Magic Moments: A Myrtle Beach Surprise

On Tuesday of this week I read that it was snowing in Myrtle Beach, SC. That news led me to a Twitter conversation with Jill Gilbreth Bryant and Ashley Goad that brought back this wonderful memory full of Magic Moments for me to share on this particular Throwback Thursday. I'd love to hear from anyone else who was there...

In January, 1992, the Springfield Friends Meeting youth went on a retreat to Cherry Grove, SC (located just north of North Myrtle Beach). We rented a house (not the Betsy B) and had a great weekend, but there are three things I really remember about that trip. Here they are:

* Our program for the weekend was talking about our spiritual journeys, and included things like each student doing a written spiritual history. As part of this exploration, one morning I served Communion (the outward sacrament is not usually practiced among Quakers. For more on this read Communion Confusion) using orange juice and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The experience was was very cool and quite meaningful. It really served to remind us all about the sacrifice of Christ. It's also part of the reason I continue to believe that hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts are the modern version of manna from Heaven!

* That particular group of kids (well, the girls anyway) were obsessed with the movie Grease. We could all tolerate Grease, and at times even enjoy it. But on that weekend someone (in my mind I have always blamed Jill, Erin Moran and Mandy Beggs) also brought Grease 2 (one of the worst sequels ever made!!!) and made us watch it. I wanted to gouge my eyes out. Jill estimates we watched each of the Grease movies 500 times that weekend- which may be only a slight exaggeration! Our greatest Grease moments would come in 1993 at The Beaches and Cream Soda Shoppe at WDW, but that is a story for another day!

* I very rarely lose my temper, but it does aggravate me when people are rude to others. Late one night while on that retreat suddenly my sleep and that of several others was interrupted by lights coming on, people talking and yelling and youth running around the house. I came out of my room screaming for them to get back to bed, issuing all kinds of threats and scaring them half to death. When I finally got around to asking what was going on, Ashley meekly told me "It's snowing, Carl." It was snowing at Myrtle Beach!  Now I was the one running around, looking out the windows, checking the beach, beside myself with excitement. This was something I had often dreamed of seeing! I apologized to everyone and we all stayed up a while, watching it snow. The pictures posted here are of the infamous Springfield blue van and the beach at Cherry Grove, both from the next morning.  It's still the only time I have ever seen it snow at the beach!

We had lots of great moments with lots of great people on trips from Springfield, and more than a few took place at Myrtle Beach. This particular weekend was a classic Magic Moment and a one of my favorite memories.

Because of Jesus,