Merchants in East Milton Square traditionally host a "Halloween Stroll" for children in the neighborhood. East Church once again joined this fun event, but our Literacy Initiative team set up a canopy and gave away free new children's books for treats instead of candy. As always, our resident book worm Heimlich was on the scene, and many visitors, who couldn't wait to get home to dig into their books, found Heimlich to be a cozy reading spot. A member of the Literacy team counted 175 visitors to the East Church book table over the course of the two-hour stroll! My sincere thanks to Beth O. for many of these images.

October weather is tricky. East Church has partnered with the Crane Field Neighborhood association for several years to put on a Block Party. The original date was scrubbed due to rain. The rain date looked good until we got closer. But we forged ahead, undeterred by a little drizzle. Until it turned into more than a little drizzle. We consider it a success even if it ended a little prematurely! Seeing neighbors enjoying meeting and catching up with neighbors, and feeling that the church contributed to a sense of community was definitely a day well spent. East Church organizers say Thank You to: - Scouts from Troop 42 for help setting up. - Local merchants Abby Park, The Plate, The Milton Fruit Center, Star Market in Dorchester and Stop and Shop in Quincy for generous donations - Milton Arts Center for managing a very popular craft table (thanks, Scott!) - A small army of East Church volunteers and Crane Field neighbors

On Sunday, June 5 the members of East Congregational Church gathered to celebrate the milestones and achievements of the past fiscal year through brief but lively reports by each of the standing committees. We looked to the future by ratifying a slate of new Chairs and committee members, and by accepting the Finance Committee's budget. And we honored the work and the legacy of the East Church Women's Society by recognizing that group with the 2016 East Church Angel Award.

Area 9 is a saxophone quartet made up of local musicians, one of which being Seychelle Dunn-Corbin who has brought her gifts to East Church perviously at Voice and Verse concerts. The weather forecast improved as the week progressed and we were thrilled to be able to present this quartet in a concert outdoors on the church's side lawn on a gorgeous spring afternoon. Big thanks to Susan Harvey and the Growth and Development committee for organizing this wonderful community event, and to Area 9 for sharing wonderful music with us.

This has to be the liveliest, noisiest, rowdiest event of the year at East Church. It's an all-at-once celebration of everyone's birthday. Twelve tables are set up in Fellowship Hall, and seating is by birth month. It becomes in effect an all-age mixer event. To make things even more relevant, the 2016 Birthday Bash was held on Pentecost Sunday - the Christian Church's Birthday! HUGE gratitude to the Christian Ed. Committee for organizing this extremely complex undertaking, and to the many volunteers who helped clean up afterwards!