Spotlight on..................

2008 Confirmation Class – First Congregational Church

We are pleased to present fun information about a lively, outstanding group of  8 young people—who just happen to be all boys in Pastor Barb’s class. Congratulations to all of them on their accomplishments.  –Interviews by Rick Taylor and Arly Spink

in order of appearance in the photo, left to right top row:

Wesley Wright, son of Pastor Barb Edema (Doug Edema) and Bruce Wright- is 13 years old and in the 7^th grade.  His favorite class at school is social studies (global studies) with his teacher Mrs. Morgans.  When not participating in track and football, Wesley loves to play paintball in the back yards of friends.  He also plays the cello and now owns his grandfather’s bass guitar and acoustic electric guitar and hopes to take lessons soon.  His favorite movie is “Saving Private Ryan” and his family has two cats named Pop Tart and Omelette. People usually think of Wesley as a nice guy, but he can really be tough, especially in sports!  He likes coming to church because he gets to see friends and watch “Nooma” videos. 

 Caleb Bentley, son of Jon and Denise Bentley is also 13 and in the 7^th grade.  His favorite class at school is science and he especially likes lab experiments and chemistry.  He is not too keen on math such as algebra.  He has played hockey for 9 years!—this year as a member of the Ann Arbor Wolf Pack team.  Caleb is interested in being a “state cop” when he grows up and his hobbies are bow-hunting deer with his brother and riding bikes with his friends.  Caleb’s favorite movie is “Grid Iron Gang”.  The coolest thing in his room at home is a hood from Matt Kenseth’s NASCAR racecar!  What people don’t know about him is that he is scared of the dark!  Caleb likes coming to church because “no one laughs at you, and you are always wanted!” 

 Brett Bowersox is another 13-year-old and in the 7^th grade.  He is the son of Michele and Brad Bowersox and likes all of his classes at school.  Well, “they are all OK” and he likes all of his teachers but one!  Brett does the high jump and runs long distance on the track for the middle school and also plays soccer.  His favorite hobby is playing video games, but he also reads a lot of history and war books.  In fact, he is full of history facts about war stuff and would like to someday visit Bikini Atoll, an island that was used for nuclear testing after World War II.  It lies 526 miles from Hawaii.  (he knew that exactly!)  His family has a “bulimic kitten” names Maddie and another cat named Prince.  Brett say that maybe he’ll become a history teacher someday, but no decision on that yet.

  Andrew Sweat, (who is missing from the photograph) was 14 years old in March, and he is in the 8^th grade. His parents are Robin Stroschin and Bob Sweat. His favorite class subject is history because it is “easy to follow”.  His least favorite class is English.  His favorite sport is backyard basketball (and he’s tall!) But he also does stick juggling, which is something many people are unfamiliar with.  The coolest thing in Andy’s room is his Tae Kwan Do plaque, which acknowledges his skills.  He has 9 belts in Tae Kwan Do and the last one was red!  He really has no idea of his future career but possibly architecture.  The Sweat family dog is a soft-coated Wheaton Terrier named Riley.  Andy thinks our church is a good place to come because of its environment and atmosphere. 

 front row left to right:

Adam Bowersox is 11 years old and in the 6^th grade.  He is the brother of Brett and also the son of Michele and Brad Bowersox.  His favorite class is science because of the fun lab experiments.  But science is also his toughest subject because it is hard!  Adam is in the running club at school and runs cross-country (distance). For fun, he likes to play video games at home and his favorite movie is “Lord of the Rings”.  Adam’s cats are Maddie and Prince and the coolest thing in his room is his queen-sized bed!  He has a key chain collection and has gathered “a ton” of them.  He likes coming to church because “it’s a nice place”.  We asked him to tell us something that most people don’t know about him.  He said “everyone knows I’m a little bit different, but (what they don’t know is) I’m actually pretty smart!”

  Eric Gordon is 14 years old, in the 8^th grade, and his parents are Ron and Laura Gordon.  Eric’s favorite subject is math and his least favorite is English class.  We might be checking out his skills in that department when he submits his youth news page in the latest church newsletter.  Eric is very talented on the computer and in fact, has his own lap-top that he got for Christmas.  He uses it for homework and to play games, but also has knowledge on web design and more.   For extra-curricular, Eric plays the trumpet, (formerly the piano) and has played golf for 4 years with his father.  He hopes to be on the high school golf team in the future.  He sometimes Googles house designs and plans to someday be an architect or an engineer.  “Happy Gilmore” is his favorite movie and he likes coming to our church because “all the people are nice”.  Eric used to collect baseball cards, but now the most unusual thing about him is that he knows how to juggle!  He can juggle 2, 3 or 4 balls and is learning to juggle bowling pins!  (Good talent for the Epiphany party every January!)

 Alexander Beaumont is 13 and in the 7^th grade.  His parents are Doug and Wendy Beaumont.  His favorite class at school is social studies, especially history.  He doesn’t care for math class.  Alex plays middle school football, does wrestling, track and baseball.  He is also very active with 4-H and will show pigs at the 4-H fair this summer.  At the Chelsea Fair in August, he will show pigs and also a steer for the first time.  It’s a Black Angus named Buddy—they get very large!  We know Alex will have many chores to handle all summer.  He is interested in being a car engineer when he grows up.  Right now, he collects football and baseball cards and plays the baritone horn in the band.  Alex’s family pet is an Airedale/black lab mix named Ginger, whom he says “is hyper”. He likes coming to our church because there’s a lot of nice people and Pastor Barb is a good pastor!  And there are no secrets to tell about Alex—he says “he’s an open book!”

  Michael Varner (also missing from the photograph) is 13 years old and in the 7^th grade.  He is the son of Chris and Catherine Varner.  Michael’s favorite class at school is global studies and his least favorite is English, because of the grammar and punctuation.  Michael has been a lacrosse player for 3 years and plays on the Ann Arbor Emerson team.  He also plays tennis and has played with the high school team, and been coached by Mr. Rosentreter.  Michael wouldn’t mind being a professional lacrosse player someday, but he figures it’s pretty unlikely and very few make much money.  They all have to have other jobs!  He knows a lot about the game and mentioned that it is very American and originated in New York.  Michael also likes to play paintball and travel.  His family went to Hawaii for Spring Break and he is going to Japan this summer with the 7^th/8^th grade school exchange program.  His pets are 7 gerbils and with a big grin he describes the only one with a name—“Sparky, who’s tail got chopped off”!  (the original two were supposed to be both female!)  Michael likes our church because there are a lot of kids his age and Pastor Barb is energetic!  He also enjoyed the Kentucky Mission Trip.  Little know fact:  he admits to having a little arachnophobia!  (yikes-who doesn’t?)