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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-06-27, Page 3V' St: George' By Dorothy Crocker At St. George's Anglican Church, Goderich, this is the 150th Anniversary homecoming Weekend on Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1. An interesting historical display will bring back many memories. The A.C.W. catering group is preparing one of its deservedly famous salad buffet sup- pers with continuous serving between 5 and 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Rt. Rev. Derwyn D. Jones, Bishop of Huron, will preach at the 11 a.m. Eucharist on Sunday in his first visit t4. the parish as diocesan bishop. The organist and choir have prepared special music and former choristers have been invited. The 12 -foot "anniversary cake" with its 150 electric candles will be lit for the last time but will appear later on a float in the Canada Day parade. The parish has enjoyed six months of celebrations, beginning with a Mediaeval Feast in January on Twelfth Night. Each month there were special church services of which the highlight was in March when the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Most Rev. E.W. Scott, visited. On another occasion, organist Lorne Dotterer provided an "inside look" at the organ through coloured slides and demonstration. The congregation worshipped with the whole Sunday School on a Sunday in Lent and in story, song and. picture made the pilgrimage to the cross and Easter garden with the children. Thirty years of parish history were recounted by Ros Campbell and Dorothy Crocker on five "flashback" Sundays until the story of the parish's history was complete. The 150th Anniversary Committee chair- man, Mac Campbell, has numerous hard- working committee members to help, in- cluding secretary -treasurer Mrs. Nell Coates; Fun and Fellowship chairperson . Mrs. Mona Davis; Food Services, Mrs. June Taylor; Special Projects, Howard Aitken; Special Duty, Fordyce Clark; Invitations, Mrs. Kay Blacker; Sunday School, Mrs. Marla Dykstra and Mrs. Barb Alcock; and Photo Directory, Ralph Smith. Many others assisted on these sub -committees. It was 150 years ago that the Church Mis- sionary Society in England sent the Rev. Robert Francis Campbell to Goderich. Tradition says that he used the horse from which General Brock fell at Queenston Heights. 'Campbell held services in the log schoolhouse on East Street for the young Anglican families who had settled in the Huron Tract. By 1838, the congregation had outfitted a barn on West Street for worship. It had been donated by Dr. Morgan Hamilton, a loyal parishioner. SEAF0RTH TUES. APPEARING JULY 3 POWDER BLUES BAND ADVANCE TICKETS qoo THIS WEEKEND VIGILANTS OPEN SUNDAY The family of Allen and Ruth Shoddleac Invites Hands. relatives and nelghbou to a 40TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY RECEPTION Saturday, July 7, 1984 at 9 pm In Clinton Best wishes only Please. OPEN HOUSE Friday to Monday June 29 -July 2 We hove a good selection of furniture, crv;rol gloss, chino, silver and pine toys Lome and browse and keep cool with o gloss yf Lemonade in our air conditioned store of illow Tree Farm Antiques and Gifts Mile south on Hwy 21 Boyi,eld 565-2979 FEATURE, GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, I964-PAGt 3 ' s Church celebrates 150th anniversary fn 1843, thanks to an English grant from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and money and land from the Canada Company, a brick church was erected on St. George's Crescent, overlook- ing the lake, with a graveyard next to it. Campbell left in 1849 to found Trinity Chur- ch, Bayfield and was replaced by the Rev. Edward Lindsay Elwood, an energetic Irishman with a fine singing voice and great preaching ability. In .1862 the original Rectory to which Campbell had come in 1834 was demolished, and the present Rectory was built on the same site. Twelve years later the church on the Crescent was damaged by fire and repaired. Ih 1879, less than a week after Bishop Helhnuth had come from London to consecrate the church which was finally free of debt, a second fire did so much damage that the congregation decided to rebuild. The front lawn of the Rectory, on Nelson Street, was more central. And 'so early in 1880 the trees were cut down and Ar- chdeacon Elwood drew the blinds of the Rectory windows in mourning for their loss. The new church was opened on April 24, 1881, the day after St. George's Day. It cost about $14,000 which included repairs to the organ and the Widder Memorial window from behind the altar. These had been rescued from the old church. Each pew is made from a single plank of white pine (declared Ontario's provincial tree in 1984) - it has been many decades since you could buy pine planks of that length. The parish hall was built as a separate building in the following year. Most of the present church furnishings and stained glass windows date from the early 1900's. ' Archdeacon Elwood died in 1887 and was succeeded by the Rev. W.A. Young who stayed for six years. He was also responsi- ble for the small church on Huron Road, St. Stephen's, which closed in 1893. In 1893, the Rev. Mark Turnbull came to Goderich. Born in the Shetlands, he lived for 14 years in Uruguay where his father was a priest under the Bishop of the Falkland Islands. He was responsible for the Ladies' Aid Society becoming the Church Women's Guild whose obiect was to nay off the rhumb. mortgage. This the Guild did time and again over the years as new building projects brought new mortgages and loans. A section of the Guild devoted its energies to mis- sionary activities and became a branch of the Dominion Women's Auxiliary. For 75 years the W.A?made quilts and clothing for Indian schools in the West, and provided leadership for children's groups, for Junior Auxiliary, Girls' Auxiliary and during the St. George's Anglican Church, first built in 1834, was the victim of two fires. The pictures show the interior and exterior of the present building. (Photos by Mac Campbell) depression and early World War II years, the Church Boys' League. During the incumbency of the Rev. J.B. Fotheringham, 1911-1917, pew rents were abolished, the choir was vested, a Chancel Guild was formed, and a new organ was in- stalled. After the Rev. A.G.L. Clarke became Rector the diocesan synod allowed women to vote in parish annual vestry meetings which had been advocated by the men of St. George) since 1887. The church was consecrate jay Bishop Williams on June 1, 1920 and' the Rev. S.S. Hardy suc- ceeded Clarke in July. Four yeas later the parish hall was enlarged and connected to the church. In 1929, during the • Rev.J.H.N. Mills' in- cumbency (1927-1935), the main door on North Street was dosed and a baptistry made. The walls were decorated by the renowned church muralist, Peter Charles Browne, whose grandson Tom repainted and enhanced the murals (which illustrate the canticles used at Morning and Evening Prayer and incorporate scenes of pioneer and mediaeval times) when the church was again redecorated in 1974. ° Charles Allen Seager, born and raised in Goderich, was elected Bishop of Ontario in 1926 and after his enthronement as fifth Bishop of Huron in 1932 returned for a civic and parish reception. He later became Ar- chbishop of Ontario. The Rev. A.C. Calder was Rector from HAIR AFFAIR Hair Styling for Ladies and Gentlemen 97 South SI., Goderich. Ont. 524-4279 SC! H BEA IN/NNERAT gisiircs•-• pi ECKe15CY Over 25.000 prizes! 1 in 10 chance to win! P/ay Scratch N Win for super prizes. Fifty (50) Kodak Disc 8000 cameras. 5 000 prizes of FREE developing and printing one 24 exposure film. 10,000 8"x10" colour enlargements 10,000 rolls of Kodacolor VR 200 film (24 exp or 15 exp Disc).t Scratch 'N Wn cards are available until September•7. 1984 or while quantities last. PLUS! Enter the Benjamin SUPERPRINTS Sweepstakes, and you could win FREE film and photofinishing for a year! (Max. $1,000.00 ret. value) snar.,nt^F,'„adetadsat ECKPmacyOPP5DS SOUA4 cooea�cn 24.7241 r rr i.Y�I �• r r iar ,r i l+ .rr i t ANN/ air awl Air r. 11W 1.1 err PAPER ';!►" tortilla !'ioodlook 1935 to 1941 and did much to encourage the parish to work together during the difficult years of the end of the depression and begin- ning of World War EL Mrs. Calder was wide- ' ly known through her work in the Diocesan and Dominion executives of the W.A. The Rev. W.H. Dunbar (1941-1945) saw many of the church's building and improve- ment debts paid during the more financially prosperous war years. The parish was sad- dened when he died after a brief illness. He was succeeded by the Rev. B.H. Farr. Dur- ing his time, many new families moved to town and a revitalized Anglican Young Peoples' Association provided fellowship and recreation. A Casavant two -manual organ was purchased in 1949 as a war memorial. While Canon Kenneth Taylor was Rector (1952-1964) an Evening Guild of younger women started a nursery where toddlers could be cared for during the morning ser- vice and helped immeasurably in the work' of the afternoon Guild. These Guilds, the. ' Margaret Seager Club ( which looked after Rectory repairs) and the W.A. amalgamated in 1969 and became the Anglican Church Women. A strip of land on ' the west side of the church property, bought from. Judge Costello next door, enabled the construction of a modern, well-equipped kit- chen for the women's manycatering tasks. In 1964 the Rev. Garwood Russell in- stituted a Servers' Guild. In the last 20 years 44 young people have been faithful members of it; girls first became servers in 1979. A weekly bulletin was begun again after a 30 - year lapse and for some years "The Parish Messenger” was published monthly. The present Rector, the Rev. Robert John Crocker, came in 1976. A branch of the Brotherhood of Anglican Churchmen was formed and meets monthly for breakfast and fellowship. The organ was rebuilt in 1980 and a "Sundays at Four" committee has arranged several series of musical recitals. The A.C.W. held its first annual Hollybe. ; y Bazaw. and Luncheon that same year. The parish celebrated the 100th an- niversary of the building of •the present church in 1981. That autumn was the first bi- annual Communion service for shut-ins, which gives them the opportunity to see the church decorated for Harvest and Easter and meet old friends over tea. In this sesquicentennial year of the parish the Peoples' Warden is Reg Bell. It seems very fitting that the Rector's Warden is Helen Videan, St. George's first woman to be a church warden and whose forebear of the same name was baptized by the first Rector in 1835. St. George's has a long history of service to the community and to the church at large. • mary's ANNUAL SUMMER CLEARANCE SALE SAVE TO OFF ti ALL SPRING & SU I ER MERCHANDISE INCLUDING GIFTWARE nutry!s LADIES' WEAR & GIFTS 36 North Street, Shoppers Square, Goderich ph: 524-8572 No Exchanges, Refunds or Layaways We honour VISA and MASTERCARD