The Orleans Church, located in Orleans, Calif., entered a float in this year’s Old Timers Picnic Parade.

Using the theme of the parade, “Golden Memories Along the River,” Howard and Charleen Williams, personal ministry leaders, decided to construct a float showcasing some of the different ministries that their church has been involved with since it was dedicated 46 years ago. “We wanted to demonstrate to the crowd what the Orleans Church is all about,” said Charleen.

After much thought and planning, the church members designed and built their float to look like a church, even painting it in the same color scheme as their own church. They divided each side into three sections, each representing a different aspect of the outreach where the church is involved. One side of the float described community service activities, Vacation Bible School and annual children’s ministry projects while the other side portrayed meeting the spiritual needs of the community, health-related programs and missionary projects around the world. “It reminded people of what our church does for the community,” said Evelyn McLane, a member who helped paint the float. “We wanted to remind the community that we are here for them.”

Nearly 20 people were involved in the project, including several non-Adventists as well as members of the Orleans Church. “People were very generous with their time and money to make this float a success,” said Charleen.

When the parade was over, officials announced that the church entry had won awards for Best Float and Best Overall Show. “While receiving the trophies was great,” said Charleen, “the greatest joy came from working together on a project and knowing this was well-received on the part of the community and had an impact.”

By Joel Williams, assistant to the communication director for Northern California Conference