On the last Friday in June, we had a storm come through that knocked out power to 10's of thousands of people in Lynchburg and surrounding counties. Trees were snapped off and had fallen on power lines, homes and cars. The word was that power would not be completely restored to homes and businesses for over a week. The problem of the loss of electricity and AC was compounded by the daytime temperatures reaching over the 100 degree point.
Shiloh UMC was one of the churches fortunate enough to keep its power and air conditioning. So the folks who made it to church on Sunday decided to get cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, tomato, bread and have sandwiches together in the fellowship hall after the morning service.
The lunch worked so well that we decided to come back for dinner. No one really wanted to sit out the afternoon and evening with the heat in the homes. So, Charlene Gallaher worked through the afternoon making several pans of lasagna, trays of garlic bread, and bowls of salad.
During the afternoon, people came in and out of the church to cool down. Some brought their dogs in to let them chill from the heat. Everyone was well behaved, people and pets.
We had quite a few people joining us for diner, even some non-members. It was a good place to come, relax, cool down, enjoy a meal that you couldn't prepare at home, and have a good time.
After dinner we went up into the sanctuary and watched a movie, Ratatouille. It was about 9:30 Sunday night before we finally left the church. The outside temperature had cooled down to the mid 80's.
Thoughout the coming week, people would continue to use the church as a resource and cooling station. Some slept at the church, some got ice from the ice machine for themselves and others, some cooled their pets, and a week later some still are.
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