A couple of weeks ago, just prior to our annual MCC relief sale in Nebraska, my friend and church brother Rene Lariviere called me to say that he had an idea. He was interested in selling his long hair at the sale this year; the highest bidder having the honors of cutting it; the hair going to Locks of Love. My initial thought was that I doubted that this had ever happened at an MCC sale, but quickly realized how awesome an idea it was and told Rene to go for it. In the two weeks leading up to the sale, Rene’s offer began to create quite a stir among our church members and sure enough, on Saturday morning of the sale, Rene stepped onto the platform and his hair went for $550; the winning bidder being Rene’s boss and fellow church member Rodney Ensz. The next day in church during our sharing time, Rene and Rodney walked to the front of the church, Rodney with a pair of hedge clippers, and cut Rene’s hair (with a scissors of course), much to the delight of our congregation who cheered loudly.

Rene and his wife Nancy have been regularly attending First Mennonite since last fall. I recently asked Rene a number of questions about his experience of the sale and why he did it – and I think it best to let him speak in his own words.

Question 1 – How did you come up with the idea of auctioning your hair? Rene – After helping build some things for the sale with the men from our church and realizing how important that work was; and since I had nothing to give for the sale, the idea struck me that maybe I could sell my hair since most my friends and peers had short hair. Plus the church members have been generous with their help toward me. They have always given me a “hand up and not a hand out”, and I felt like it was time for me to try to do something in a manner of returning the favor, “paying it forward” in some kind of way.

Question 2 – How was your experience at the MCC sale? Rene: The sale was a great experience for me. As a first timer I was amazed by the generosity of the Mennonite community … everyone giving with a smile and enjoying visiting with one another. To me it was a great time to get to know some more people from my church, especially those I barely knew. It is a definite go again next year!

Question 3 – What has been your experience in our church? Rene – My experience with the church is harder to define. I was born and raised Catholic as a young man and I had issues with some of the church beliefs, so I slowly moved out to seek for something that was more like me. I tried different denominations in search of the right place. Since moving to Beatrice the only church I have been invited to is First Mennonite. After a slow start, going once in a while because I was kind of afraid to invest myself into the church… I soon realized that my personal status as a poor man (sometimes too poor to pitch in a single dollar in the plate), or the clothes I was wearing, meant nothing to the people of the church. For them it was more important to see me in church rather than how much I could give. I enjoy the feeling of friendship and the genuineness of the people. Never has anyone made me feel any less than them. This is what I like from our church, and yes I said “OUR CHURCH” because the whole family loves to be there on Sundays.

Picture is of Rodney Ensz cutting Rene Lariviere’s hair.

Begin making plans to attend the WDC Annual Assembly – July 6-8, 2012, at the Magnuson Hotel & Meridian Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

Registration information will be available in May.

Churches, start selecting your delegates – there can be one delegate for every 30 members or fraction thereof.

A web-based Conference Resource Library Catalog! 

Find it at:  http://mennowdc.booksys.net/opac/crl/index.html?mode=start#menuHome

Or go to Western District Conference’s website:  http://mennowdc.org/library/catalog/, and click on the Online Library Catalog.

It’s full of patron-friendly features that will serve our congregations better than ever.  Open up each tab, click on the red links, explore!  If you are a registered library patron, you may now interact with your own Library Record.

First, you need your PIN.  It is the number on your yellow library card.  Don’t have one?  Left it in the laundry?  Cat ate it?  No worries – we can look up your PIN for you.  Once you Log on with your PIN in BOTH spaces, you may review which items you have checked out, when they are due, renew them, or make reserves.  You can also fill a “book bag” with items you may want to check out in the future.
If you are not a registered library patron, call, email or stop in to make those arrangements.  We offer FREE library cards to regular attenders of Mennonite congregations in Western District Conference, Central Plains Mennonite Conference and South Central Mennonite Conference.  If you would like a card, but are not a member of one of these churches, a small annual fee of $25 / person and $40 / family will be charged.  Congregations can become members by paying a $1/per attendee/per year fee.

This Library software upgrade was funded by Vision 2012 funds, and approved by the WDC Resource Commission.

Questions may be directed to Marlene Bogard, Library Director, 316-283-6300, crlib@mennowdc.org.