1920-1929 - "The Gay Twenties"
     One June 8, 1901, a dynamite explosion on the freight trains near the station blew out our church windows.  A second explosion twenty years late, on Tuesday, August 30, 1921 occurred due to a lightning strike on our steeple - which was new - and the bell tower.  The steeple was destroyed entirely and many windows shattered.  The brick wall in front was badly cracked.  A planned wedding for the next day had to be held in the person's home instead of at the church.
      The church used this "act of God" as an occasion to make major improvements - they added a brick extension to the front of the auditorium, to contain Sunday School and Epworth League meeting rooms.  This remodeling was dedicated on July 22, 1923.   The pastor of the church at that time was W. H. Cadwell.  A story is told that Mrs. Cadwell had a beautiful voice and wanted to use it as a choir member.  An internal argument ensued over whether a minister's wife should sing in the church choir, - the real concern of fellow choir members being over whether this rather forceful female leader might dominate the choir.   The problem was solved when the Cadwells were reassigned and Rev. E.A. Gillespie came to Vestal.  Considerable improvements were made to the parsonage for the Gillespie family, including new oak floors, automatic hot water heating, and a kitchen equipped with an automatic electric pump and water system.  At the same time, an electric cross was installed on the tower of the church, and stained glass windows - memorials to loved ones - were put in, four on each side of the the chapel (replacing the ones shattered in the explosion and the lightning strike).  Pictures still remain of these stained glass windows - not preserved when the present building was constructed.
      The last pastor of the 20's was Owen Buck.  He served from April 1926 to his untimely death on March 15, 1929.  Some folks still remember him to this day, as he "did a lot for young folks."  During his time, the Church secured the old Community Hall next door to the building.  This became the fellowship hall, a meeting place for part of the Sunday School, for church socials, etc.  until 1953, when it was torn down.  It's long used timbers were used to build a lodge at our scout troop's Camp Ellis.                    Previous   Next