Red Bank High School

Red Bank UMC Displaced by Fire

About 200 members of the Red Bank United Methodist Church packed the gym of Red Bank High School Sunday morning while their church awaits repairs.

A lightening strike left parts of the church burnt and almost everything suffered water damage. The sanctuary was the only place that didn't get singed or soaked but church had to be held somewhere else anyway, because the electricity was off. "It's very sad because I've been a member for 49 years but it's a blessing to have a place to come and worship," church member Nonie LaRue tearfully explains. "It was indescribable sadness."

Another member, Drew Lyness says Sunday's make-shift service was hopeful. "I went to school here and now we're coming here to sing and worship. It was different, but it was good."

Nancy Watkins prayed a "thank you," that her beloved church of 70 years wasn't damaged, even more. "We would have lost our whole building and I couldn't have taken that. That would have been so hard."

The roof of Red Bank UMC was also hit by the April tornadoes. But however heartbreaking the damage caused by mother nature, church members see this as a test of faith. After all, they say a church isn't held up by it's walls, but by the people who attend. That's why members say, despite the damage caused by the fire, Red Bank UMC really hasn't changed at all. "The church is just a building and we are really a family at Red Bank. And that's what's the most important thing," says Watkins.

The pastor hopes to repair the church within 6 to 8 weeks. By Thursday, he says he will know whether next week's Sunday service will be held in the untouched sanctuary or somewhere else.

RedBankGreen » RED BANK AUTHOR DEBUTS NEW RULEBOOK

In the book, Grandits takes readers on the journey of Kyle, who’s yet to ride the school bus and has serious anxiety and fears about the whole enterprise — something most of us can relate to.

“His first day on the bus, he feels like a zebra in a lion party,” Grandits said.

Luckily for Kyle, though, he’s got a big kibitzing brother, a “school bus expert,” who lays out — you guessed it — 10 rules you absolutely must not break if you want to survive the school bus.

Which Kyle promptly breaks the very first day.

The bespectacled Kyle, surrounded by various people he imagines as mean, evil animals, is a nervous wreck, which causes him to quickly get flustered and somehow break all the rules his brother imparted.

For example, rule No. 7: Never talk to girls, because, “they were as mean as snakes, they never stopped talking and they hated sports.”

In breaking the rules, Kyle finds himself in just about every situation that uninitiated school-bus riders across the world lose sleep over: standing out, encountering a bully, being the last one on the bus and, of course, talking to a girl.

But somehow, Kyle makes it out in one piece, and at the end of the day, is holding his head high with pride, and makes a rule of his own (we’re not spoiling).

“I wanted to write a book about courage,” Grandits said. “It’s tough being a kid. Fear is with you constantly.”

For Grandits, seeing the book through to this point has been a test of patience. He started it a decade ago, and after dusting it off and finishing it for editing, dealt with pushed deadlines, rotating illustrators and other reasons for it to “languish in the publishing world.”

But kind of like certain nerve-wracking bus rides, Grandits is happy with the way it all turned out.

“This one happened to take a long time, but that’s OK,” he said. “On to the next one.”

The book goes on sale July 4, and will be available for purchase online and at River Road Books in Fair Haven.

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