Column: Shorelines

Photos by Karen Dillon

Halesford Baptist Church Praise Band performs on the lower level of Bridgewater Plaza during a recent Tuesday Family Fun Night.

Linda Young (right) paints a shark on 12-year-old Wills Warden's bicep during Family Fun Night.

It's a sweltering Tuesday evening and as the sun slowly sinks below the rooftops on the lower level of Bridgewater Plaza, people of all ages are lingering around, vying for the few precious patches of shade and waiting patiently for the show to start.

Every Tuesday, beginning at 7 p.m., from the middle of June until mid-August, Bridgewater Plaza is home to Family Fun Night featuring a variety of free entertainment for all ages. On this particular night, the Praise Band from Halesford Baptist Church is getting ready to play.

At a nearby table, under a colorful umbrella, Halesford parishioners Carol Walls and Linda Young offer up face painting to children who are willing to sit still long enough. They remain focused on their work even as the steamy summer sun causes them to squint.

As perspiration slowly drips down Young's face, she talks about her love of being out there every Tuesday during the summer months.

"I love the kids," said Young as she painted a shark on 12-year-old Wills Warden's bicep. "There are kids that come back here every year [to participate in the events]."

Walls agreed. "It's the kids. They just lighten your heart."

Both women are out on the plaza every week, painting faces as early as 6 p.m. and staying until the entertainment is over for the evening, usually around 8 p.m.

Even though it's stifling, Young and Walls said they manage.

"With the good Lord's help," said Young, laughing, when asked how she works through the oven-like heat. "It'll get better as the sun goes down."

From Ziggy the Clown and puppets to magicians and music, there are a variety of groups that perform every week. While the event is sponsored by Halesford Baptist, other area churches including Eastlake Community Church and Radford Baptist Church participate.

According to Halesford's associate pastor Tony Gray, Family Fun Night has been happening at Bridgewater Plaza longer than most may realize. Gray recalled that a group of Liberty University students and parishioners from Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg started hosting the event. And about eight or nine years ago, Halesford took it over.

The idea was just to offer folks, locals and those visiting from out of town, a place to go for free family-friendly entertainment.

"We're not looking for anything," said Gray, adding that the church doesn't collect a free-will offering or ask for donations.

Standing along a deck railing, Shadelle Haley of Monterey, Tenn., and her mother, Huddleston resident Shirley Staples, watched as the praise band performed. It was Haley's second time at Family Fun Night. She and her kids, Isaac, 11, and Rahel , 8, had enjoyed the entertainment so much the previous week, they decided to come again.

"We're Christians," said Haley. "So it's nice to find something that's geared toward the love of Christ."

And while the entertainment gives those who are watching pleasure, the same can be said of the performers. Halesford praise band members Dianne Via and Brenda Stultz said they are happy to share their love of the Lord through their songs.

"It just gives me a lot of joy," said Stultz, who, along with Via, has been with the band for nearly a dozen years.

As the band played on and more people congregated on the upper and lower decks, Stultz and Via sang the lyrics to a popular Christian song that seemed to sum up the group's feelings: "Today is the day you have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it."

Upcoming Family Fun Night events include:

• July 20 Radford Baptist Church Praise Team, Choir and Dance Team
• July 27 Mark Fuller, Christian illusionist
• Aug. 3 Ziggy the Clown, magician and juggler
• Aug. 10 Radford Baptist Church Praise Team, Choice and Dance Team
• Aug. 17 Barry McGee, Christian comedian

For more information about Family Fun Night, visit Halesford Baptist Church's website at www.halesford.com or contact Tony Gray at 721-8640.