Gleanings From
In Christian Fellowship
By Shirley Lindahl
Edited by Jerry Rutherford
Basement Becomes Fellowship Hall
In 1949 the building committee finally recommended that a basement be excavated under the church rather than building an addition. The cost was estimated at $25,000. It was concluded that this was the best way to achieve the goal of six classrooms, a dining room and social hall and a space for the Christian youth groups as well as the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Bluebirds and Camp Fire Girls all of which the church sponsored.
On May 22, after a series of training sessions Dr. J. Earl Taylor instructed 120 canvassers as they went out in pairs to conduct the Building Fund drive. The trustees had previously sent an illustrated brochure and cover letter explaining the need for the expanded facility. It stated, "You will notice the growth of our church has been almost phenomenal. That is partly because of population trends and partly because we have consistently tried to maintain a high standard of community service. In both respects, continued growth is expected."
In June a motion was carried that stated "the committee of Dave Burr, Morton Johnson, Harry Sisler, Dr. Taylor, Morris Proudfoot and Bill Chamness be given full responsibility to go ahead with the construction work on the basement plan ... and a grounds committee of Ed Hjorth, Robert Dawson and Ralph Westland be in charge of preserving shrubs during construction." Work progressed slowly on the basement. Sunday School classes were in rented space including the cafeteria at Central School. (This was at the site of the present Kirkland City Hall.)
Before Christmas week was over cold weather set in and Kirkland shivered under one of the most severe winters in memory. Snow came almost daily in early January climaxing in a blizzard on Friday the 13th. It crippled traffic, closing schools and even the Boeing Company.
But life has to go on, especially if a wedding is planned. Linc and Virginia Kaiser have no trouble remembering their wedding date, the day after the big blizzard. The best man could not get to Kirkland, so a quick substitution was made. The church construction was at an awkward point; the building was usable but that night there was no heat. The bride's orchid corsage froze, only about one third of the guests arrived and needless to say the punch bowl was untouched.
Attendance at church the Sunday before had been 185, but in the wake of the storm, only 50 people came on January 15. During the month of January 1950, Seattle area had 31 inches of snow.
Volunteer labor was used in much of the building. Harry Kean laid the drain tile and graded for the
lawn. John Nelson (Enid Johnston's father) was back in the midst of the building project, this
time doing the kitchen cupboard which we are still using today (over 50 years old!!!--you can see
why we have a kitchen remodel fund!!!). The front steps were donated by Ollis Patty and the
handrail to the basement by Mastin "Bo" Bouchelle (Rosaltha's husband). More about this
important remodel in the next Gleaning.
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