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Archive for June, 2011

Old Church piano players

Posted in Uncategorized on June 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Marguerite Krackhardt
www.martinmillerphotos.com

Many of you know that Judy Christensen and David Ross’s mother Florence Ross Martin played organ at the First Parish Church for 49 years. But did you know their grandmother, Mildred Ross, played piano at the Old Church? And, according to Marguerite Krackhardt, her mother Eula (Howard) Krackhardt also played piano at the Old Church. June Miller has added her interview with Marguerite to the history pages of the Old Church website. Follow this link to read more of the discussion. And contact us if you have an Old Church fact or memory you’d like to share.

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Dig it

Posted in Uncategorized on June 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Skip Sawyer and backhoe
(Photo by June Miller)

Skip Sawyer and his backhoe did some digging around the church on Tuesday (June 14th). He contributed his time and equipment to help determine the soil bearing capacity and water table height.  Old Church architect Dan Barton of Maugel Associates (www.maugel.com) will be developing designs for the new foundation on a pro bono basis, but he needed information on the existing site. Skip was joined by Dennis Bartlett whose unique knowledge of Berlin’s landscape and drainage is unparalleled. All three men have been generous with donating time for this renovation. No more skulls were found, but we uncovered a layer of ash we’re attributing to the Parker Shoe Factory fire of 1882.

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Three skulls

Posted in Uncategorized on June 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

"Canine" skull?

We’ve now found a total of three skulls in the soil under the basement floor. Berlin resident and naturalist Heather Simpson, owner of Hands on Nature (www.handsonnature.org), has identified the skulls as “canine”.  She believes they could be fox.

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Auction cash for kids

Posted in Uncategorized on June 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A Fred Brewer Old Church memory

Fred Brewer remembers some flush days at the Old Church in the 1940’s. In those years Guy Sawyer stored antiques there, and would hold auctions right outside the building.  The day after an auction young Fred would rise before the sun and bike down to the corner of Walnut and Carter Streets. He would scavenge around where the chairs were the night before, hunting for change. Auction patrons repeatedly pulling money or hands from their pockets would inevitably scatter a few coins on the grass. Fred knew the genuine auction treasures were found hidden in the grass the day after the event. The only problem was, the Tervo boys lived across the street and always beat him to part of the booty. 

If you have an Old Church memory or pictures of the building please contact us. Email Don at don@OldChurchRenovation.org with pictures, and Mary at maryredington@charter.net with memories, we’d love publish more of both!

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The Cornerstone Revealed

Posted in Uncategorized on June 8, 2011|

Cornerstone exterior
www.martinmillerphotos.com

Tim removed some decking at the entrance to the Old Church and exposed the exterior of the cornerstone, revealing the construction date boldly chiseled on its front face.

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Steeple People

Posted in Uncategorized on June 1, 2011| 1 Comment »

Tim in steeple - southern extremities www.martinmillerphotos.com

Yesterday Arron Sturgis (president of Preservation Timber Framing) spent the day with Tim installing structural staging into the Old Church steeple. And if you didn’t notice his truck, it’s like he was never there (from the outside). All the staging is within the interior of the tower. Arron’s company specializes in this type of work and he and Tim have toiled together on past projects. In fact, the Berwick Maine company is currently working on a tower at the First Parish Congregational Church in York, Maine. (See his blog by following this link  for more details on Arron’s experience and current projects.)

The water-damaged posts, girders, and braces in the Old Church will require us to structurally rebuild the wooden tower. Timber will be custom milled by our partner Mark Caise of Treescapes. Tim expects to have the steeple restored and moved back into plumb with the rest of the building before lifting the entire structure to do the foundation work.

Tim in steeple - northern extremity www.martinmillerphotos.com

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