Southern Tompkins Town Talk: Danby native becomes pastor of Washington, D.C., church
Shawn Wallace was born into a very large extended, and loving, family in Danby. The entire family practices kindness and joy, and each member lives a life guided by their strong faith.
Shawn graduated from Ithaca High School in 1991 and from Nyack College in 1995. He was licensed and ordained as a pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and has been in full-time ministry for 22 years, serving as a youth or lead pastor in Ithaca, Buffalo, Troy, Schenectady, Central Ohio and Africa, where he returned from this past May. He then served in an international church until being hired as the senior pastor at Washington International Church (WIC) beginning there on June 30.
WIC is a Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Washington, D.C. The congregation is known for being warm, welcoming, accepting and diverse, encompassing a broad range of ethnic backgrounds and age groups.
Shawn wrote me to say, “The last years in East Africa have been wonderful and crazy at the same time. After going through some effects of war in South Sudan and some health problems in Kenya, we are happy to be settled in DC. This transition has gone so smoothly and we are thankful for a loving international church that has accepted us as one of their own.”
Shawn and wife, Heather, have four children — three sons and a daughter, ages 22, 19, 17 and 14. He is the youngest of three children of Bob and Daisy Wallace, of Danby. All of the Wallace siblings and their spouses graduated from Nyack College, and Daisy’s eldest brother, Rex, who passed away in 2017, was the president of the college in the late ’80s and into the ’90s.
This large family is a lovely bunch of people who thrive on being together every chance they get!
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Community sale
Newfield’s 17th annual Community Garage/Yard Sale will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, August 17, with maps available at 363 Main St. the day of the sale.
A chicken barbecue will begin at 11 a.m. at the Newfield Fire Station, 77 Main St.
Community picnic
The West Danby Community Association will host its annual dish-to-share picnic this year beginning at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Old Hatch Pavilion at the corner of Brown and Short roads.
Honored at the picnic will be Danby Town Clerk Pamela Goddard and Danby Town Supervisor Ric Dietrich for their many years of service to their community. Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy music, games, good food and great company.
Medical team
Three members of the Bethel Grove Church will travel as part of an Ithaca team to Kampala, Uganda, to participate in a free annual medical clinic hosted and run by the Kampala Baptist Church.
Edie Spalding, a member of the Bethel Grove team, says, “The clinic runs from September 2-6, and last year over 3,000 people visited the clinic for a variety of medical services.”
The team is currently collecting 100 through 275 strength reading glasses to take with them, and these can be dropped off at Bethel Grove Bible Church, 1763 Slaterville Road, before Aug. 25.
Tai chi
Beginning Taoist tai chi classes will start at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, in the Newfield Masonic Temple (lower level), 186 Main St. Each class is one hour long. For more information, please call 607-277-5491.
Candor tai chi classes begin on Wednesday, Sept. 4, from 2 to 3 p.m. for 12 weeks. All classes are held at the Candor Emergency Squad Building, 58 Main St. For more information and to register, please call Sue at 607-659-3022.
Senior trip
The Danby Seniors are headed to the Genesee Country Village and Museum in Mumford, New York, on Wednesday, Sept. 11.
The group will have lunch and stop for ice cream in Canandaigua on the way home. The cost is $45 for members and $50 for non-members. The bus leaves the Danby Community Church, at 1859 Danby Road, at 8 a.m. and returns at 7 p.m.
Anyone interested in going needs to contact Nancy Weitzel at 607-272-6570 by Friday, Aug. 30. For more information, please call Ann VanDeMark at 607-539-7928.
Market news
Brookton’s Market is hosting a Youth Open Mic Night from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23. The signup sheet to perform is at the market, 491 Brooktondale Road.
From 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, all writers are invited to stop in at the market with a short story or poem you have written to share with the crowd. All ages are welcome.
New church aide
Lynn Kingston-Harris is the new administrative aide at the Danby Community Church.
She had previously worked as an office manager at the Immaculate Conception Parish for 12 years. She and her husband, Frank, live in Caroline. They are active yard sale hunters and have their own permanent booths at a large flea market in Binghamton on weekends.
Hangar Theatre news
I met with Michael Barakiva, artistic director at the Hangar Theatre, to find out about the upcoming “Big Play Festival” running from Aug. 22 to 31 at the theater.
Michael says, “Theater people are a special breed, and I am amazed at the caliber of talent in the Ithaca community.”
The festival consists of three shows — "A Raisin in the Sun," "August: Osage County" and "You Can’t Take it With You" — for the price of one $40 ticket. Each show will be presented as one matinee and three evening performances, and ticket holders can see these shows as often as they wish.
The shows are lightly staged readings, all exploring the American family, and are meant to “trigger the audience’s imagination,” Michael says.
For ticket information, please call 607-273-ARTS and go to https://hangartheatre.org/event/big_play_festival/2019-08-22 to see the schedule of shows.
Condolences
My thoughts are with the families of Gladys Diemond and Rena Anderson on the passing of those loved ones.
Rena was a World War II veteran. I have known these lovely ladies for a very long time. They were both part of my growing up years in the Fall Creek neighborhood, and I have sweet memories of them.
Southern Tompkins Town Talk appears every other Thursday in the Ithaca Journal. Please contact Gay Huddle at 273-6530 or gayhuddle@hotmail.com with stories from the Danby, West Danby, Newfield, South Hill and Brooktondale neighborhoods. Support our journalism and become a digital subscriber today. Click here for our special offers.