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Middle-schoolers make a mess at Old North
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Participants in the Fire House Middle School Ministry of Old North Church Messy Games had a blast getting clean on the waterslide May 27.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Participants in the Fire House Middle School Ministry of Old North Church Messy Games made sundaes out of themselves during the Human Sundae event by smothering each other, and themselves, with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Robert Elsas, a sixth-grade student at Canfield Village Middle School, really got into the spirit of the Messy Games sponsored by Fire House Middle School Ministry of Old North Church May 27.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Participants in the Fire House Middle School Ministry of Old North Church Messy Games were hosed off before being picked up by their parents after the games.
By ABBY SLANKER
The Fire House Middle School Ministry at Old North Church hosted its Messy Games May 27 with approximately 75 kids reveling in all kinds of messes.
Ryan Farr, pastor of Middle School Ministries, provided all kinds of messy concoctions for youth to wallow, fall and slide in. as well as, drink.
To start the games, Farr asked for volunteers for the Mystery Milk shake contest. He took three volunteers at a time and explained that they would randomly receive a milk shake. One was a real milk shake with gummy bears, one was made with ketchup and baby food and one was made with liquefied Spam, ketchup and chocolate syrup.
“Who wants to take the risk of getting the two yucky milk shakes?” Farr asked the enthusiastic crowd.
With several volunteers, Farr held three competitions, with the winner of each receiving a $15 Subway gift card - and the real milk shake.
After their stomachs settled, the participants were directed to a grassy area for the Bob For Gummy Worms event. The kids were split into teams and competed to find gummy bears in kiddie pools full of water, dog food, baby food, mayonnaise, cereal, applesauce and grass – using only their feet. After lots of squeals and cheering, a winning team was declared.
While some teams were feeling for gummy bears with their feet, the other teams were waging a tug of war over a mud pit. It didn‘t take long for most team members to be covered in mud.
The next event was the Gauntlet. One member from each team was challenged with running through the gauntlet while putting on a snorkel mask, then put an inner tube over their head and then a towel around their neck and running around a cone and back to their team. All the while, the contestants were being pelted with a concoction of baked beans, oatmeal, applesauce and cereal.
To show the kids that the games weren’t all about getting messy, Farr and his helpers gave the kids a chance to wash off. The crew created a huge water slide down a hill and dowsed it with water and baby shampoo.
The kids took turns in groups throwing themselves down the slide with the good intent of getting clean. But there was one event left that would render the slide useless.
The Human Sundae event involved the kids smothering each other, and themselves, with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and bananas. Some of the ingredients even made it into the kids’ mouths, alongside their clothes and hair.
To end the event, Farr and his crew told the kids to take another turn on the water slide to clean off. Then, for extra measure, he had them line up and hosed them off before getting into their parents’ cars for the ride home.