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THANKFUL
To the Bar Harbor community:
One year ago—on a busy mid-summer Friday afternoon—I got a call that one of the fire suppression sprinklers in the church was going off.
Gallons of water sprayed the sanctuary—floors, walls (ceiling), pews, Bibles, hymnals, carpet....
While the awesome Bar Harbor Fire Department checked the building and stemmed the flow, I put a call out to the community: help needed.
Saving what could be saved, removing what needed to be removed, within minutes, a bunch of folks showed up: hauling rugs, drying pews, stacking hymnals—many hands making daunting work turn hopeful.
Gratitude quickly flooded my soul.
As this anniversary approaches, I want to say a huge word of thanks to the beloved Bar Harbor community: the attentive passers-by, the helping hands, the wonderful neighbors, the swift fire department, the people who pitched in and made things happen at a moment's notice, all in the thick of summer.
Thanks for helping us navigate insurance claims and renovation and rebuilding—and, when it happened again in October—thanks to everyone who did it all again.
And a harmonious word of thanks to the River Church for the generous gift of the Yamaha piano.
I'm glad and grateful to say that we're all back together and have been for some time now, due to the quick and helpful response of our friends and neighbors. Thank you, one and all. My heart overflows.
Blessings and peace,
Rev. Rob Benson,
Pastor Bar Harbor Congregational Church, United Church of Christ