Dear Editor,
Normally the Barrhead Leader does a great job of covering local events. Lots of fun pictures and full page articles. We get to read about farm tours, the ongoing battle between town and county over the future pool and various other dramas. The articles are fun, informative, interesting and somethings thought provoking.
However in the case of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Neerlandia Christian Reformed church, this local paper has deeply disappointed me.
The anniversary was a 2-day event celebrating God’s faithfulness to our church and community over the past 100 years. We had a large tent set up where we ate lunch and visited, beautiful decorations in the church and hall, a penny carnival took place in the fellowship hall as well as other entertainment and the building of an amazing replica of the first log church went on all day. In the evening we hosted a dinner for over 320 people, held an evening of entertainment to a packed church as we looked back and celebrated our history. We enjoyed a rousing church service on Sunday, again to a full house and coffee and fellowship afterward. It was a fun weekend of remembering and acknowledging God’s blessing and care.
All we got out of all this was a single close-up of the building of the replica of the old church. And even that photo which was hardly representative of all the hard work that went into the building or the weekend celebration.
I’m sorry, but this is poor reporting. Neerlandia is a large, established community and the various churches are at the heart of why this community works. When one of them celebrates 100 years, that is to be commended and covered with much more depth and consideration than the Leader and/or Town and Country did.
Carolyne Aarsen
