“Doc”
Schwartz was delighted this cloudy Sunday morning by the crowd of people
gathered under the old poplar in front of the church steps. “Usually”, he said “there are only a few eager souls at church on the first Sunday.
Then all the next week people keep asking if the first service was last
Sunday. Oh, they say, I was afraid of that.” For this first service the
pews were full. Grindstone Islanders were ready to get the summer
started! Leon Rusho and Annie couch were there right in the pew they liked to
sit in last year, and years and years
before that.. Sadly, Sis
Matthews is now down in the Alexandrai Bay nursing facility, where one of her grandchildren reminded us “We can go
to see her sometime.” Skip and Nancy
took care of her as long as they could, and we all thank them for
that. We love Sis. And we will go see
her.
The
whole congregation was delighted to welcome Dick and Mary Petrie back to the
parsonage. It makes a huge difference
in the church to have the same minister come for several years in a row. We’ve gotten to know Dick and Mary, and they
have made a tremendous effort to get to know us. Dick joins the breakfast crowd up at Erma’s almost every morning,
and that is where all the real business of the island is carried on. If someone
is sick, you learn how he or she is, and if there is something you can do to
help. If you need a ride across the island, someone offers to take you; if you
need a part for your car, someone can surely tell you where there is likely to
be a derelict car to rob for just the part you need; if you wonder who that
fellow was walking the road down by the schoolhouse, no doubt someone will tell
you; if you are on your way to Clayton, you might end up with a list of things you might get... for several
people...and so on. So Dick gets to know and even serve his parishioners down
at Erma’s.
So
they come to church on Sunday. A couple
of dogs came too. And I was reminded of
Nellie Dodge, the organist-post mistress all the old timers remember with
nostalgia, whose old dog lay beside her, not disturbing any one, as she played
the organ every Sunday. Someone asked
if we were going to bless the animals.
And
John Marks did tell an animal story
before the worship service started this morning. As he was “getting reacquainted” with the
organ last week, a black creature flew suddenly up to the turnbuckle.
He was afraid it was a bat, but when it left the high perch and flew
down to the altar, he could see that it was a bird, probably a swallow because
it was wearing tails. John got up and
looked to see if there was a door open, and then approached the altar to
examine his companion. The little bird
let him come very, very close. So close, in fact, that he slowly reached out and
grasped the tiny bird in his hand. It
squawked, and John took it to the door where it flew free up into the trees
without so much as a “Thank you”. And John went back to his organ practice.
Well, we didn’t bless the animals, but we were pleased that they are so much a
part of our life on the island. We have lots of deer stories too! And racoon stories, at least one of those
not so sweet. Coons are far too clever when they invade a house closed up for
winter!
As
we were thinking of the kind of mess we all often have to cleanup when we come
back to the island in early summer, we
looked around at the sparklingly clean church, parsonage, and carriage
house. Aleatha Williams and Chris had everything smelling like Murphy’s oil, shining like sun, and looking inviting for the life of summer to
begin.
The
minister began the service with several announcements: On Wednesday morning, July 11th,
at 10:30, The Rev. Dick Petrie and Mary invite any children who like to work on
crafts to come to the parish house to work on some projects the two of them
have devised. I’m sure they will be as
interesting and as much fun as the ones they brought with them last year. So star that date on your calendars.
Janice
McPhail and Dan, her husband, then brought forward a gift to the
congregation. Janice wants everyone to
know it is a gift given by her mother, Elaine Brooks. It is an old Epworth League document from August 25, 1902 which
recognizes the organization of an Epworth League at the Grindstone Island
Methodist Church. Elaine found it when
she was cleaning the children’s corner of the carriage house, tucked away in a
crumpled roll behind the books. It
looked extremely old, and she thought it might be worth saving. So with
Janice’s help, and Dan’s, they had it beautifully restored and framed for the
church to display on one of the newly decorated walls. We will read it and be
reminded of all the people we still
hear stories about who belonged to the young peoples’ group in the early part
of the last century.
Dick
and Mary came to Grindstone last winter!
So they know what winter is like on the island. Dick has a great pile of photos to show
us: pictures of the church with no
leaves on the trees, pictures of the ice on the cold river where men are
fishing through a hole in the ice, or just putzing around as Jay Slate is on
his snow mobile near the fishing shanties, and pictures to prove they
themselves (Mary and Dick) were really here!
We passed the photos around to see for ourselves how lovely the north
country can be even in bleak midwinter.
When
we’d sung “Cum Ba Ya”, when Mary had told the children how God even counts the
hairs on each of their heads, when Aleatha had taken the children out to Sunday
School in the carriage house, Dick settled down to his sermon. I kept wondering why the Cross became the
central image of Jesus. I don’t think
it is because Jesus wants us to try to be martyrs. It seemed, as Dick talked, that perhaps it is because he was so
absolutely, lovingly forgiving as he hung there. That’s a trait of Grindstone
Islanders, I think. Maybe they learned
it in Epworth League all those years ago.
I’m
sure the choir will sing about forgiveness (among other things) many times throughout the summer. They decided, in a meeting after church, to
practice every Sunday at 10:00 am. All
of you who would like to join the church choir are invited to come practice
with this very enthusiastic musical group.
Kitty
Paxton has an authoritative list of parishioners. It is posted in the rear of the church. Everyone who comes to the Grindstone church
should look at it and have your name added if it should be there. Call Kitty
Paxton about it.
After
the benediction, we went to the carriage hall for coffee and good talk
together.
And,
you can’t believe it. But after this
first summer service, after the coffee hour, a lot of us went “down to the
foot” of Grindstone to an open house party at Skip and Joan Tolette’s beautiful new house which looks up the river
through the string of little islands that chain along the north side of bigger Grindstone Island. It was a wonderful party where we ate and
ate and ate, and, meeting for the first
time in nine cold months, we talked and caught up with all of our friends. What
a nice way to begin the new year! John and I had first class transportation;
Brenda and Erma Slate let us climb (I rolled) into the rear of Brenda’s six-wheeler! It was a fine ride
over the gravel roads of the interior of the island, on some of the routes Buck
used to take us over on his annual hay rides.
And
hay rides remind me that Jeff Marra tells me the Dodge Hall Steering Committee
has been working efficiently and successfully in working out its independent
status. The first dance will be held this very Saturday night with DJ John
Morrow presiding! So come one, come
all!
Reminders:
Church
service on Sunday, July 1, 10:30am
Choir
practice on Sunday, July 1, at 10:am
Church
Council Meeting, July 1, after service
Outdoor
service is early this year, July 8th, weather permitting,
(McPhail-Brooks place).
July
11, children’s craft project at the parish house. 10:30am.
First
Dance of the year at the Dodge Hall, July 1. John Morrow will be the DJ.
So
it is.
Aminta
Marks