Master Club Regionals

Whew! What a weekend! We left for Springfield on Friday afternoon with three (yes, THREE) chattering third grade girls in our van. We arrived at our hotel around 10 p.m. and went to bed. Well, first we had to listen to a great deal of whining and complaining from Adam and a downright fit from Molly about having to stay with family instead of friends, and THEN we went to bed. (sigh)

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed down the road to the church on Saturday morning. We registered and got organized and oriented. Molly and Amber did their puppet presentation first, and they did very well! Our biggest challenge in working on this was that their arms got tired about half way through the five-minute show. But they stuck it out for the judges, even though I could tell they were tired. Sometimes all I could see was the puppet's nose and up. But they did a really good job, considering.

Then we went to Molly's missionary biography presentation. She did a story about Gladys Aylward, a woman missionary to China in the early 1900's. Molly's "China suit" turned out very nice, and she did a good job on her presentation. I made up a notebook with pictures on one side of the page and the story on the other so that she could hold it up and read the words. She was a little too soft and a little too long, and the judges would have liked it much better if she had memorized it or just told the story from a few points. But I didn't think Molly was up to tackling that just yet. The judges loved her costume and the story and pictures. She didn't seem to be nervous, and she maintained her composure and read the story well. We think she did a great job!

Then it was up the hallway to Adam's saxophone solo. They lump all the instrumental solos together (except for piano) for judging, so he was up against brass and strings. I became a bit skeptical of the judging for the event when one judge said as Adam was putting together his saxophone, "Oh--you're the first brass we've had today." Uh...the saxophone is a woodwind. But he did a really good job playing "Brethren, We Have Met To Worship". We were proud of him.

Then they were off to do their individual Bible drills--sword drill, story/chapter/truth matching, New Testament themes matching, New Testament Bible sequence, and speed stacking cups.

After lunch, we watched the quiz teams--Central had three. One team got first place, and another team got second place. Then it was time for Adam to do individual quizzing. At first, he was popping off his chair too fast, before he knew exactly what the question was going to be. This was a big problem last year when he did team quizzing. It turned into a race to see who could or would stand up first. There was waaaay to much pressure, kids were crying, it was awful. So this time, after two errors, I signaled him to wait a little longer and listen to more of the question, since most of these beginning quizzing kids haven't done team quizzing. He relaxed then and did fine. Out of 15 questions, he answered 7 of them, quizzing out.

Then came the relay games. The teams that Adam filled in on placed in some of the events. Molly's team never seemed to place. Toward the end, she got hit in the eye while watching, and declared that she couldn't do the Chariots of Carpet race that was about to begin. One person sits on an upside-down piece of carpet and holds onto the ends of a rope that is wrapped around the puller's abdomen. They are pulled to one end of the gym where that person gets off and another gets on and so on, until the last person is pulled down the gym. There were five girls on a team--Molly, Amber Phillips, Laura Warren, Rhoda Nelson, and Rebecca Perry. Now, Rebecca is a 6th grader and fairly tall, but she weighs just a little less than Molly does. The other three girls are tiny. So, since the heaviest person has to be the puller, that job fell on Molly. At first she didn't want to do it, but once she realized that her team needed her, she conceded. She did well in practice, pulling Rebecca first to get the heaviest person over with, and the lightest (Amber) last. So, after putting cold water on her eye, I convinced her that she had to do the carpet race or they would have to be disqualified, since there were no other girls to take her place. Molly didn't have a chance to win against huge 6th grade girls from other teams, like one we know (Julia Harmon) who I noticed is bigger than her mother now. ;o) They had a 4th place winner before Molly got the third person on the carpet, so she didn't even have to finish. But Molly gave it her best! That's all I ask for. But another chance for a ribbon for her gone. I was getting nervous now.

When the awards ceremony got underway, kids in Central's group were getting awards right and left. Adam got a medal for 1st place in 5th/6th grade individual quizzing, and 2nd place in 6th grade individual New Testament themes. He has won 1st in that event in his grade every year. This year, they accidentally placed him in 5th grade, so he placed second after Craig Devins from Central. I think he would have gotten 2nd anyway, since Seth Warren from Central (who got 1st in 6th grade) has been consistently a little faster than Adam in practices.

Molly and Amber didn't place in puppets--yet another opportunity gone for a ribbon for Molly. She had declared a while back that she would be OK even if she didn't get an award. I was doubtful. She cried last year when she didn't get a ribbon, and she didn't even compete! Adam got some team relay ribbons--1st in NT themes relay, 1st in right or wrong relay (Bible trivia), and 2nd in discovery zone relay (on the Discovery Bible Booklets). Amber got 2nd in 3rd grade NT themes, and 3rd in 3rd/4th grade sword drill. By this time, I could tell Molly was on the verge of tears.

Finally, the time came for missionary biography presentation awards. I was praying earnestly now. "Third and fourth grade, third place--Molly Angus!" I choked back tears. ("Thank you, Lord!!") What a relief. Now we can get on with life. She marched up there so proudly trying to suppress a big smile. I don't know how many other kids entered that event, but I didn't care. She had a ribbon. And not a team ribbon either--one she had earned alone. They didn't place in puppets, and Adam's saxophone solo and his art piece didn't place. But since everyone came home with something, the day was a complete success.

Brother Teddy recognized Adam, Molly and Amber in church yesterday. When he began talking about the kids we had go to Regionals, Molly got up and started down the aisle. Brother Teddy asked them to stand, and then noticed them coming down the aisle--Amber behind Molly. So he said, "Well...OK...just come on up here then." Pretty funny. He read off what they had won, and I must have gotten Amber's recorded backwards, because she pulled on his coat and set him straight. That's just the kind of kid she is. We all had a good laugh. After church, everyone was asking me why more kids didn't go. So I am hoping that maybe next year, there will be more motivation around East Side to get the kids to Regionals. It is, in our opinion anyway, one of the most important aspects of Master Clubs.

My good camera was broken, and all my prospects for borrowing one fell through, so I didn't take any pictures. But plenty of people from Central took lots of pictures, so I will be gathering those and giving them to our Master Club director who is going to make up a slide show to show in church, hopefully generating even more interest.

We thank the Lord that we all traveled safe and sound, everyone had good spirits and attitudes, and did their very best. And most of all, I think of the things that have entered their minds, hearts and memory in preparation for Regionals. It's amazing what these kids can learn and do! Hopefully God will use the information in their lives for him.

It was Adam's last year to compete, so I took a picture of all his ribbons. From left to right, top to bottom is 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade and 6th grade. So you can see what kind of pressure Molly is up against! ;o)