renovated Dover Community Trail (Dover Delight Ice Cream is right nearby!). If you would be willing to organize and lead one, please contact me at pastortim@htelc.com.

Also, contact me if you have any other questions.

Happy Walking and Boom Chicka Boom!

Pastor Tim