On June 1, members of First Presbyterian Church, Newhall, flooded Hart Hall with kids and adults eating, singing, praying and playing.

Pastor Bill Barnes, pastor for First Presbyterian, estimated that more than 240 family members celebrated the church's 117th birthday.

The party started after the last church service ended around noon and lasted until 4 p.m. A lot of the family members walked over to the birthday celebration in William S. Hart Park, most wearing their blue Presbyterian T-shirts.

Hart Hall, located at the main entrance to William S. Hart Park, was picked for the birthday celebration because the building could hold the large party turnout, was open to the outside to allow for a picnic, and would protect the older members of the church family from the heat.

Hart Hall was packed with people eating hotdogs, hamburgers, watermelons, and salads. Many birthday party-goers spent the whole time talking and resting, but a lot of the church family members played party games most of the afternoon.

Around 3 p.m., after the picnic and games, everyone re-gathered into Hart Hall to sing "Happy Birthday" to the church.

The birthday celebration commemorated 117 years of prayers and service to the community from the church family located on Newhall Boulevard, between Market and Eighth streets.

The church's birthday bash took five months of planning by the Church Life Committee, headed by Sandy Mantik, a church elder, and the party included all the fun ingredients of food, games, songs and a 117th birthday cake. Her seven-man committee planned most of the party, but the games were planned and headed by Pastor Barnes.

"He was adamant from the beginning that he wanted to do the games. At an early meeting, he gave us his vision of the party, and then he said that he would take care of the games," Mantik said. "I was glad because my committee had a lot of planning to do. Anyway, I knew he would do a great job with the games."

With a walk-in-closet at home filled with games, Rev. Barnes was characterized by Mantik as a connoisseur of games.

Many of the youngest members of the church voted the games as the best part of the birthday celebration. Pastor Barnes led the party-goers through a series of fast-paced and fun games.

Both kids and adults hopped in gunnysacks, skied in three-man races, kicked colored balls to clean the yard, raced to fill a water bucket with water from sponges and tossed water balloons with sheets.

According to Mantik, church family members from 2 years oldand up participated in the games.

The birthday picnic ended with songs and a prayer. The Second Service Band led the party-goers in a series of songs, including "Onward Christian Soldiers."

Pastor Barnes ended the birthday bash with a prayer. What took five months of planning by the Church Life Committee took the committee and church members one hour to clean up.

Mantik related that some church members were already planning the big 120th birthday party. "It will be a bigger party," Mantik stated.

According to Mantik, the purpose of the picnic was to celebrate the church's work within the church family itself and the community for 117 years. The First Presbyterian Church, Newhall, was founded in 1891 in the Santa Clarita Valley, and the church is the oldest protestant church.

The first service was attended by 16 members in a New England style church. Services continued from 1891 to the present on the same site, but the church's sanctuary building has changed.

In 1923, the original church building was replaced with a larger church. This church was replaced with the present sanctuary built after the 1923 sanctuary was severely damaged in an earthquake.

The first services were held there on Christmas Eve in 1977. Since then, the church family has worshiped in the same sanctuary. In spring 2007, a major sanctuary face-lift was initiated, and, as of today, it has almost been completed.

Mantik noted, "The people and the sanctuary may change, but the church family continues outreach to needy people within the church family and the larger community - the city of Santa Clarita.

The church family, through its missions committee, has expanded its local ministry. It supports bread collection and distribution to local groups, clothing drives for Hunger Defense Fund and the Domestic Violence Center, food collection for food banks and Christmas food and toy drives for a number of groups.

On a national and international level, the church also supports youth ministries, short-term mission trips, disaster relief trips and home-building mission trips.

"The 117th birthday celebration was a big party celebrating the years of help the church has provided," Mantik said.