April 2016 – LIFESPAN Youth Mailing
Dear Pro-Life Friends – young people and all who work with/support young people!
I hope all is well for you!
I had a very splendid time with my husband when we went on vacation to VA to visit our friends who are just like our own family! The joy and love we felt the whole time, the excitement, laughter, and fun we experienced, the gifts of music and song and faith that they shared with us, and the delicious meals we had including some picnic lunches, made such a lasting impression on us! Truly memories that we will treasure always with the whole family of ten! 🙂
FOR THOSE WHO ARE PLANNING ON JOINING LIFESPAN TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MARCH FOR LIFE IN 2017: While in the VA area, I was able to visit two parishes that have agreed to host four of our buses for the 2017 “Movement in Motion” Youth Bus Trip to DC in January. The first parish is Queen of Apostles in Alexandria, VA and the second parish is Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Annandale, VA (new for us in 2017). Both contacts are very nice and accommodating and they showed me the setup of how things will be when our groups are there. The other church in the VA area that has agreed to host three of our buses is First Baptist Church. They have hosted us for many years and have been really accommodating. Finally, the remaining two buses will be hosted at Jesus the Divine Word Parish in MD. They were going to host us this January for the first time and have agreed to host us next January. I am working on getting dinners and breakfasts lined up at all the host churches and will include that in the bus trip cost which still has to be finalized. In addition, nine buses have been put on hold for LIFESPAN with Blue Lakes. It is good to have this part of the planning for 2017 done!
The other thing I did while in VA was visit a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum that was not in the mall area of DC but rather in VA. The family we were with has visited the other location in DC but liked this museum better. The kids told me that this museum has whole planes and not too much to read. There are good explanations of the planes but they are brief so you can move along in a timely manner. I have attached some pictures including:
the Discovery Space Shuttle which was launched for the first time in August 1984,
the Enola Gay which dropped the first atomic bomb in WWII,
the Bucker Bu-133C Jungmeister which dominated the aerobatic scene in Europe and the US from mid-1930 through the 1940’s, and
the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird which is the world’s fastest jet-propelled aircraft that operated during the Cold War.
I invite you to check the museum out for yourself on the web. It is the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. Being there in person, I was very impressed with the museum and thought things flowed well going from area to area. I think you would really like it! There is no cost to get in. They do have a McDonald’s in the museum building and even have group arrangements that I will check into further so that we can eat lunch there (probably will include the cost of this lunch in the bus trip cost). I plan to add a visit to this museum to the schedule for the Ss. Cyril and Methodius group (two buses) and would like feedback to see what other groups would want to go there in 2017. It will be included on the itinerary after we visit the Arlington Cemetery to participate in the annual Wreath Laying Ceremony Saturday morning, January 28th.
I am sending you a registration form below for the upcoming Celebration of Life fundraiser dinner that will take place on Tuesday evening, May 3rd. Just print it out, cut on the dotted line, fill out and send in with your payment for the seat(s) you want at the dinner. Students who are 21 and under will pay the $25.00 cost per person and young adults who are older will pay the $50.00 cost per person. As a reminder, if you are a student or young adult and you would like to attend but cannot afford the whole cost of the ticket, please let me know. I really hope that many of you can join me that evening! It will be an enjoyable evening for all ages!
I also attached the most recent flier for the upcoming Pro-Life Youth Conference that will be held at Mercy High School on Saturday, April 9th. This is not a LIFESPAN conference but I will be there at an educational table in the vendor area. I am pretty excited about it! Did you register yet? It’s not too late! You can go to www.prolifeyouth.com to find out more information!
Here are some links that I wanted to share with you. They are special birthdays that made Pro-Life news!
StandUpGirl.com: Celebrating 15 years of Changing hearts and saving lives!
World’s Oldest Man With Down Syndrome Celebrates His 76th Birthday
Have a very good month ahead!
Love Life!
Lynn Gura, Youth Director
Right to Life – LIFESPAN