By SANDRA THAMES / Community Columnist

On Saturday, April 26, First Presbyterian of Alabaster held its annual spring fling for the community. As part of the church’s outreach ministry, the desire to hold a variety of events (something for everyone) made their day very successful.

The blood drive bus was available, along with free health screening. Mission groups displayed their services: Safe House, Stop the Madness Outreach Ministry and the Encouragement Learning Center Inc.

A kids area of inflatables, games and face painting brought smiles to the faces of dozens of kids.

Boston Butts had been ordered and precooked for pickup along with barbeque and hotdog lunch plates for sale.

Tables with umbrellas provided a nice cool spot to feed yourself or your entire family right there on the grounds. A bake sale with coconut cream pies, cookies, cupcakes and other items lovingly baked by the ladies of First Presbyterian quickly became one of the more popular tables at the event.

Then there were the vendors – booth after booth consisting of hand crafted jewelry, products of Mary Kay and Avon, tote bags of every shape, print and size, athletic shirts, caps, Origami, magnet creations and, to top it off, a lovely dulcimer ensemble whose music calmed the soul and put the browsers in a looking, shopping and eating mood.

Inside the church fellowship hall Yellow Dot registration was held. The Yellow Dot program is a free service provided to individuals of all ages (especially senior adults) to provide detailed medical information that can be crucial following an automobile crash.

This is the first program of its kind in the state of Alabama to assist first responders in the event of a crash or other medical emergency.

It was a true outreach to the community and will hopefully be carried on as an annual event. A committee, headed by Rachel Blackmon with assistance from her husband Tim, planned the event.

Again, this was not just a regular Spring Fling, but was a day in which First Presbyterian of Alabaster wished to furnish both fun and services to our community.