19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, June 28, 1914: Went to Sunday School this afternoon. It was held in the Town Hall as the church is not fixed up yet. It seemed like an awful stuffy place and as hot as there was any use in being.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
The McEwensville Town Hall (or the Community Hall as it is now called) has been around for a long time—and I picture it looking very similar a hundred years ago to how it looks now.
In my imagination I can see clearly see a sweaty Grandma sitting in a folding chair fanning herself with a church bulletin while barely listening to the a very boring Sunday School lesson.
—
What was being done to remodel the McEwensville Baptist Church? The previous Monday Grandma wrote:
Had quite a time at rubbing and washing today, and it wasn’t here at home either. We are going to have the church fixed over, and it was necessary to wash off the walls. . .
“…as hot as there was any use in being” — there’s a phrase we don’t hear these days!
I visited a country church a long time ago when seeing a friend. The Catholic church had candles for all services. The old walls were covered with 4×8 white melamine panels. The priest was stressing the importance of getting a few extra donations to cover the cleaning costs. It didn’t look dirty tho.
He walked over to the wall and placed the palm of his hand on it. He slid his hand down several feet and showed the congregation the result. There was a streak on the wall and his hand was nearly black from years of soot buildup. It was an effective move. Not much more needed to be said.
Amen.
It’s awesome that the town hall is still standing! Poor Helena, being stuck all sweaty in a room listening to a Sunday School lesson.
Diana xo
Doesn’t sound like much fun.
It looks like it would be a stuffy room with no windows.
Community halls are wonderful places; they endure. 🙂
I can’t imagine there not being any air condition on some of these very hot, humid days!