I love dark chocolate of any variety, but some is rather bitter to the taste. She found See's dark chocolate to be very yummy and a must on our agenda.
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| Happy Shoppers, Carolyn and Clara |
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| Hard to chose! |
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| Too many choices! |
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| Perhaps a sample (or two) will help! |
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| Entry from the mall |
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| A playground for the kids in the middle of the mall. Fun and bright fruits and ladybug to climb on. |
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| That's Clara in blue and me taking the photograph in the reflection. |
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| I missed the cross on top. |
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| There is a kindergarten school at the church. This is their garden. |
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| Never have I seen green peas this large! |
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| Baptismal font under this amazing art of St. John the Baptist and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It's on the left of the altar. |
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| Plexiglas under the waterfall. |
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| The Altar |
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| Love the grapes and wheat. |
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| Under the statue of Mary, a tribute to our Military. |
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| One of two tables of military members of this church. |
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| Difficult to tell if the stations are made of wood or ceramic. |
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| Love this lamb! |
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| Looking out the door under the Holy Spirit. |
"Portraits of the Prince of Peace"
Pastor Roger Magnuson was troubled.
It was the Christmas season in 1972 and it seemed to Magnuson, pastor at St. Luke's Lutheran Church, 5633 E. Wardlow Road, that people were more interested in toys and presents than the reason we have Christmas in the first place: to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
"The commercialization of Christmas was an issue then, and it continues to this day," said the Rev. Garry Mohr, the current pastor at St. Luke's.
Instead of complaining about people losing sight of the true meaning of Christmas, Pastor Magnuson decided to do something about it. Described by friends as a "big, teddy bear kind of man," Magnuson also wanted to bring the neighboring churches and clergy together.
He and several other church leaders in the neighborhood near St. Luke's hit on a creative idea. Why not create an outdoor pageant celebrating the journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus featuring live people and animals?
Thus was born "Portraits of the Prince of Peace," the only neighborhood presentation of its kind in Long Beach. And all of it is free.
From a small beginning, the Christmas pageant has blossomed into a remarkable walking tour at night featuring parishioners from six churches in the area near Bellflower Boulevard and Wardlow Road in East Long Beach.
This year's pageant will be held from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Dec. 9, 2012.
The participating churches are St. Cornelius Catholic Church,
"This is an opportunity for us to open our doors and to invite people in to
celebrate Christmas," said St. Luke's Mohr. "I think this is probably one of the
earliest ecumenical projects in Long Beach that I'm aware of."
The churches select a pageant coordinator and rotate the job each year. This year the coordinator is Ed Gingras, representing St. Cornelius.
Gingras, a retired commander with the California Highway Patrol, has been a volunteer working on the pageant for more than 23 years.
He described the pageant as an outdoor event featuring more than a dozen separate visual presentations with "living statues" and live animals depicting the prophecy and birth of Jesus.
Many musical groups provide live music.
"It really is a great experience," Gingras said. "You can enjoy a pleasant evening stroll while you review each scene, from the Three Wise Men to the Journey to Bethlehem to the Birth of Baby Jesus."
The biblical journey begins at the corner of Bellflower Boulevard and Wardlow
Gringras said the pageant also has added the opening of all of the churches
along the walk, and each provides some sort of entertainment and refreshments.
For instance, Pastor Mohr said St. Luke's will feature a harpist (his wife) Friday night, a karaoke songfest (a first) Saturday and a band on Sunday. Long Beach Christian Reformed Church will feature the Valley Christian Schools Handbells and the Van Weethuizen Sisters on Friday, the Dickens Chime Choir on Saturday and the church choir on Sunday.
"This is a low-budget, all-volunteer effort, but it is heartfelt and, we hope, enjoyable and inspirational," Gingras said.
He pointed out that all of the sets have been drawn by hand by parishioners. All of the characters are live, except for one, Baby Jesus himself.
"We felt it would just be too hard on a baby to have him outside, perhaps in chilly night air, for two hours so we decided to use a representative doll," he said.
One of the guests on the walk this year will have a special tie to the pageant. He's Nils Magnuson, son of Pastor Magnuson, who got the pageant started back when Nils was just a toddler. His father has died and his mother moved to Colorado.
Nils, who lives in Long Beach, said he has played the roles of shepherds and kings in the pageant. "It will be fun to go there with my family and just enjoy the pageant like everyone else," he said.
It was the Christmas season in 1972 and it seemed to Magnuson, pastor at St. Luke's Lutheran Church, 5633 E. Wardlow Road, that people were more interested in toys and presents than the reason we have Christmas in the first place: to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
"The commercialization of Christmas was an issue then, and it continues to this day," said the Rev. Garry Mohr, the current pastor at St. Luke's.
Instead of complaining about people losing sight of the true meaning of Christmas, Pastor Magnuson decided to do something about it. Described by friends as a "big, teddy bear kind of man," Magnuson also wanted to bring the neighboring churches and clergy together.
He and several other church leaders in the neighborhood near St. Luke's hit on a creative idea. Why not create an outdoor pageant celebrating the journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus featuring live people and animals?
Thus was born "Portraits of the Prince of Peace," the only neighborhood presentation of its kind in Long Beach. And all of it is free.
From a small beginning, the Christmas pageant has blossomed into a remarkable walking tour at night featuring parishioners from six churches in the area near Bellflower Boulevard and Wardlow Road in East Long Beach.
This year's pageant will be held from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Dec. 9, 2012.
The participating churches are St. Cornelius Catholic Church,
St. Luke's Lutheran Church, University Baptist Church, Long Beach
Christian Reformed Church, Calvary Chapel Long Beach and the Neighborhood Church
(formerly Truett Memorial Baptist Church).
The churches select a pageant coordinator and rotate the job each year. This year the coordinator is Ed Gingras, representing St. Cornelius.
Gingras, a retired commander with the California Highway Patrol, has been a volunteer working on the pageant for more than 23 years.
He described the pageant as an outdoor event featuring more than a dozen separate visual presentations with "living statues" and live animals depicting the prophecy and birth of Jesus.
Many musical groups provide live music.
"It really is a great experience," Gingras said. "You can enjoy a pleasant evening stroll while you review each scene, from the Three Wise Men to the Journey to Bethlehem to the Birth of Baby Jesus."
The biblical journey begins at the corner of Bellflower Boulevard and Wardlow
For instance, Pastor Mohr said St. Luke's will feature a harpist (his wife) Friday night, a karaoke songfest (a first) Saturday and a band on Sunday. Long Beach Christian Reformed Church will feature the Valley Christian Schools Handbells and the Van Weethuizen Sisters on Friday, the Dickens Chime Choir on Saturday and the church choir on Sunday.
"This is a low-budget, all-volunteer effort, but it is heartfelt and, we hope, enjoyable and inspirational," Gingras said.
He pointed out that all of the sets have been drawn by hand by parishioners. All of the characters are live, except for one, Baby Jesus himself.
"We felt it would just be too hard on a baby to have him outside, perhaps in chilly night air, for two hours so we decided to use a representative doll," he said.
One of the guests on the walk this year will have a special tie to the pageant. He's Nils Magnuson, son of Pastor Magnuson, who got the pageant started back when Nils was just a toddler. His father has died and his mother moved to Colorado.
Nils, who lives in Long Beach, said he has played the roles of shepherds and kings in the pageant. "It will be fun to go there with my family and just enjoy the pageant like everyone else," he said.
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