Ulster Project Arlington

Fish City Grill (in The Highlands) will be hosting a fundraiser for Ulster Project on Oct. 5.  *See Fun-Raiser Page.

I would like to thank all of the parents who were able to make it to the meeting August 10th at Rush Creek.  As well as to the parents who have turned in your evaluation forms.  Your input is very valuable to those who will be planning next years project.  You have shared a lot of great ideas and suggestions this year.  If you have more ideas, please keep them coming!!!

Ulster Prject Arlington performed an interview for the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) . In a packed office of Ulster Project President Liza Hawrylak, several teens and counselors from the 2010 Ulster Arlington Project were interviewed by the BBC for an upcoming article. We discussed many topics and talked about how the project benefited not only the Northern Irish teens, but the Arlington teens as well. Look for more details soon!

Our Final Week: July 19th - July 25th This is the hardest week to write about for a couple of reasons. First, we are all heading back to our real lives. For the last four weeks, we have lived in the Ulster bubble. Always having something to do and someone to hang out with. The bonds and friendships that have been built for both the teens and adults in this years project will stay with us always. Second, I find it hard to put into words the dedication and spirit of all of our teens. They worked and played side by side with children at Spirit of Hope this week. The impact that they had on the children that in many cases have been lost or forgotten was amazing to watch. Our teens lifted the kids up both physically and spiritually. They spent many long hours working to put on one of the best Celebration shows and a very uplifting and meaningful Closing Worship Service. Ulster Project 2010 comes to a close but I know that anytime one of us hears the song Lean On Me, our eyes will see 31 teens joined together!

The highlight of the week has to be the 3-day trip. We had a great time!! Let me tell you, riding in a big bus for 6 hours can be huge amounts of fun!! The stars were big and bright as we had dinner in Palo Duro Canyon and saw the play Texas! As a matter of fact, we loved seeing the stars so much, that the bus driver pulled over for us on the way back to the hotel so we could take some time to gaze at the stars. We celebrated Thanksgiving in July on Thursday evening. Food, Food, Food!!!! Need I say more, we ate really well that evening. Thankfully, we were able to dance some of it off during the square dance. Friday we hunted for treasure using a GPS and left behind our very own treasure. (I hope it makes it over to Northern Ireland one day!) This was also a great day to hang out by the lake and swim a little bit. (Yes, we went through a lot of sunscreen that day!) The families all gathered together on Saturday to have a picnic and dance at the Elk's Lodge. Our teens can really dance and even those who are young at heart were seen on the floor dancing. We ended our week with our Protestant worship service together.  We are heading into our final week and it is full of activities for us to spend lots of time together.

Ulster Project Celebration Show at St. Barnabas UMC 6:00 to 10:00 PM-ish.  Fantastic show!  CLICK HERE to see the pictures!

Ulster Project Softball Game at 7:00 PM at the Knights of Columbus Ball Field.  Close game, both sides played very well
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Ulster Project Football (Soccer) Game at 8:00 PM at the Harold Patterson Sports Complex.  Game over, tied 5-5.

Rain drops keep falling on my head! This week we spent a lot of time in prayer. Praying that the rain would not cause us to cancel any of our outdoor events. Well, the praying worked! Everyone had a great family weekend and got some rest in during all their fun. We had several community service projects this week. We went on a scavenger hunt for canned goods for Mission Arlington one evening. The teens have a lot of stories about the people they met during this time. This also gave them a taste of what it was like to have to ask for food from strangers and what it was like to be turned down. The next morning we took the cans to Mission Arlington and we were able to see the path the cans of food took to get to the people who needed them. This was a hot and sweaty adventure, but in the end we all felt like we had helped. That evening we helped serve and entertain at a picnic for the clients of the Arlington Life Shelter. This was a moving event for us all as we talked to people who had been struggling in life but were working to making a difference. I find it very interesting that in both our Opening Ecumenical Service and in our Catholic Worship Service this week, the sermons talked about the Good Samaritan. The main question became are you a good neighbor? Several of the teens and I were able to talk about how they had been a good neighbor this week as well as how easy it was to give a little bit of yourself to help other people. (I am truly blessed to spend this time with these wonderful teens!) You may be asking if we had a chance to have some fun and the answer would be YES!!!!! We had a wonderful day at Six Flags as well as played games and went bowling at Alley Cats. On Saturday, we took the teens flying. Several pilots at Hick's Field take our teens out for a little view of Texas from above. We worried about the weather for a little bit, but the sun came out and the teens and many of their families had a great morning in the the sky! Our week also included a Time of Discovery day and some time to practice for our Celebration Show in two weeks. We finish this week up with a Pancake Breakfast this morning and line dancing at Billy Bob's this evening. Please continue to pray for us as we start out next week with our Three-Day Trip. Amarillo by morning......

This week has gone by so fast!! Our Northern Irish teens arrived on time Sunday evening. There was a packed room at New World United Methodist Church waiting for us to arrive from the airport.  The sight of all 32 teens uniting for the first time will be one that I will never forget. So many of us have prayed over each of these teens for months and to see their excitement and joy in being together was a true blessing. We started our week off with a Time of Discovery Lock-In at the Catholic Renewal Center.  This was so much fun.  We played games, ate, talked, laughed, and watched a movie.  Oh yes, for all you parents out there, they did sleep. (Just not that much!) This was a new beginning for UPA and the TOD team this year and they did a great job leading it. On Tuesday evening we celebrated our Opening Ecumenical Service at Rush Creek Christian Church.  This was a beautiful service filled with music, prayer, and 11 clergy members.  We also had special speakers Hailey Sisson (2007 Arlington Teen) and Brian Magennis (2008 Belfast Teen) to share their experiences. The next day we worried about the rain that was coming because we were doing a Ropes course. You could not have asked for a better day in Texas in June.  The rain held off until we finished the event and throughout the day we had a nice little breeze to cool us down some.  These teens were amazing to watch as they tried new things and worked together to perform tasks.  I can safely (with two feet on the ground) say that I don’t think I would be willing to climb up a telephone pole, stand on it and then jump off. You really should see the pictures of that! On Thursday we were able to go to the Boys and Girls Club of America.  This was a great opportunity for our teens to work with other children.  They played games, did crafts, and played some dodgeball together. We also had a game of Trivia going on.  This was really fun because the topic was American History, I think the Northern Irish Teens got to learn a lot. Finally everyone was excited to have a pool party later in the evening. We are ending our week building a float for the 4th of July Parade as well as walking in the Parade.  This weekend we look forward to spending some time with our families during Family Weekend.

Ulster Project Thanksgiving Dinner and Square Dance sponsored by the 2009 Ulster Project Host Families on July 15th.  Please RSVP by July 5th, 2010.  "We come to join in the banquet of love, let it open our hearts and break down the fears that keep us from loving each other."  Barry, called a fair dance and what a blast it was!

Johnny High Country Review Show: Due to Construction delays, the Johnny High Music Review scheduled for July 10th has been CANCELED.  More information to come. 

Join us for dinner at Los Vaqueros after the Billy Bob's Dancing lesson.  Sunday, July 11th at 5:30 PM.  Each dinner is $12 that includes tax and tip.  Dinner includes beef and chicken fajita bar with guacamole, sour cream, pico, grated cheese, refried beans, rice flour tortillas and your choice of tea, lemonade or water.  Please have your reservation and payment to Sherrie by Tuesday, July 6th.  Cash or Check made out to Sherrie Laneri (Sherrie is making one check payment to Los Vaqueros).  Email with any questions to Sherrie Laneri.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, our Executive Officers, and dozens of volunteers, I want to welcome you as participants in the 2010 Arlington, Texas Ulster Project.

This summer will be an unforgettable experience. All the activities have been planned over several months of hard work by many committed volunteers. Their goal is the same as yours should be. That is, too make a positive difference in the lives of Christian brothers and sisters by building a new sense of tolerance, understanding, and mutual respect for each other. This can only be accomplished by your active participation in all activities. We ask that you always be respectful of each other, your counselors, and the volunteers you will meet.

Though there are many fun activities (such as flying a plane, Six Flags, pool parties, etc.) you will also be asked to do community service projects, and participate in Times of Discovery. I encourage you to take advantage of these more serious times to grow individually and as a group.

Finally, may God bless you and the 2010 Ulster Project. Welcome to TEXAS!