The annual Sabine Parish Back to School Rally will be hosted at the First United Methodist Church’s Family Life Center on Saturday, July 30, according to Chairman Mary Gore.
Members of the Rally Committee have been making plans for weeks, in order to host the giveway of school supplies for kindergartners through high school. Numerous organizations and donors have supplied funds to assist the committee in pursing needed items and gifts.
Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Elizabeth Pickett will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies and the guest speaker will be Matthew Couvillion. Mi chael Cutright of Zwolle will provide the music and give his testimony.
Throughout the program, students from the parish schools will participate by giving testimonies, singing and offering prayers. Boy Scout Troop 80 will present the colors at the opening ceremony.
Registration begins at 8 a.m.
This year there will be a variety of outdoor demonstrations from a firetruck from Central Station in Many, to award-winning athletes and fun games. Hot dogs, chips, Capri Suns, water and snowcones will be available outside.
Inside the Family Life Center, various organizations, including the DAR, Veterans, Prevention Alliance, D.A.R.E. and CADA will set up information booths.
Students, representing elementary, junior high and high schools will have the opportunity to win a gift card for their teacher, which will be awarded by Gore at a later date.
The Back to School Rally was formed a number of years ago in order to help local students secure supplies prior to the opening of schools. Over the years, the committee has distributed hundreds of supplies and offered a free gathering with fun, food and lots of encouragement for a successful school year.
A mission group staying at Toledo Bend Baptist Resort Ministries will be on site to assist in the Rally, according to Gore.
Committee members, who devote time and energy to the Rally include Ms. Gore, Donna and Kenneth Ammons, Elizabeth Pickett, Harry Babers of Tabernacle of Love in Zwolle, Nancy Wright, Colette Parsons, Vicki Weaver, Allen and Vicki Isgitt, the Rev. Brian Coplin of Many’s First United Methodist Church, Tammy Holmes, Matthew Couvillion, Shantrece Hooker, Virginia Burkett, and the Rev. Jerome Newsome, of New Jerusalem Baptist Church.