Take it or leaf it

Group, Jul/Aug 1998 by Sapio, Karen

One rainy night last fall, the squeal of the fire alarm interrupted Youth Bell Choir practice at our church. The kids dutifully trooped outside to the parking lot, joining our board of deacons, who were already gathered there in the drizzly evening air.

"Is this a safety drill?" one of the kids asked.

"I don't think so," answered one of the deacons. He looked

worried.

As the crowd attempted to huddle under the few available umbrellas, the chairman of our building and grounds team came bursting out a side door. (Our janitor had just resigned, so members of the building team were helpfully "filling in" until we could hire a replacement.) He ran toward us waving his arms wildly. "It's not a fire! It's not a fire!" he shouted. "Everythings okay!"

"If it's not a fire, we should call the fire department right away," said one of the pastors. "They come automatically wher the fire alarm goes off."

She started to dash back inside to make the call, but it was too late. A hook-and-ladder truck was already racing down the street toward the church, its siren blaring.

Our building team chairman greeted the fire crew. "I'm really sorry you had to come out like this," he said. "Everything's under control. There's just a little smoke in one of the Sunday school classrooms."

The crew chief nodded. "Well have to go inside and check it out-make sure it's okay for everyone to go back into the building."

The pastor and the building team chairman followed the crew chief into the church. When they opened the door to the classroom, the smell of smoke and gasoline fumes almost knocked them out

"What on earth happened in here?" our pastor demanded.

Our building chairman looked sheepish. "Well," he explained, "the kids did some kind of a craft project in here. The room was a huge mess. The floor was covered with little bits of construction paper, tiny beads, and glitter. I decided that instead of trying to sweep it up, it would be faster to use the leaf blower." Sure enough, in the corner of the classroom sat the church's leaf blower, still steaming from its efforts.

The firefighter stared incredulously at the building team chairman. "You know, sir, those weren't meant for indoor use," he said.

"I do now!" replied our building team chairman.

Soon the crew chief gave the all-clear for us to go back into the church building. The kids went back to their bells, the deacons went back to their meeting, the fire crew went back to the station, and the whole incident seemed to be behind us.

The next week our new custodian reported for duty. One of his first tasks was to clear the leaves from the sidewalks around the church. He couldn't do it, though. The leaf blower was out of gas. G

Karen Sapio lives in Oregon and has been involved in youth ministry for eight years.