All Saints' Day
Date – Time
October 31, 2023
– 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Additional Information
*Private event open to SJW parish community and hosted by the Simpson family*
Join us for our All Saints' Day gathering to be held at our land. This is a longstanding tradition of SJW, but we are moving it to a new location this year that is next to the future church site. The shop at the back of the property where GratiaFest was held this year will be the main location for our All Saints' Day gathering.
Please, make sure you signup so we know how many people to plan for. We also need help with post-party cleanup. So, if you have a teen or adult willing to stay after 10 PM to help with cleanup, William and I would be eternally grateful! (Cleanup is NOT required to signup!)
This event is open to our SJW community so pass the word and the sign-up! If you aren't a part of our SJW community or are considering coming into town to visit SJW for the occasion, please, contact Greta at (903) 767.7550, we'd love to extend an invitation to you personally!
Deadline to signup is October 27th.
Attire: Children and adults are welcome to dress up as their favorite saint. We, as always, will start the evening off with a Litany of Saints.
Footware and clothing: The souling will be done in our woods at the back of our property which are very "woods-y" as all good woods are so we recommend children and adults have closed-toed footware and clothing appropriate for walking in the woods--nothing dragging on the ground, nothing on the head that could prevent one from seeing clearly, etc. Also, please, bring a flashlight for your family if you can. We will make sure the group leaders have flashlights, but extra lights for the people at the back of each group would be beneficial.
Food: We will have a potluck dinner so bring plenty of food to fill your bellies and another person or two. We will provide water, plates, and cutlery. Since we are hosting from a shop, we need to ask that you bring any serveware necessary to get food from your dish onto invidual plates. Fingerfoods are encouraged, but we're flexible and SO grateful for anything you can bring to share!
Water: We will have water at the event, but would greatly appreciate families bringing their own water bottles if possible to minimize cleanup and expense. Thanks for your effort!
Candy: Please, make sure to bring 10 pieces of candy PER CHILD... and a few extra for any sweet tooth adults. We ask that you attach a name of a deceased relative or loved one to each piece of candy so the children can pray for your loved one as they enjoy their treats. I've found small letter labels make the job less penitential, but maybe that's not the goal given the occasion.
Saints: Contact Greta Simpson at GretaSimpson@protonmail.com if you (teen or adult) would like to volunteer to be a saint for the souling. We have most slots filled by an acting group, but we may have a few extra spots available!
Pumpkin Carving Contest: We will find a worthy judge so bring your most cunning pumpkin creation.
Seating: We will have some tables and chairs from the church, but we will likely be in DIRE NEED of folding chairs. Please, bring what you have.
Summary of what to bring:
Your family and saintly children ;)
Appropriate clothing for walking in the woods
1 flashlight per family
Food for the potluck with any serveware we will need to serve that food item
Water bottles if possible
10 pieces of candy with labels for each child in the family
Cleverly carved pumpkin (optional)
Folding chairs if you have them
With Joy!
Greta Simpson
Signups
Signup is currently closed.
The Signup Deadline for this event was 10/27/2023 – 12:00 AM CST