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We left our church family at the end of July, 1940, pondering the effect that the new Military Draft Bill would have on their lives, and listening to Rev. Hilberry preaching on “The Violent”. For that information and for much of the details provided in this month’s Glance, I am indebted to the Girard News, our town’s weekly newspaper, available on microfilm at the Girard Free Library.
August 4th was the first Sunday in August in 1940. That would have been my late husband, Clyde’s tenth birthday. He would not have been in our Girard church at that time. He lived in McKinley Heights and he used to tell me that his Dad would drop him and his brothers off at the Methodist Church in Niles for Sunday School, which was located in downtown Niles at that time. Anyway, on August 4th, in Girard, our Sunday School had an attendance of 243 people counting teachers, scholars, and visitors. The Sunday School collection for that day was $12.42, reflecting the fact that our country was still in the grip of the great depression, although some men were being called back to work in our town’s steel mills. On August 6th, the Friendly Class held a weiner roast in Liberty Park on that Tuesday evening. Glen McCoy and Lloyd Moncrief were chairmen of the event. Eighteen members were present. During their meeting they made plans for a Hike in Mill Creek Park on August 20th. That would probably be their last outdoor event of the summer. Meanwhile, our church family and all America were bombarded with war news coming over the radio and in the papers. England was being bombed continuously by German planes. Ships were being sunk in the English Channel. Opinion in America was divided about what to do. America was technically Neutral, although most American sympathy was with England and France. General John J. Pershing, our World War I war hero was calling for all-out aid to Britain in order to defend the Americas, while, at the same time, Charles Lindbergh, our flying hero, was holding Isolationist rallies. Last month I wrote about Tom Mix coming to Girard at the New Mock Theatre, and Guy Lombardo playing at Idora Park in July. Now, on August 7th, The Sons of the Pioneers played at the New Mock Theatre. This would have been another of my Dad’s favorite entertainers. His favorite song of all time was “Tumbling Tumbleweed” written by Bob Nolan of that group, along with another famous song, “Cool Water”. Whenever my Mom sat down at the piano to play a few, Dad would always request “Tumbling Tumbleweed”. Our family lived on the lower Southside of Youngstown. I wonder if he knew they were playing in Girard. That Wednesday would have been a work day for him so he couldn’t have attended, but I bet he wished he could. I was only two then, so I would have been oblivious to the whole event. The August 16th edition of the Girard News had a nice article on the hiring of a new coach and Phys Ed instructor for boys in the Girard Schools. His name was Phil Koppel and he had previously coached at Newton Falls the previous year and at Brookfield before that. He would go on to teach and coach at Girard until his retirement, while living here and, along with his beloved wife, Dorothy, raising a wonderful, lively bunch of kids , all active members of our church family. The August 23rd edition of the News had a front page story about a proposed five story modern hotel to be built on the corner of Liberty and State Streets. Well, we know that didn’t happen! But on a page further back in the paper was a story about the youth of our church and the Lakeside Annual Conference. Our Epworth League sent the following delegation: Marjorie Davidson, Marjorie Keller, Barbara Griffith, Barbara Emerick, Jean Merriman, Milly Jean Ebbert, Marilyn Miller, Val Jean and Hazel Muffley, Robert Crooks, Robert Miles, Jack Heinzman, and Robert Kingston. The chaperone for this group was Mrs. Rees Emerick. That is a pretty large group for one person to handle. Maybe kids were better behaved seventy-five years ago. Today we would have more than one person in charge. On August 25th, morning worship was devoted to a Communion Service. Then on the following Wednesday, the Women of our church spent the day reorganizing. This was due to the union of The Methodist Episcopal Church (our branch of Methodism) with the Southern Methodist Episcopal and the Methodist Protestant Churches. Then on the first Sunday of September, the morning worship service was mostly devoted to the launching of the Charter Meeting of the Girard Branch of the Women’s Society of Christian Service. Rev. Hilberry’s sermon was entitled, “The Guidance of God”. Our church family had no idea back in 1940, but 28 years later, in 1968, we Methodists would merge with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to become what we are today – The United Methodist Church. This was our church in August, 1940 – 75 years ago.
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We left our church family at the end of June in 1940, enjoying the special music offered by Rev. and Mrs. Hilberry during the morning worship, which provided a brief respite from the war in Europe which dominated their newspapers and radio news. As always, the information comes from our church archives supplemented by items found in The Girard News, our town’s weekly newspaper available on microfilm at Girard Free Library.
July 4th came on a Thursday in 1940. The News, which was published the next day (always on Friday), reported that Girard would have its first Annual Fourth of July celebration that weekend in Liberty Park. It also announced that the results for the City of Girard from the Census Bureau showed that Girard had actually lost a few people from the count in 1930. Girard’s 1940 population was 9,809, down from 9,859 in 1930. The next week’s edition of the News said that about 3,000 people attended that First Annual Fourth of July celebration in Liberty Park. That’s almost one third of the entire population of Girard. Not bad! On the 10th of July, a Wednesday evening, the Friendly Class held its summer picnic, also in Liberty Park. Seventy members attended. Wilden J Moore was elected Class President for the coming year, Glen Woods Vice-President, and Mrs. Edward Clark Secretary-Treasurer. That same day, in Europe, the Battle of Britain began. France had surrendered to Germany in mid-June. Now the Germans turned their attention to England with massive bombing raids. On the14th of July in a worldwide broadcast, Prime Minister Winston Churchill vowed that Great Britain would fight alone against Germany no matter what the outcome, stating, “We shall seek no terms. We shall tolerate no parley. We may show mercy. We shall ask none.” On the 15th of July, the Democratic Convention began. (1940 was a Presidential Election year.) The Democrats nominated Franklin Roosevelt their Presidential Nominee for an unprecedented third term. The following Sunday, July 21st, Rev. Hilberry tried to give some guidance to his anxious congregation. His sermon title: “Christ and The World Crisis”. Of course, Girard folks didn’t just sit by the radio all day listening to the news. Our people were much involved in the usual summer activities, along with working, shopping, cleaning house and yard work, washing clothes, and cooking dinner every night. Sports were always important in the summer. Baseball fans followed the Cleveland Indians on the radio , most afternoons or evenings. There were also visits by nationally known entertainers. In 1940 in the month of July: in Girard, the movie cowboy, Tom Mix and his horse, Tony, came to the New Mock theatre; and Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played at the Idora Park Ballroom in Youngstown. In 1940, I was too young to know if my Mom and Dad attended that year, but several years later, I remember they always went dancing when Guy Lombardo came to town. My brother, John, and I would have a sitter for the evening while our parents put on their best dress clothes and were gone, returning after we were in bed. This only happened once a year; our parents were not party people. But Guy Lombardo was very special to them. He would always play to a sell-out crowd. Also, a few weeks before, Duke Ellington had come to the Lake Milton Dog Track to entertain with his world famous orchestra. And of course, our church family held picnics, the youth as well as the adults. On the Friday the 26th, the Epworth League held an ice cream social on the church lawn. But, always, the ominous war news intruded. Congress was considering a bill to require all men of a certain age to register for a draft. The News headline of the July 28th issue read “Girard’s Quota Would Be 425”. That was the number of men that the current version of the bill would require to be conscripted into the armed forces from the city of Girard. The bill would pass and be signed in September, with the numbers changing with world conditions. Being drafted would be a life changing experience for many Girard men, including, of course, those in our church family. Even with the United States a neutral country, this war was going to impact people’s lives. On the last Sunday of July, Rev. Hilberry’s sermon topic was “The Violent”. On that note we will take leave of our church family in July of 1940 – seventy-five years ago in our church, in our town, and in our country.
We left our church family back in May of 1940, celebrating Memorial Day, looking forward to the warm days of summer, and worrying about the war in Europe. By early June, we in America had received the happy news of what was called the “Miracle of Dunkirk”. This was an amazing rescue of over 300,000 English, French and other allied nations’ troops, from the port of Dunkirk, where they had been surrounded by German forces, to the safety of England, where they could regroup and continue to fight the war. In the rescue, not only British troop ships, but thousands of small private craft, many just pleasure boats, helped carry the men to safety. Our church family would have received this happy news at the same time that they learned that the city of Paris had been bombed by the German Luftwaffe. As always much of the information about our church activities, comes from the Girard News, a weekly newspaper published every Friday, and available on microfilm at Girard Free Library. This is supplemented by what can be found in our Church Archives as we look back seventy-five years ago. Rev. Hilberry was still our Pastor and on June 8th his sermon was entitled “Leaves”.
The June 14th edition of the News featured a picture on the front page of a Father, Mother, and their three children, under the descriptive headline, “Opalk Family Holds Happy Reunion”. These three children had stayed behind in Yugoslavia while their Dad, Mom and an older brother had come to America in search of a better life. They had settled in Girard where Mr. Opalk and the older son had found work at Ohio Leather. As Europe was descending into war the Opalks decided they needed to bring their younger children to America as soon as possible. They booked passage for their children on an American ship, Manhattan, which was sailing from Genoa, Italy. Immediately after the children arrived in Genoa from Yugoslavia, Italy entered the war as an ally of Germany. There was a mad scramble in Italy by all foreigners to leave the country as soon as possible. The Manhattan was crammed full of 1,907 refugees, including the Opalk children. Fortunately, the voyage was uneventful except for periods of “blackout” when the ship sailed with no lights visible, and the younger children were frightened. They landed in New York safely, and now were happily with their parents and older brother in Girard. There must have been many of our church family who also had family members in Europe, and who were worrying about them, but couldn’t just bring them to America as the Opalks did, because they were not their little children, but cousins, aunts, uncles and sometimes just friends. All they could do was worry and wonder about them. On June 14th, the French Government fled to Bordeaux, and Paris was occupied by the German Army. On June 18th, Winston Churchill told the House of Commons, “The battle of France is over. The battle of Britain is about to begin.” But, life goes on. Sunday, June 16th was Children’s Day at our church. There was a Children’s Day Cantata during morning worship service, directed by Mrs. Mary Williams. The June 21st edition of the News announced that the great Tom Mix would make an appearance at the New Mock Theatre the next Wednesday, with his horse, Tony. If I had been a Girard kid of 10 or so, I would have wanted to go. An Editorial in the Girard News in that same edition, described the great numbers of refugee children in Europe, their families displaced or family members killed in the bombing, The editor described how the American Red Cross was working hard to help these families reunite and find some kind of shelter and safety. He went on to say that we in America were the lucky ones who could, at least, support the Red Cross financially. The work they were doing was so important but also expensive, and they were running out of funds. Our Philathea Class held its annual picnic dinner Monday evening, June 17th at the Scout Cabin in Liberty Park. During the business part of the meeting, the ladies voted to contribute $10 to the Red Cross Fund. On June 26th, our church held its annual Sunday School Picnic at Liberty Park. This was a Wednesday evening, and at 6 PM the picnic dinner was served. After dinner there would be singing and games. On Sunday, June 23rd, Rev. Hilberry’s sermon title was “What in the world is God doing?” As usual, I wonder what that was about. Did it refer to the awful war in Europe? That, however, was certainly not His doing. Reading his sermon titles always makes me wish I could be there just to hear what the title had to do with his sermon topic. That service also featured special music by Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Hilberry. So, we leave our church family, back in June of 1940, with the ominous sounds of war blending with the beauty of the Hilberry’s special music duet - Seventy-five years ago in our church, in our town, and in our country. A GLANCE AT THE PAST
We left our church family in April of 1940, worrying about church finances and the growing war in Europe, but finding happiness in the warm spring days and in following the adventures of the Cleveland Indians baseball team, led by their great young pitcher, Bob Feller. On opening day he had pitched a no-hitter, an unheard of feat. He had been signed by the Indians in 1936, while he was still in high school, going directly to the major league, and returning in the off season to finish his education and earn his degree. He would have excellent years in 1940 and 1941. Then, just days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, he enlisted in the U S Navy. He would not return to pitching for the Indians until late in the 1945 season. He picked up in the 1946 season where he had been when he left, an amazing pitcher with the fastest fastball recorded at that time. He also pitched his second no-hitter in 1946, this time against the formidable New York Yankees who had Tommy Heinrich and Joe DiMaggio on their team at that time. He would pitch his third no-hitter in 1951 against the Detroit Tigers when he no longer had his blazing fastball but had to rely on his slider and finesse. But, in May of 1940, the Indians many fans loved to watch him whenever they could hitch a ride to Cleveland, and listen to Jack Graney give the play by play on the radio the rest of the time. It’s hard for us to understand, but baseball was much bigger than football seventy-five years ago in 1940. So our Girard church family would have been well aware of Bob Feller and the Indians even as they went about the business of our church. As usual when reporting about our church seventy-five years ago I rely upon our church archives along with articles from The Girard News which can be found on microfilm at the Girard Free Library. The Friday, May 3rd edition of the News reported that Rev. Hilberry would be preaching on “Life’s Waiting Room” Sunday, the 5th. There is another interesting sermon title! Little did he know that seventy-five years later we would be wondering what on earth was he preaching about? The following day, Monday evening May 6th, the Official Board held their monthly meeting. The minutes are available in our archives. J J Wiand presided. Rev. Hilberry opened the meeting with prayer. Mrs. Williams made the financial report, which noted a deficit of $863.30 as of that date. Mr. Wiand and Rev. Hilberry reported on changing the order of services on Sunday morning worship. (No details were recorded of what the change involved .) Mr. Howells moved, and Mr. Burtsfield seconded, that meetings of the Official Board be moved to 8 PM on the first Thursday of the month instead of Monday evenings. Motion carried. Mr. Burtsfield moved and Mr. Crider seconded that the President of the Official Board arrange a joint meeting of the Official Board and the Sunday School Board to discuss the question of a new order of the Sunday service. Motion carried. Mr. Howells moved and Mr. Burtsfield seconded that the Chairmen of the Finance Committee and the Trustees meet to address the question of the Building Fund Account and report at the next meeting. Motion carried. Then the meeting was adjourned. In addition to finances, our church family was most certainly worrying about events in Europe. The German army began its invasion of France on May 10th, and by the 13th, had opened up a 60 mile wide breach of the Maginot Line providing a wide highway into the heart of that country. In England, Neville Chamberlain had resigned and Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, telling the House of Commons, “I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” On May 16th, {although we were neutral, we had watched as other neutral countries were invaded}, our President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of the U. S. Congress and asked for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900 million to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year. By May 20th, German Panzer forces had raced across France to take the town of Noyelles on the English Channel, leaving nothing but that narrow strand of water between them and England. The British and French armies fighting the German Army in Norway were being pushed back and in danger of being cut off from escape. Meanwhile back at our church, May 26th was designated a Homecoming Service with all friends and former members of the church invited to attend. There was special music by the choir and a guest speaker, Rev. Charles B. Hess, D.D. gave the morning message. Although our church family would not know it at the time, that day was also the beginning of what would become the “Miracle of Dunkirk”, a turning point in World War II. Due to a combination of events including an incomprehensible three day delay of an attack by the German Army and a miraculous spell of smooth water in the British Channel along with cloudy skies that made it hard for German planes to see them, the British Navy, along with a flotilla of every kind of small boat in England that could help, evacuated a total of over 330,000 British, French and other Allied troops to safety in England to regroup and fight again. On that note, we will leave our church family from 75 years ago – looking forward to the warmth of June, summertime activities, and maybe better news from Europe. A GLANCE AT THE PAST
We left our church family back in March of 1940, having celebrated an early Easter with the choir providing the stirring “Hallelujah Chorus” for both the Sunday morning and evening services. Now we will take a look at what was going on in the month of April, 1940. As usual, we are indebted to The Girard News, which is available on microfilm at the Girard Free Library, for much of our information, supplemented by our own Archives. The Women’s Home Missionary Society got right to business on April 1st, meeting at the church with 24 members present. Mrs. Hilberry read an article on Christian Citizenship entitled “Know Your Own Community”. Also on April 1st, but in the evening, the Official Board had their regularly scheduled monthly meeting. J J Wiand presided. The meeting opened with prayer by Pastor Hilberry. The financial secretary’s report was read and accepted. Board of Trustees had no report. Janitor service was discussed. Motion was made that Janitor matter be referred to a special committee. Motion carried. Next came the Pastor’s report. Rev. Hilberry advised that 45 people had recently been received into membership of the church. Then the matter of the Scout Committee was discussed. The chairman appointed a scout committee consisting of five people. There being no further business, motion was made to adjourn. Motion carried. On the first Sunday in April, the 7th, The Women’s Foreign Missionary Society had charge of the service. The guest speaker was Rev. A. E. Parker of Woodstock School in India. This must have been eagerly listened to by our church family. After all, India in 1940 was part of the British Empire. Indian soldiers were indeed part of the English troops fighting the Japanese in the Pacific theatre of what came to be called World War II. The news from Europe had been very disturbing in the early months of 1940. Now it was about to become even worse. Just two days after Rev. Parker’s visit to our church, Germany invaded both Denmark and Norway, two countries who had declared neutrality at the beginning of hostilities the previous September. Germany would quickly overrun and occupy both countries. The following Sunday, the 14th, Rev. Hilberry spoke on “Treasure Seekers”. At the evening service, Dr. Vernon McCombs, Supt. of the Latin American Missions of the Methodist Church spoke on the work of the church among Spanish speaking people in California and the Southwestern part of the United States. On Tuesday, April 16th, opening day of the Cleveland Indians baseball season, probably saw quite a few of our church family members keeping an ear turned to the radio broadcast with Jack Graney giving the play by play description. Bob Feller pitched a no-hitter, and the Indians defeated the Chicago White Sox 1-0. I was too young at that time to know or care, but I’ll bet my Mom was listening as she accomplished her usual homemaking chores. On Friday, April 19th, the Board of Education appointed W. J. Moore the new Superintendent of Girard Schools. He had only been hired as Principal of the High School a year earlier, coming to Girard from Orville. He and his family had immediately become members of our church upon moving here. He would remain Superintendent of Girard schools until his retirement many years later. On Sunday, the 21st, Rev. Hilberry preached on “What Constitutes a Good Church?” and the following Sunday, April 28th, he preached on “Thinking God’s Thoughts”. Sometimes, as I immerse myself in life as it was lived in Girard seventy-five years ago, I suddenly realize how different our lives are simply by the way I interpret a headline for a news article. It was from the April 26th edition of the Girard News, and it was posted in the “Church News” section of the paper. The headline read: “Demonstration Follows Wesleyan Class Meeting”. My first impulse was, “Whoa! This sounds exciting.” Here is the article: “Thursday evening a covered dish dinner was held in the church dining room by the Wesleyan Class. Twenty-four attended. Mrs. A. J. Carroll presided during the business meeting, and a brush demonstration followed.” That was our church family in April of 1940 – seventy-five years ago a glance at the past We left our church family in February of 1940, listening to an address at the Sunday evening service by Rev. Robert G. Morris of Centenary Methodist Church on “Methodism’s Involvement in the Negro”. As always we are indebted to the Girard News, Girard’s weekly newspaper, for much of the information on Rev. Hilberry’s sermon titles and notices of meetings, especially the smaller Sunday School groups, as none of that information is available in our church Archives. The Girard News can be found on microfilm at Girard Free Library.
In our archives, we do have most of the minutes of what we now call the Administrative Board. In 1940 it was referred to as the Official Board, and their March meeting occurred on Monday evening, March 4th at the church. J. J. Wiand presided. The meeting was called to order and began with a prayer by Rev. Hilberry. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and accepted. The Financial Secretary’s report was then read and accepted. The total deficit stood at $668.72. Motion was made, seconded and passed that bills be referred to Finance Committee for payment “when funds are available”. Ladies’ Aid – No Report. Trustees – No Report. Sunday School Supt. was absent due to a death in the family. Pastor’s Report: Pastor advised that about ten more adults are to be received into membership at Easter Service. The matter of church interest was discussed. (I’m not sure what that meant.) Report from the Board of Stewardship – The Chairman advised that statements had been mailed. There being no further business the motion was made to adjourn. Motion carried. On Sunday morning, March 10th, Rev. Hilberry’s sermon topic was “Are We Able?. At the evening service he spoke on the life of Albert Schweitzer, “one of the most inspiring of our contemporary leaders”. On Wednesday evening, March 13th, the Friendly Class, our church’s largest adult class, met in the church for their monthly dinner meeting. Of course, life in Girard did not exist in its own little cocoon. Anyone who had been listening to the radio knew that just that day, Russia had announced that it now controlled the entire country of Finland and that a “peace” treaty would be signed soon. Sure enough, the “peace” treaty was ratified by Finland on the 16th. We can only guess, looking back from 75 years in the future, but probably the war in Europe was discussed at some time over dinner. After all, most Girard folks traced their heritage back to somewhere in Europe, and many still had family there. Also, just nine days before, on March 4th, another British Steamship, the Domala, was bombed in the British Channel with the loss of 108 lives. This would, of course, have reminded Girard folks of the sinking of the Athenia, months before, at the beginning of the war, when the Girard boy Arthur Fisher was killed. So, even as they were enjoying fellowship together and making plans for the upcoming Easter services, the war news hung like a cloud, tempering the happiness that comes with Easter and springtime after the long cold winter. Good Friday came on March 22nd, and the Union services for that day were held at our church from 1 to 3 PM. It was split up into 4 one half hour parts, so that most people could come when they were free for a short time. There was Silent Prayer and Meditation between each part. Our Rev. Hilberry had the Prayer for Grace in the opening period, and the Meditation in the 4th part. His Meditation title was “The Cross, Victory in Seeming Defeat”. On March 24th, Easter came with its wonderful story and glorious music. The morning began at 7:30 AM with an Easter Morning Breakfast sponsored by the Fellowship Class. Then Sunday School at 9:30 followed by Morning Worship at 10:30. Rev. Hilberry’s sermon for Easter morning was “The Immortal Hope”. The Easter Evening Service featured music by the choir. At both services, the choir ended the service with “The Hallelujah Chorus”. With that rousing music ringing in their heads, they went home happy, to Easter Dinner and a quiet afternoon. The Friday, March 29th edition of the Girard News contained the following exciting announcement: “The Board of Education is considering a new football stadium to be built at the cost of $60,000, $52,000 to come from WPA, $8,000 to come from Girard.” So far, I have reported on the new City Building, the Post Office, and now the Football Stadium, all constructed mostly with Federal Government funds. And Social Security monthly payments of benefits began January 1, 1940. All this construction, along with Social Security, would help Girard folks survive the great depression. When manufacturing picked up to provide necessities for the war already going on in Europe and the Far East, the depression would, at last, be gone. Our church’s Official Board and Finance Committee didn’t know about that, of course, so, in 1940, they were still worrying mightily about late-paid bills. Of course, they also didn’t know that those wars in Europe and the Far East would eventually engulf the United States, directly affecting almost every American. Maybe that was a good thing – not to have to confront that knowledge for another year and nine months. The last day of March was a Sunday, and Rev. Hilberry’s sermon was “Living to Self or to God?” - That was the month of March, 1940 – Seventy-five years ago in our church and in our town. A GLANCE AT THE PAST We left our church family in January of 1940 struggling with two major concerns – neither of which they had any immediate chance of solving. The first was our church’s huge mortgage debt, acquired back in 1927 during construction of our building. Since that time our country, including our town of Girard, had been wracked by the greatest depression in its history, marked by many bank failures, massive unemployment and cuts in wages for those who still had jobs. The depression, which began in the fall of 1929, still continued as it went into its eleventh year. The result for our church family was simply to try to reduce the church debt, and that, too, was a mighty struggle.
The other concern was a much newer one: the war in Europe. German submarines were sinking ships in the Atlantic whether they carried freight or innocent passengers. One Girard boy, returning home from England with his mother on the British Passenger Liner Athenia, had died when that ship was sunk at the beginning of September. The teenage boy, Arthur Fisher, held the dubious distinction of being one of the first civilian casualties of what would be a very long and awful war. Fortunately, in early 1940, our church family did not know just how long and how affected they would be by that war. The United States in 1940 had declared its neutrality, and Girard people were just watching the news warily. In reporting on the life of our church seventy-five years ago, I am, as always, indebted to The Girard News, Girard’s weekly newspaper, available on microfilm at the Girard Free Library. Unfortunately, the issues of that newspaper for the first half of February, 1940, are missing. I couldn’t find much in our own archives for early February, so I went searching on line, to see what folks might have been talking about, besides the weather. One item caught my attention. You may remember that when I was reporting on Girard happenings back in April of 1939, the movie Snow White, Walt Disney’s first feature movie-length cartoon, came to play at Girard’s movie theatre, and aroused great excitement. This culminated in a city-wide “dandelion eradication contest”, sponsored by Mrs. John Powers, Chairwoman of the Dandelion Removal Committee of Girard Garden Club, and Peter Wellman, owner of the theatre. Each child who turned in 300 picked dandelions to his teacher would receive a free pass to the movie. The response was so huge that an extra showing of Snow White was held to accommodate all the children who received free passes. I was reminded of this memorable day in Girard when I read that Walt Disney’s next full-length cartoon, Pinocchio, opened the first week of February in New York City. The New York Times reviewer stated that the new movie was “as gay and clever and delightful a fantasy as any well-behaved youngster or jaded oldster could hope to see.” If the movie opened in New York in early February, and the time frame was the same as it was for Snow White, it would conceivably get to Girard in May or early June. If I were a third or fourth grade kid back then, I would be hoping for another dandelion picking contest. I never did hear if the first contest resulted in a diminution of dandelions. But it was fun to think of it again. The first available issue of the Girard News of February, 1940, is that of Friday, February 16th. It reported that on the previous Friday, Feb. 9th, the First Christian Church had hosted a joint World Day of Prayer Service with over 100 attending. Our Rev. Hilberry, along with pastors from the other churches, each spoke briefly. The main speakers were Rev. Monroe Duffie and Miss Emily Fox of the Rebecca Williams Home in Warren. From our own archives, the Official Board met on February 12, 1940. Mr. Howells presided. The meeting opened with prayer by Rev. Hilberry. The Financial Secretary’s report was given by Mr. Crider. The motion was made that bills payable be done as monies became available. Mr. Howells reported for the Trustees, that railings had been bought, to be installed when weather permitted. Mr. Howells also gave the financial report for the Trustees. He reported that the church’s total indebtedness was now down to $40,000 with $4,000 of that having been accomplished in the past two years. I believe this had to be good news, that debt reduction was occurring at a faster pace than had occurred in the early thirties. Mr. Howells also discussed the Janitor Committee and indicated that he wished to resign from that committee. The motion was made and passed that his resignation be accepted. There was no mention in the minutes of what was discussed about the Janitor Committee or why he wished to resign from it. Rev. Hilberry then made the Pastor’s report, and, there being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Two days later, Wednesday, was Valentine’s Day, and the News reported that a deep snow hit the city of Girard that day, slowing traffic and inconveniencing everyone. I remember deep snows back in the day before we had snow blowers and lawn tractor mounted plows. My Dad had to hand shovel out the drive before he could head out to work, and if there was more snow accumulation when we got home from school, we were sent out to do what we could. I always felt that the gas powered snow blower along with its summer cousin, the gas powered lawn mower, were two of the most important inventions of the last century. My feeling was probably influenced by growing up as the oldest child in a family with a large lot and a long driveway. On Sunday, February 18th, Rev. Hilberry’s sermon was entitled, “Is Any Man Thirsty?” At the Sunday evening service, the choir, under the direction of its new Director, offered a musical service that featured eight hymns. The last Sunday in February, the 25th, Rev. Hilberry spoke on “A Colony of Heaven”. At the evening service, Rev. Robert G. Morris of Centenary Methodist Church spoke on “Methodism’s Involvement in the Negro”. I have been writing this “Glance” article on the day that our country honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which at least partially accounts for the amazement I find in seeing a title for an address such as the above, describing our church’s “involvement” with the “Negro”, making some members of our human race sound like a kind of rare exotic. I know we still have a significant distance to travel toward achieving brotherhood, but comparing our way of speaking to and about each other now to the use of the “N” word commonly heard as I was growing up, makes me think that gas powered snow blowers weren’t the only thing that is better today. That was our church, seventy-five years ago in February of 1940. A GLANCE AT THE PAST By Sally Wagner, Church Historian We left our church family in December of 1939, celebrating Christmas with a beautiful concert by the choir, led by our new Director, Frank Fuller. Then on Christmas Eve, our youth led a Candlelight Service (the first one in our church that I have been able to verify) open to all with music (both vocal and instrumental) and readings completely done by the Epworth League members. That would have been a daunting task for any youth group advisor, so I think I was remiss last month in failing to name those advisors. They were Harriet and Rees Emerick. I am sure I am not the only old-timer who remembers this lovely couple. They were still active in our church when I first met them, but I had no idea that they had once advised the youth group. Now, a week later, the ball had fallen in Times Square and we had begun the decade of the 40’s. College football was still the dominant sport in that year and January 1 featured bowl games, which were broadcast (on radio). You could listen as you undecorated and stored away Christmas until next year. Bowl games were played in warm and sunny places, a reward for winning teams. In the Rose Bowl it was Southern Cal vs Tennessee: winner - So. Cal 14-0. In Florida was the Orange Bowl, where Georgia Tech beat Missouri 21-7. At the Sugar Bowl, in a close one, Texas A & M beat Tulane 14-13. And, at the Cotton Bowl, in a low scoring contest, Clemson beat Boston College 6-3. On the next day, twelve Ladies of our church’s Womens’ Home Missionary Society, began the new year with a meeting at the home of Mrs. Arthur Weaver’s on East Second St. Mrs. Hilberry spoke to them on the General Executive meeting of the WHMS held last fall in Pasadena, California. This was duly reported in the January 5th edition of the Girard News, which also advised that the movie, “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington” was playing at the New Mock Theatre that weekend, and that Rev. Hilberry would be preaching a sermon next Sunday, Jan. 7th, entitled “Let Us Go On”. The following Monday would be a busy one for our Rev. Hilberry for he would be attending the First Seminar on Religion held in Youngstown, at Rodef Shalom Temple, also as announced in the News. This Seminar brought together 160 members of the clergy – Protestants, Jews and Catholics. It was a four hour event including addresses by Dr. Solomon H. Freehof of Rodef Shalom Temple in Pittsburgh and Dr. Jacob Marcus, professor of History at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Then, that same evening, per our own Archives, Rev. Hilberry gave the opening prayer for the first Regular Meeting of the Official Board of our church for the year 1940. The meeting began with the report of the Financial Secretary that, as of that date, 1/8/40, we had a deficit of $28.14. After a discussion the motion was made that any bills payable be referred to the Finance Committee for payment when monies were available. Motion carried. Then the report from the Board of Stewardship was received. After discussion the motion was then made that the Finance Committee be authorized to turn over to the Church Building Fund money as necessary to pay on interest indebtedness from the Current Expense Fund to pay interest due in January, 1940. Motion carried. As I noted before, throughout the preceding decade our church struggled to make payments on the debt incurred in constructing our building – debt incurred in 1927 when the economy was flying; debt payable now when the economy was still barely limping along, as were the individual economies of each of our church families. The next report was from the Chairwoman of the Ladies Aid, who reported that they had some money available for the interest. Then followed a number of committee chairs who had “no reports”. Last came the Pastor’s report. Rev. Hilberry reported that there were quite a number of people “yet to come” into church membership. He also reported that Rev. A. B. Denton was elected Secretary of the Federated Churches of Youngstown, and that our church ought to send two representatives to his Installation on the evening of Feb. 5, 1940. After some discussion, a motion was made to postpone the next month meeting of the Board from Feb 5th to Feb 12th, - Motion carried. Then the motion was made that Board President, J J Wiand and Rev. Hillberry attend the installation of Feb. 5th. Motion carried. Rev. Hilberry also advised that Easter Sunday would be March 26th that year with seven Sundays in Lent. He would like to conduct a Sunday evening service through the Lenten period and expressed his hope that good attendance would prevail through this seven week period. That concluded his report, and, there being no other business, a motion for adjournment was made. Motion carried. The next week, Rev. Hilberry preached on the topic, “Buy the Truth”, and the following week’s service was devoted to Holy Communion. Meanwhile, our church family had plenty of worries to keep them busy. Besides the state of our church’s finances, and our local government’s finances, not to mention their own finances, the world in Europe and the Far East continued to fall apart. The month of January was filled with reports of the Russian invasion of Finland, with the Finn army fighting on, apparently unaided. Then, in the last week of January occurred a series of battles between British and German planes over the British Channel which resulted in the sinking of 18 allied ships. On the last day of January came reports of a speech delivered by Adolph Hitler the day previously, marking the beginning of the eighth year of rule of National Socialism in Germany. In it, he blamed the allies for creating this state of total war, due to their resistance to Germany’s absolute need for acquiring land that had been occupied by the German people and that belonged to them by right. He concluded with a warning that a second phase of this war was coming which would carry the war to the west “on land and sea and in the air”. On that sober note, we will leave our church family in January of 1940 – seventy-five years ago in our church, in our town, and in our world.
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Sally WagnerSally is our historian. She gleans interesting and inspirational information from our past so we may appreciate our future. Archives
August 2015
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