One of the area’s most colorful and entertaining church outreaches to the community is coming up again this Friday. The youth and adults of White Plains United Methodist Church in Cary will turn back the hands of time for their annual Oldies Drive-in. They’ll transform the church parking lot into a 1950s style drive-in restaurant -- something they've been doing for 17 years now.
"It's basically the American Grafitti or Happy Days-type of culture and music they they're trying to recreate," says Rob Phillips, the Director of Youth Ministries.
They’ll serve classic “diner” food (with curbside service at your car), and have live music from the 50s and 60s. You’ll also see vintage cars and plenty of poodle skirts and biker jackets.
"People can actually eat at their car like a classic drive-in," Phllips says, "and then they can get out and walk around to see the entertainment and classic cars."
Even "Elvis" (impersonator Wayne Tindle) will make an appearance.
Elvis impersonator Wayne Tindle entertains at the Oldies Drive-in photos courtesy White Plains UMC
The event is from 5 to 9 p.m., at a cost of 3 bucks a carload. Pre-1970 vehicles will be allowed in for free! Proceeds will benefit the church's various ministries -- but the emphasis is on fun.
"We call it an outreach event, because we don't really make a lot of money on it," Phillips told me. "It takes easily a hundred volunteers to pull this off. It's an outreach because it brings in a lot of people from the community and it shows the church can be a fun place and a fellowship place."
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It’s been quite a week for Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Raleigh Catholic Diocese. The Bishop and other Catholic leaders from the region have been at the Vatican for what’s called an ad limina visit. The trip is required at regular intervals for every diocese in the world, so that a status report can be presented to the Pope. You can read more about Bishop Burbidge’s visit with Pope Benedict XVI – and see photos – at this link.
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Durham’s Sanctuary United Methodist Church is planning something extra special this Memorial Day. The church will present a long overdue honor to a World War II hero. PFC Joe “Reece” Lyndon Jr. landed at Omaha Beach in the D-Day invasion, fought across France, and ended up a wounded prisoner of war. Although he earned a number of awards for his service and valor, PFC Lyndon never received the Bronze Star that was awarded retroactively to all the recipients of the Combat Infantry Badge.
That will all change on May 28th. Sanctuary UMC and the Combat Infantrymen’s Association will award the Bronze Star to Lyndon’s son, Joe Lyndon III of Durham. It will be part of a service to honor all those who’ve paid the ultimate price in service to their country. The program will run from 1 to 2 p.m.
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What matters to former UNC stand-out and future NBA’er Tyler Zeller more than basketball? His faith. Zeller gave an interview recently with his pastor, J.D. Greear of Durham’s Summit Church, before the congregation. Here's the link to the video clip.
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