We were blessed to have former chaplain, Dana Holzer, join us as the guest speaker for our 2016 Tea. Dana served as chaplain from 1999-2012.
Last week we had the pleasure of putting on another wonderful Girls’ Valentine’s Day Tea. We hosted the Tea in our Community Service Center building and were treated to a brief talk on Victorian era tea etiquette by Intermountain President’s Council member Loy Chvilicek and a wonderful devotional talk from Dana Holzer, the former chaplain of Intermountain Residential services. Cookies and other goodies were provided by the ladies of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church of Helena. Many staff members helped with preparation, set-up, service, and clean-up, but the greatest assistance came from our resident wonder-woman, Anne Wilmoth!
Chaplain Chris was especially grateful, too, for the help that our Jewish Educator, Janet Tatz, provided in chasing down great deals on chocolate dipped strawberries from Van’s, flowers and special cookies. What a blessing it was to see Intermountain’s young ladies in residence truly feel special and honored by the fuss made over them. It warmed the hearts of all in attendance to see how deeply the love of God has touched the children in our care and the difference it is making in their lives.
one of our girls models the “Live Generously” shirts Thrivent donated
In part, the size of the “fuss” made over our special young ladies was made possible by a Thrivent Action Team grant that Chaplain Chris was able to secure because he is a Thrivent member. They provided t-shirts, tips on organizing volunteers, and a $250 VISA gift card to help offset expenses associated with the event. One of the things we were able to do with that added support was to purchase water goblets for the same price as renting them for two events (which we have done the last two years!) and provide a fun backdrop and photo props for a few silly pictures after the tea was concluded.
It was an honor to have Intermountain’s previous chaplain, Dana Holzer, come and share the devotional message. Dana did a wonderful job weaving a message of hope and love together with very concrete examples and images that our girls to connect with. Those gathered for the Tea were deeply touched by Dana’s words and the gentle way with which she shared her story.
Thanks to Imagine Designs for the beautiful personalized necklaces each of our young ladies received!
Chaplain Chris was able to provide special gifts for everyone in attendance—thanks to his wonderful friends Rachel and Bob Krug of Imagine Designs—that serve as a reminder of the message Dana shared, “Even when you are not feeling lucky, you are LOVED.” Our girls all received a personalized Valentine that had a one of a kind personalized necklace, designed by Rachel, which had both a penny (luck) and a heart charm (love). The girls were able to take the penny and scratch off a special message written in their Valentine from Chaplain Chris and Jewish Educator, Janet Tatz. What a joy it was to see the girls’ reaction to receiving such a special gift and a valuable message of love and acceptance!
Each person at the Tea felt blessed to have had that time and opportunity to express the love of God toward one another and left with their hearts a little lighter and a little fuller.
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