Winter seems to have quite a grip this year. Here’s a view from one of our icy mornings.

Thank you for Your Support

Our annual $800 Jane Adeny Memorial Scholarship (JAMS), our January mission project, has been fully funded. Thank you for your many gifts.

Also the bulletins for every Sunday in 2019 have been sponsored.

It’s Time for The DeKalb/Sycamore Bookcase Project

Throughout February and into the first few days of March, we collect new and gently used picture books for the DeKalb/Sycamore Bookcase Project. This local effort is the second oldest Bookcase Project in the country. Each year, on the first Saturday in May, 50 children from the Two Rivers Head Start Program in Sycamore receive a handmade wooden bookcase complete with their name engraved on the nameplate and a starter set of books. For many of these children, these will be the first books in their home.  Books will be dedicated early in March near the birthdays of both Dr. Seuss and Ezra Jack Keats.

This year’s Bookcase Banquet will be held on Thursday, February 21, 6 pm, at DeKalb High School. Tickets are $18. Mayfield has been well represented in the past at the banquet. Proceeds from the banquet provide the funds needed to purchase the wood for the 50 bookcases made annually. Please let Martha know by Sunday, February 17 if you are interested in going this year, so we can reserve your tickets.

Mayfield Fellowship

Our first meeting will be held this Thursday, February 14, at the Somerset Farm clubhouse, beginning at noon. Speak to Ann T. if you need directions. Our meal will be a potluck. What favorite winter dish might you bring? There is a sign-up sheet in the Gathering Area for you to indicate you are coming and what you are bringing. Joe Munro, Youth Ministries Director at Sycamore UMC, will present a program on their multi-year mission trip ministry with youth throughout the area. Mark your calendars now with our 2019 dates:  Thursday, February 14, Saturday, April 27 (our retreat day at McQueen Forest Preserve), Thursday, June 13, Thursday, August 8, Thursday, October 10, and Thursday, December 12.

Transformation Through Rhythm

This year’s Transformation Through Rhythm concert will be held at the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, Sunday, February 24, at 2:00 pm. The concert is free; donations are gladly received.  100% of the concert proceeds will benefit Knysna Sedgefield Hospice, Knysna, South Africa. Jen has been the organizing energy at the center of this concert for a number of years. The musicians featured include:  DeKalb High School Percussion Ensemble, NIU Percussion Ensemble, and Harambee African Percussion Ensemble.  Musicians in the various ensembles range in age from elementary school kids to high school and college students, to teachers and professors at DeKalb High School and NIU.  Concerts in prior years have offered indescribably joyous afternoons. This is an opportunity for us to experience wondrous world music and to extend vital support to a South African hospice program.

Ash Wednesday is on March 6, 2019.  Our service will be held at 6:30 pm.

Mark Your Calendars – Spring Pancake Breakfast – Saturday, April 6

The spring pancake breakfast will be held on Saturday, April 6. Start letting people know and mark your calendars to help and/or attend. Thank you to Angie and Dawn for their breakfast leadership

Northern Illinois Food Bank

Your ongoing support of the Northern Illinois Food Bank is appreciated. Every $1 donated is converted into $8 of food. Your gifts may be placed in either the food bank box or the offering plate.

An Invitation from the Robs

Come From Away, a musical based on the true events that happened in Gander Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001 and several days following, is coming to Chicago in August. The Robs are proposing a theater outing to see this beautiful show. On September 11, 2001, 38 planes made emergency landings in Gander because of the closure of US airspace. The nearly 7000 passengers and crew members on those planes were remarkably cared for by the people of Gander, population 9000. Members of the ensemble cast play multiple roles of locals and “plane people” as they tell the stories of what it meant for an entire town to rise to the occasion and do what was needed for no other motivation than it was the right thing to do. The show is a perfect one for any time but especially now as it demonstrates there are good people all over, people who share the spirit of the Mayfield congregation, looking out for the wellbeing of others.

Here are the details. The Robs have tickets for Saturday, August 3, 2019 at 2:00 pm at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago. Group rate tickets are $50 for seats in the front of the balcony area. Once the group attending is identified, coordination of transportation and lunch will occur.

Please contact Rob Stoll or Rob Spanton by March 3 if you are interested in going, so they can lock in the block of seats.