CSI FUMC
What do the Road Runner, Porky Pig, and Yosemite Sam have in common?
Come on now. Think!
Any ideas?
Well, add a plate of spaghetti and a cup of sweet tea to the picture and you have last night’s dinner guests at First Church in Berkeley Springs. Hott hubby Dan and I had the pleasure of dining in the company of a few Looney Tunes last night. Add to that Sylvester the Cat, Pepe Le Pew, and Granny to our crazy table and you’ve got yourself one memorable night!
Unfortunately, missing from the Looney Tune line-up was Bugs Bunny, himself! You see, not long before First Church’s benefit dinner for the Guatemala mission team began, poor ‘ole Bugs was kidnapped. Yes, kidnapped! Right here in Berkeley Springs,W. Va.!
Who knew that our little town here in the hills was to be the site for Warner Brothers next motion picture? Apparently, several of the famous Looney characters, Tasmanian Devil, Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, and Tweety Bird, to name a few, had emerged on this little town in the hills to begin a new film. While visiting the shops and stopping for coffee at the Fairfax Coffee House, poor ole Bugs was abducted. As guests of the dinner, it was our mission to figure out “who done it?”
Now, I must admit: this was no easy task. In a crowded room of nearly 125 people, it was difficult to follow all the clues. As each course was served, our host for the evening, none other than Speedy Gonzales himself, revealed clues to the mystery of Bugs Bunny’s untimely kidnapping. As the servers, among them Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian, brought salads and spaghetti, clues were also served table by table. As guest of the evening, it was our job to perform as “CSI-FUMC” or Crime Scene Investigators – First United Methodist Church.
A little distracted by a few run away meatballs and falling lemonade cups, I completely lost track of the clues. But not the characters at our table! Oh no. They were not to be dismayed until Bugs’ kidnappers were well behind bars. Finally, following dessert, the last remaining clue was revealed and we were tasked with announcing the final decision of Table 15.
Here, I should add that we were the last table in the church’s social hall. Others filled with several adults found Dan and I at a table with nothing but Looney Tunes. Literally! All other dining partners seated with us were each under 12. Hummmmm…. I didn’t think we were likely to decipher the answer to the mystery!
But ours was not a table to falter. No! Leave it to Porky Pig to roll out the solution to the mystery! This she did with utmost convincing; of course, because Porky Pig was our own daughter, Violet! And with a table of nothing but boys, she was not to be convinced otherwise.
Rambling on something about a note and chickens, Violet convinced not only our table but the entire room that it was Barnyard Dog. Framing Foghorn Leghorn, it was Barnyard Dog’s greediness that led him to kidnap Bugs Bunny for a ransom of $500,000.
Sound like a crazy evening? Well, it was. Only at First Church among other moms and dads in Christian fellowship would such a “Who Done It” Crime Mystery Benefit Dinner be such a huge blessing. Raising funds to send 30 local individuals from Berkeley Springs on a humanitarian relief mission to share the love of Jesus by serving poor families and chronically malnourished children in Guatemala, the night was one my family will remember.
Spending the afternoon cutting out costumes of construction paper for my crew, Porky’s ears (Violet), Yosemite Sam’s mustache (Isaac), and Road Runner’s feathers (Levi), left me and Dan without a costumes. I thought of going as Granny, even tried out a long skirt and bumped up the “you know what”; after all, I already had the white hair.
Dan wouldn’t let me out of the house.
It was a joyful evening of fun fellowship at First Church. I really didn’t expect yet another spaghetti fundraiser to be so much fun. When the Hott family returned home, still dressed in their Looney Tunes costumes, Isaac said,
“Mom! Here’s an idea for your column…”
“CSI-FUMC!”
“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ: and these things we write, that our joy may be made full.” 1 John 1:3-4
Copyright © Angie Hott, Moms of Faith, All Rights Reserved