Big News from the WNCC Fishin' Hole!

As many of you may know, beginning in January every United Methodist Church in our conference will have access to our conference resource center without a subscription fee. This is a dream come true-and an opportunity to make it easier for everyone to remember who we are. We have chosen a new name that more readily reflects our mission: Western North Carolina Conference Resource Center. (We don't want people to think we're selling fish!) Our other big news is that after serving 10 years as the Director of the Fishin' Hole, Sonja Clough, will be retiring from her position in order to spend more time at home with her husband, Rick. We are incredibly grateful to Sonja for her dedication and faithful leadership, wise counsel to those who needed guidance as to which resource to choose, and diligence in making sure that local churches received their book or curriculum when it was needed.  We will miss her kind and joyful presence and wish her the best as she now has more time to fix up her house, play with her dogs, travel, and spend time with Rick and her grandchildren. Beginning December 7, a new interim staff person will be responsible for the WNCC Resource Center-Havaleh Havelka. Sonja and Havaleh have been working together, and the transition will be as smooth as the still waters of a fishing pond on a sunny day. All reservations will be made in the same way-through our online catalog:  http://wncc.mysurpass.net/ or by phone or email. Each church in the conference will be receiving their own Patron ID in January. Do you want to know more about Havaleh? Here's the inside info: Havaleh is a Christian educator and instructional designer originally from small-town, middle-of-nowhere Ohio. She earned her BA in Christian Education at West Virginia Wesleyan College and MCE at Pfeiffer University. She has served in local ministry and has developed learning strategies for local businesses and international non-profits alike. Utterly obsessed with her American Bulldog, Pete, she spends her weekends hiking around our beautiful state and baking delicious homemade dog treats (or, at least Pete and his friends think they're delicious). She is thrilled to now serve the Western North Carolina Conference, so please feel free to reach out to her with any questions you may have about the WNCC Resource Center moving forward. You can email her at hhavelka@wnccumc.org or call her at 704-535-2260 or 800-562-7929.