The Citizen, 1990-10-24, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1990.
History recorded
Moncrieff church’s history is marked by a plaque placed recently by Cindy (centre) and Jim Moyer,
who have been restoring the church which is now their home. Grey Township Reeve Leona
Armstrong visited the Moyers recently to see the plaque. The township recently designated the
church for its historic significance, permitting the Moyers to get special funding for restoration.
Plaque honours Moncrieff church
Local people on county
public liaison committee
Knox Church Moncrieff may no
longer ring with the sounds of
hymns and prayer but its past is
marked by a plaque, recently
erected by current owners Jim and
Cindy Moyer.
The Moyers, former Kitchener
area residents, approached Grey
township council about having their
building designated as an architec
turally significant building. The
designation enables the couple to
get funding to help offset the cost
of restoring the building to the
standard of the original construc
tion.
Recently the couple put on a
cedar shake shingle roof as the
building would have had in its
original construction. So far, Jim
Moyer says, the couple has concen
trated on upgrading the exterior of
the building. Coming up will be
work to repair the brickwork.
Cindy says that after seeing the
old church “one of the first things
we thought of was wanting to
preserve it.” The area is such a
beautiful one that they wanted to
be part of it,” she says.
The Moyers have continued the
work of turning the old church into
a residence that was begun after
the church was officially closed in
1976.
The first church in Moncrieff was
Bethel Methodist Church, built in
1893 but the church was closed a
few years later because the circuit
riding minister stopped calling
because of too many other calls. By
1900 many in the community were
travelling to Knox Church in Cran-
brook to attend Presbyterian ser
vices. With the Bethel church
empty, Moncrieff-area Presbyteri
ans thought it would be a better
location for their congregation and
on Aug. 30, 1901 they purchased
the building for $225 and renamed
it Bethel Presbyterian Church. The
minister, Rev. D. B. McRae from
Belmore hosts Maitland WMS
“Walk In Peace” was the theme
for the fall rally as the ladies of the
Maitland Presbyterial W.M.S. met
in Belmore, Thursday, Oct. 11.
Erlma Haldenby of Kinlough,
first vice-president, led a sing-song
to set the mood for the meeting.
She was assisted by Marion Mun
dell, Gorrie, who played the organ.
Erlma formally opened the meet
ing with a poem, “Bridges”, and
prayer. The worship service from
the Glad Tidings, “Walk In Peace”
was presented by Rhoda MacKen-
zie and Mildred Lorie of the
the Cranbrook church, conducted
services every other Sunday. In
1910 the congregation made appli
cation at the Maitland Presbytery
to change the name to Knox
Presbyterian Church and to hold
services every Sunday. When the
request was granted, Rev. R. A.
Lundy of Walton was made first
minister.
That same year plans began to
rebuild the church and land was
bought north of the existing church
for $40. The new church opened in
February 1912.
By the 1950’s however, the
village of Moncrief had begun to
fade. The early sawmills had run
out of wood and closed around the
turn of the century. The blacksmith
shop was sold for fertilizer storage
in 1968. The school closed in 1965
when students were bused to Grey
Central School at Ethel. In 1975 the
Restored
Knox Church Moncrieff was built in 1912 and closed in 1976.
NOBODY COMPETES
LIKE YOUR JEEP
EAGLE DEALER
IN LISTOWEL
OPEN WEEKDAYS OQ1
’TIL 9 P.M.; SAT. ’TIL 5 P.M. £■ W I "TV VW
Let's get together.
Lucknow W.N.S. The offering was
received with the offertory prayer
by Laura Taylor of Kincardine.
President, Isabel Arbuckle of
Wingham conducted the business.
She called on secretary, Isabel
Jeffray, Belgrave for the minutes
and roll call. Marjorie Wall, Wing
ham gave the financial report and
asked that all offerings be sent in
early in December. Delegates then
divided into three groups with
Frances Nugent of Ripley in charge
of the group studying the different
village store closed. It had also
served as post office and a branch
of the Huron County Public Library
and even sometimes doubled as a
small dance hall and meeting hall
upstairs. In 1976 the congregation
of Knox decided it could no longer
afford to keep the church going and
it was sold to D. Laidlaw on July 15.
Later the building was sold to R.
Laidlaw and the Moyers took over
in 1988.
The Moyers continue to comute
to work in Kitchener but spend the
spare time upgrading the old
church. After receiving designation
of the building they ordered an
installed a plaque by the door of
their home. Recently Grey Town
ship Reeve Leona Armstrong and
Township Clerk-Treasurer Brad
Knight were on hand to see the
plaque and discuss the progress of
the restoration.
resources available to help in
meetings. The studies for next year
are Gospel, Culture, and Media or
Central America.
Mildred Dickson, Belmore con
ducted two quizzes in her group on
Women in the Bible and a Bible
Quiz. Kathleen Elliott had a cross
word puzzle on Books in the New
Testament and another quiz. Erlma
Haldenby conducted a general
information questionnaire on the
Presbyterian Church and the
W.M.S.
In keeping with the trend for
community involvement in the
Huron County Waste Management
Master Plan study, a Public Liaison
Committee (PLC) has been esta
blished. The Committee meets
once per month and will play an
active role in the development of
the strategy.
The Terms of Reference for the
Public Liaison Committee indicates
that the work they undertake will
seek to meet the following objec
tives:
•to provide input to the Waste
Management Planning process and
work program;
•to provide timely input into
decision-making steps and to pro
vide comments on work completed
and suggestions on future work in
an open, forthright and construc
tive manner;
•to advise and assist in making a
public participation program effec
tive and meaningful to the partici
pating cotnmunities.
The PLC, currently consisting of
11 members, has been meeting
over the summer to further define
their role, and to establish a work
program. Members of the Commit
tee are: Bruce Shillinglaw, Londes-
boro; Marien Vanderhoek, Zurich;
Glen Miller, Stephen Township;
Dave Gower, Goderich Township;
Robert Harrison, Grey Township;
Carol Casey, Blyth; Douglas Trol
lope, Brussels; Randal Smith,
Goderich; George Michie, Bel
grave; Fred Vander Sterre, Morris
Township; Joan Addison, Clinton.
Currently Stage 2B of the Waste
Management Master Plan study is
underway. When completed the
Stage 2B Report will identify and
rank potential landfill site areas,
and will also recommend an appro
priate system for waste manage
ment in Huron County. Public
input is critical at this stage, and
the PLC will be helping to ensure
that the views of the community are
known. It is anticipated that the
Stage 2B Preliminary Report will
be made available for public review
and comment early in 1991.
The Public Liaison Committee
meets on the third Thursday of
each month, at 8:00 p.m., in the
upstairs committee room of the
commercial, educational, or
community gathering.
Just call us. toll free.
Whatever your group wants to
discuss, we re ready to join in.
We can discuss a broad range
of topics, from how we turn
PCBs into salt, to electricity
savings, to energy options
facing our community.
Ontario Hydro Speakers
Bureau offers volunteer
speakers free of charge to talk
with any size industrial.
Clinton Municipal Office. All meet
ings are open to the public.
For further information about the
Public Liaison Committee or the
Huron County Waste Management
Master Plan study please contact
Jo-Anne Richter, Project Co-ordin
ator, at 524-2188.
Community Living
Association
holds lottery
The Annual Fundraising Lottery
Dinner and Dance for the Wingham
and District Community Living
Association was held October 13, at
the Teeswater-Culross Community
Centre.
Over 400 people attended the
dinner and dance which raised
funds for the people and for the
programs operated by the Wing
ham and District Community Liv
ing Associaiton.
ing Association.
During the evening 10 draws for
$1,000 and 10 draws for $100 were
made. Winners of the $1,000 draws
were: Jim McBurney, Florence
Reavie, Arnold Dawson, Doug and
Marilyn McPherson, Helen Case-
more, Ben Gibson, Doug Cameron,
Bill and Bonnie Flett, Jamie Arm
strong, Lorraine Foxton.
Winners of the $100 draws were:
Doug and Bonnie Boyd, Bevin and
Betty Ireland, The Decor Shoppe,
Rita Hughes, Sharon Skinn, Loma
Cook, Brian Bain, Wayne Fear,
Sandra Jamieson, Carol and Lor
raine Reinhardt.
LIFT YOUR
SPIRITS
ALL OCCASION
BALLOON
-a-
GRAMS
BALLOON ARCHES
& HALL DECORATIONS
FREE DELIVERY
482-5858 228-6443
1-800-668-8500
Ontano Hydro
Speakers Bureau
In Toronto. 592-2322.
Conferenciers francophones : 1-800-668-8110