HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-06-14, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012.
The village of Walton and the
walls of Duff’s United Church
expanded over the weekend to
welcome many current and former
members of Duff’s United. The
Church was in its finest glory to
show off how well it has been kept
for the past 100 years. The building
was built in 1912 and has served as a
cornerstone of the community for
100 years. Guests from all across
Canada came together to celebrate in
Walton from the west coast to the
east coast, across Ontario and as
south as Tennessee.
Saturday afternoon, guests were
welcomed by the Walton United
Church Women for a social
afternoon of looking at many of the
displays set up in the basement.
Many family histories and the
Church history were on display and
many of the older pieces of the
church’s history. Two very special
quilts of Walton history were on
display, borrowed from the Huron
County Museum.
Tours of the beautifully decorated
sanctuary, the Manse, the Walton
Little School and the McGavin
Museum had a large number of folks
wandering the area.
The Walton Hall was the next
gathering place for celebration to
continue on Saturday evening. An
Old-Tyme dance was arranged and
organized by Phyllis and Emmerson
Mitchell. They had over 20
musicians donate their time and
talent for a full house to enjoy the
sounds of yesterday. The evening
started off with a performance by the
Brussels Pipe Band outside. The
sounds of the pipes echoed through
the village and provided
entertainment for all. Then it was
time for the five different
combinations of musicians to play.
The crowd enjoyed the songs from
the 40s, 50s and 60s and danced the
night away. The hall was certainly
the “hot” spot on Saturday night!
They had hotdogs and pop to satisfy
hunger and thirst and the entire night
was enjoyed for just a donation.
Sunday morning dawned hot, hot,
hot and for the committee, the big
day. All the planning and meetings
would culminate with the gathering
of hundreds of current and former
members, and descendants of those
who were the cornerstones of the
congregation 100 years ago. The old
school bell at McGavin’s was rang to
announce the start of the very special
day. The people started arriving
shortly after 10 a.m. to be seated in
the sanctuary, where beautiful floral
arrangements had been placed in
memory of family and loved ones.
The sanctuary was full with over 300
filling the seats. The overflowcrowd of nearly 80 were seated inthe basement and outside in the tent,
where the service was broadcast to.
Following the introit, Graeme
Craig, Walton, welcomed everyone
and made the announcements. He
introduced many members of the
congregation that were over 80 years
old and had been members of Duff’s
United for more than 70 years. A
special presentation was made to
organist Glenda Morrison for her 25
years of service as organist for
Duff’s United by Phyllis Mitchell.
The history of the Church was
presented by Dr. Neil McDonald,
Vancouver. The mass choir of nearly
30 present and former members of
Duff’s was directed by Doris
(Johnston) McKinley, Nova Scotia.
The special speaker for the special
occasion, was Mr. Bob Heywood of
Exeter.
His message was entitled “Serving
the God who is Able”. The mass
choir sang a second song for the
enjoyment of the guests. Rev. Peter
conducted a moment of
Remembrance. He thanked all those
who had placed flowers in the
sanctuary and entry in memory of
family and past members of Duff’s
United. He thanked all those who
contributed to the memorial tree, a
beautiful Harlequin Maple, planted
to the north side of the church. He
thanked Susan Murray who
generously enabled the church to
refurbish the front doors of the
church building. A minute of silence
followed. The service concluded
with the blessing of the food and
benediction.
A barbecue dinner of smoked
chops, baked potatoes, baked beans
and coleslaw provided by members
of the church awaited the
parishioners. The numbers grew to
over 425 to enjoy the meal and to
visit with many old friends, family
and acquaintances during the meal.
The crowd enjoyed the shadiness of
the tent and others lunched at picnic
tables under the mature trees. A
delicious meal was carried out by a
dozen or so and many of the young
people of the congregation. Fantastic
helpers!
One more event to cap off the
weekend celebration and was
“Walton has Talent”. Shortly after 2
p.m. the talented folks of the Walton
area took to the stage and provided
an entertaining hour of music, song
and reminiscing.
Neil McDonald was the M.C. for
the afternoon. Marion Godkin and
Doris McKinley played two trumpet
duets. Keith Wilbee and Carol
(Wilbee) Henderson played the
saxophones accompanied by Marg
Whitmore. Rev. Derwyn Dochen
and his wife Jean sang a number and
then Phyllis and Sean Mitchell
played the violins. Gloria Wilbee
sang a medley of favourites and
Sherrill Christian sang a solo and a
duet with her brother Graeme Craig.
The musical numbers were
interspersed with remembrances by
former ministers including Rev.
Docken, Rev. Bonnie Cole Arnal,
Rev. Ed Baker and Rev. Charles
Swan.
The afternoon concluded with the
Walton Band playing with Pearl
McCallum, Marion Godkin, Glenda
Morrison, Sean Mitchell, Phyllis
Mitchell, Keith and Gloria Wilbee,
With the impending closure of
several local public schools, The
Citizen wants to help tell their story
through the words of those who were
there.
The Citizen invites stories of life at
Blyth, Brussels or East Wawanosh
Public Schools over the years in an
effort to present a rich, full picture of
the schools’ histories.
In the coming weeks, we will
share these stories through the pages
of The Citizen for all to read and
enjoy.
Submissions can be sent by mail to
The Citizen at P.O. Box 429, 413
Queen Street, Blyth, Ontario or P.O.
Box 152, 541 Turnberry Street,
Brussels, Ontario, or by e-mail to
info@northhuron.on.ca
Duff’s celebrates 100th anniversary
Feeding an army
Nearly 450 people signed the guest book at Duff’s United Church’s 100th anniversary on
Sunday and just about every one of them stayed for the barbecue after the service. Busy
making sure the people were well fed all weekend were Steve Dennis, left, and Neil McGavin.
(Jim Brown photo)
Singing it loud
A mass choir was one of the many highlights of the weekend’s 100th anniversary celebration
at Duff’s United Church in Walton. The choir featured dozens of voices singing to the overflow
crowd of over 300 people. (Jim Brown photo)
‘Citizen’ looking
for public school
memories, stories
COMMUNITY LIVING
Wingham & District
Annual General Meeting
Monday, June 18, 2012
Social: 5:30 p.m.
Meeting 6:30 p.m.
Royal Canadian Legion
Wingham, Ontario
NEWS
FROM WALTON
By Jo-Ann
McDonald
Call
887-6570
PEOPLE AROUND
WALTON
Continued on page 13