TLDR: The smell of bar-b- que wafted throughout the neighborhood around St. Dunstan’s for the annual Holy Smokes. Read on for more details.
Oh what a day! Saturday, April 20th was an overcast day here in Houston but what a day it was! The smell of bar-b- que wafted throughout the neighborhood around St. Dunstan’s. Rain was in the forecast but not until much later in the afternoon. 8 teams decided to invest time, talent, and resources into the now annual event called Holy Smokes. Competition for the coveted golden award began before the public event started at 11 am. A huge event like this cannot happen without the efforts of all involved and the participation from the fine folks at St. Dunstan’s made that fact apparent.
Truly, what an amazing event it was! Navigating permits with Harris County can be daunting but Kayle Landry helped to maneuver us through the many required hoops. Evelyn Stokes and Francis Mallow Taylor managed to make sure each of the cooking teams knew the expectations and provided detailed information to help facilitate the best day.
Prayers began long before first taste of the day. Jerre Bergeron and her wonderful team of volunteers continued to pray and offer prayer. Jerre commented, “We had over new 30+ people stop by the Prayer Booth. That was a new record!”
Derrek King and his team along with David Flores took on the parking lot responsibility. That is a huge task when dealing with as many folks that attended.
The Kona Ice snow cone truck came bringing sweet treats to all ages. Laughter from Bounce House echoed all around. Fr. Alvaro and his lovely wife Martha did a ‘live’ broadcast for their Columbian friends and Jaime Munoz- the director of music for the Spanish-speaking service entertained the entire event playing favorite hits from the 80’s and 90’s!
Cathy Sullivant and her team said “It took us longer to count the votes today than we expected, because the number of people who voted was huge! We had over 200 people vote, and there were other people who didn't vote, so the event was a fantastic success.” Kyra Helmick’s flyers and social media presence made a big difference in getting the word out about our event. And so did your participation dear St. Dunstan family. Some visitors told me they were here because they read it on their neighborhood news site. Dede Johnson’s expertise was terrifically helpful. When in doubt just ask Dede.
The welcome team had more people visit their tent who were not members at St. Dunstan’s than there had ever been. One lovely young couple with 2 toddlers said they just saw the sign in the front and decided to see what was happening. They asked about groups for moms with children, so the Welcome Team sent them to Angela Stengl, St. Dunstan’s children director, who wowed them with our offerings.
Unfortunately, the dark clouds descended a bit earlier than expected. It was pouring rain when finally, the announcement of the team winners. Many people couldn't hear due to the deluge, so below are the results from each of the categories.
Congratulations St. Dunstan family on another successful Holy Smokes!! From the onset on Holy Smokes 2024, the goal of the event committee remained the same: to share the love of God with our community! And without a shadow of doubt the goal was not only met but surpassed all expectations. We prayed for nameless and faceless people from our corner of Houston who would attend this event to feel the love of Jesus through the body of Christ known as St. Dunstan’s.
And do you know what??? They do and did! I am ever thankful for everyone who was a part of Holy Smokes 2024! Praising God for you and for Texas bar-b-que!
Rev. Leesa+
