Cafe Kyle

As a youth out of school for the summer, I found Fresh Grounds Experimental Art class to be a very fun and interesting asset of my break. The key to experimental art is knowing how to channel your raw creativity.

What makes experimental art different from other art classes is that you don’t even have to know how to draw! The course is exactly what the name suggests, experimenting with art. During this 11 week class we explored all kinds of art forms that people don’t normally tend to think about, such as splatter art, kinetic (moving) sculptures, (legal) street art, found art and much, much more.

One of my favorite aspects of the class was not actually the class at all, but the relationships created because of a common interest in the arts. Every Wednesday evening it was humbling for teenagers like me to work with adults twice my age and even senior citizens!

It is a great thing to have classes within the Fresh Grounds Art Program that all ages will enjoy, and i believe that Ben is a great teacher and he is doing an awesome job in choosing the program’s courses. I feel that having this class on the roster is essential to the program’s diversity and it is important to the outreach of even those who may have a lack of artistic talent but a strong creativity and will to explore the arts!

Thanks Fresh Grounds for a great summer of artful fun!

1st Annual Fresh Grounds Coffeehouse Bake-Off

by Michele Barcey on Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 5:10pm
If you recall a few months ago, I casually mentioned that an asset to Greenville, PA was hosting a fundraiser to raise funds for the purchasing and installation of an elevator. That was the Fresh Grounds Coffeehouse 1st Annual Bake-Off...

And it all came to fruition yesterday.

I was so casually mentioning it before, because as the spear head behind the fundraiser, I was nervous about it's ability to succeed. There was a point about 45 days ago when I talked to a dear friend Martha (coffeehouse manager) and said we might have to cancel; only 3 or 4 people had entered. As it turns out I was nervous for nothing...

We easily raised over $500 with help from contributors over a dozen bakers and 18 delicious baked goods to choose from. Casual and entertaining judges came from around the community to assist in the process of announcing a winner. The judges included Martin Johnson, Director of Fresh Grounds Coffeehouse and President of Downtown Ministries; Peter Candela, Mayor of the Borough of Greenville; Jan Hurlbert, owner of Hurlbert's Hardware (local long-standing business in downtown Greenville), and Michelle Earnhart (sp.?), head baker for Fresh Grounds Coffeehouse.

The competition was severe, and presentation was just the start. Everything looked absolutely to die for. There were cakes, pies, cookies, and breads. The winner was announced: a Hawaiian Sunset Cake made by Carla Campbell. Second place went to Allison Good for Lemon Burst and third place to Rich Carbo for Heavenly Chocolate Angel Delight.

Carla was awarded two framed art prints donated by local artists and fellow Fresh Grounds Coffeehouse volunteers, a trophy, and the honor of being a judge at next years Bake-Off.

After Carla was announced the big winner, there was a raffle to allow community members to take home some of the desserts that were made for the event. All the money made with the raffle also went toward the Elevator Campaign.

It was a pleasure to see community members come together and support something that is working toward improving this small town. This was the first year for this fundraiser, but I assure you that this casual, yet entertaining event is not a one-time deal for Fresh Grounds.

The power of prayer and the importance of sharing

Last week one of our regular high school patrons came in. Something was different today, you could tell that there was something wrong. You could just tell she was going through something and because she has become a face that we see very often, I knew that it was important to get her to share what was going on. I simply asked her how she was doing and she responded, "I wasn't in school today". I quickly tried to remember the date, was today a holiday of some sort? Nope, so I ask her what was wrong. She very easily proceeded to tell me that she had spent the whole day in the hospital (she just recently was in the hospital for sports related injuries but she said they had fixed everything). I could tell that this visit was very different and that she must have gotten some bad news. What it was is that the doctors had found a hole in her heart. She tried very hard to accept that she would be okay, but her life would be very different. No more sports. The possibility of internal bleeding very high. As I listened in shock of this news I told her that I would be praying for her and that I would make sure I would let everyone I knew that this was something that they could pray for. Thankful, she told me that she already had a bunch of people praying for her and so I left with some encouraging words and told her to let me know if she needed anything. Not two hours later she calls me over, her expressions and emotions completely changed with the news from her mom that the doctor had read the scans wrong and that it was only a bruise on her heart. Wow! I thought, what a huge mistake on the doctors part (kinda of upset)... realizing that a bruise was still something serious, but nothing quite like a hole... I joined her in her joy getting goosebumps and not being able to stop smiling. Prayer is powerful, and what quick results! Although that may not be the case for every prayer that is said it is important to always see God through it!
Soon after this exciting news my volunteers for that evening joined in for prayer behind the counter and two other volunteers that were out on the other side of the counter quickly joined. Most of my volunteers were high schoolers and as we prayed we thanked God for what had just happened with this specific patron; as we all shared in the power of prayer that evening.