The Goderich Signal-Star, 1965-04-29, Page 9GODER,ICH, ONTAR[Q 'hURSD,A,Y, APRIL '9th, 065
Cloakroom -Problems
Leading Studies
Trumpet-pllaying Pastor T. the young audience spellbound
- Leslie Hobbies is proving him- as the glove pup"bets ,became
self to be a swinger as far as Biblicaltj figures and -told the
religion .mss concerned in the s'earliest 'Stories. of, the Christian
.town of GodertCh. message against speeia.liy pre- .
pared backcloths.
Open -Mouthed
No,, longer were, the ,children
subjected to wriggling uncom-
forta►blay as they sat next to
their parents in church on Sun-
day - morning, .-Fo-r them this
was religion with -a - new kind
of freedom attached- as they sat
on the floor o•p•enmouthe•d.
"The children are fascinated
by the puppets," said Pastor
Hobbins, "and this has been our
main drawing card during the
week although we never ex-
pected such a response."
He added: "We usually run
this sort ort a 'program in the
summer•but we decided that we
rwrould run this as a sort of off-
shoot of Young Canada Week.
"We were not running in com-
petition with the hockey in any
way but we felt that some child -
Better Than Bonanza ?
Just ask any of the 250 local
children who crowded into a
room -30 feet by 40 feet for his
new "cool school" of Bible
study last week.
The bouncy Clergymen could
---aFlmast have -=been -a- at- `_ -judg-
ing f17om the response -he -got
from ..the - kids ranging
4-15 who attervded the daily
classes at the Calvary Baptist
Church.
Childrenoc f all denominations
roared their apprroval at the
program he provided for them
with the help of other church
waiters.
'Standing at the front of the
room the pastor suddenly asked
above the gghabter: "Have you
enjoyed yourselves?" The re-
ply was not quite: "Yeah, yeah,
yeah," but the sudden shout of
approval in unison was the seal
of success for this venture. ,:_-ren might not like 'hockey and
On the first day of Classes 80 others might find • this a break
Children arrived. By the end from watching the games all
coif the week • the work had. week."
spread athong th ehirldren`s Apparently he was right judg-
grapevine. rI~ft'e than 250 ing by the attendance figures
were j•azmpacked into the for the week. Day by day the
church's new extension. figures increased until the child-
ren were "almost flowing into
the .street," 5f'id Pastor Hobbins.
On Monday 80 attended; Tues -
'day, 97; Wednesday, 150; Thum -
day 200; building. urp to the
grA4 sar+dWe-can type finale
on Friday with 250.
"We did not really have
enough room to fit ala these
Every program must have its
all-star attraction, and in this
case Pastor Hobbins had come
up wrath a trump oaa;d in a pup-
pet show which pushed religion
in the nicest possilb(le way.
nicest.
Mrs. Robbins
and Mrs., David Kelly from Clin-
ton the daily performances held
kid: in," he said, "but they
,eem•ed to get in anyhow."
He went on: "We were offer-
ed alter ;attve. acpornmodLation
in town but we decided that for
our type of program we would
put up with the inconvenience."
The daily classes which ran
from 9.30 a.m. to.11.30 a.m. in-
cluded songs, Bible .stories,
Memory Verses, "handwork and -
the puppetry. .
Attendance Awards
The children received awards
at the end of the week.for their"
attendance .at classes. "We
. tarted off by running it on
the lines of hockey by giving
a number of stans each day ,to
a team but nobody went for •
this so we dropped it," said the
pastor.
On the Wednesday Pastor
Hobbins entertained the - kids
with his trumpet playing accom-
panied by a steel .guitar.
"They seemed to really go for
this, especially the guitar," he
said. "I'm afraid that the
trumpet playing is considered a
rlittle out these days."
The pstor learned to play
the trumpet with the Salvation
Army band and as he says: "I've',
'always had it around since."
A long 'blast an his horn
proved most effective to either
quieten the children dawn or
lead o them in song diuring the
lessons.
Commented one enthusiastic
youngster: "I am going to ask
OUT minister tp play something
for us wh4 I see him." Gentle-
men, you td better start prac-
tising the scales.
Bursting At - The Seams
6
Act One,
Backstage With Puppeteers