07/06/2023
MEMORIES OF ST. ANDREW'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
This Sunday will be our Dissolution Service. We thought we would share some history of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and some memories from past/present members and past ministers/lay people.
-In 1880, the St. Andrew's congregation began with 55 members. They had no church so they met in various locations in Hagersville (first at the old drill hall on Main St. S - site of the Community Centre-..it was a big cold place in the winter; then the Methodists offered their church for an afternoon service; then a year later they moved to a hall adjoining the Wilson Hotel-the site of the Town Hall..that environment wasn't very suitable and it caused considerable concern).
-In 1883, the church was built along the dirt Plank Road, later known as Highway 6, for about $5,000.00
-The stained glass windows were ordered from an out-of-town firm and when they arrived they were 4 feet taller than expected..that is the reason why the church ceiling is so high. Audrey Nixon said, "In 1883 you didn't send things back. You built around them!"
-People came by horse and buggy to hear the Word of God. During worship, the horses were put in the horse barn, which was located behind the church. There was wooden steps in front of the church, which were used to help people get out of their buggy.
-Times were tough back then. Some members were barely surviving. No matter what, they believed and knew that faith and hope would get them through.
-In the old days, besides going to church, the congregation had garden parties and picnics in the summer. They would go in buggies and democrats drawn by horses to Lake Erie for a picnic occasionally. In the winter, they had skating parties, sleigh rides and house parties. At the house parties, they played all sorts of games and might have a little dance, if Rev. Lowry didn't catch them.
-During 1900, a fine new manse was added to the church property. It even had a double balcony wrapped around it.
-In 1913, the congregation consisted of 155 members from 59 families.
-During World War I, several of our young men were in the Services.
-A Youth Peoples Group was created in 1913. They were responsible for sending Easter, summer and Christmas boxes overseas during the 1st World War.
-Peter Marshall Laidlaw was our 1st member to die in WWI. He was 24 years old. It was during the Battle of Passchendaele, on November 6, 1917, that Peter was one of those missing that day and his body was never recovered.
-Frank Bruce Robertson was our 2nd member to die in WWI. He served at various battles and was killed by a shell on his 26th birthday, Sept. 9, 1918, in France.
-Ethel Laidlaw said, "Back in the early 1930's, as worship was in progress, a most unlikely worshippers strolled down the aisle..it was a yellow cat. They weren't sure if the cat was lost or thought that a bit of exposure to religion could do no harm. Who could know for sure? Then the cat jumped up on the lap of Mrs. Ben Hurst..the cat had been looking for its owner. The Hurst's lived just across the street from the church and the church doors had been left open that morning."
-In 1933, the church celebrated its Golden Jubilee and had a week of religious celebrations. The celebrations closed with members, adherents and friends enjoying a bountiful supper and programme, where music was rendered and historical papers were read.
-May 31, 1940 Rev. S. Moore Gordon, B.A., B.D., was inducted. The Gordon's had a large family: 6 boys and 2 girls.
-The Second World War was on and many of our boys, including 5 of Rev. Gordon's son, joined the army, air force and navy.
-Ross Herbert Bertran was our 1st member to die in WWII. At 23 years old, he joined the Canadian Air Force. In the height of the Battle of Alamein, Ross volunteered for a daylight suicidal mission outside the Tobruk Harbour. This was a successful mission and Ross was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and gained the status of an “Ace”. Ross gave up his scheduled leave and went to Malta to fight. On the foggy evening of Feb 2, 1942 Ross and his crew went out to attack an Italian tanker 3 miles off shore. They were successful in sinking the tanker but sadly they had no information where the enemy artillery was and Ross flew directly over the anti-aircraft guns. His plane was shot down and he died. Ross was 25 years old.
-Richard Lawrence Gordon, was Rev. and Mrs. Gordon's 2nd son. Richard had enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force. After extensive training, Richard became a Flight Sergeant and went overseas early in the war. Dick was flying a Hampden aircraft carrying bombs when it was shot down over enemy territory in Germany. He was only 20 years old when he died on April 19, 1942.
-Rev. Gordon received a telegram of Richard's death one Sunday morning before church, but no one knew of it until after the service. It was a wonderful example of faith, courage and fortitude.
-Neil Sommerville, at the age of 31, joined the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. He was a Private and a stretcher bearer. He was sent to Scotland and then to Dieppe. Sadly he died on the beach that dreadful day, August 19, 1942. Neil was 34 years old.
-Frank Howard Weaver, at the age of 23, decided to enlist and was also part of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. On August 18, Frank embarked on France for the Dieppe Raid. Sadly, the next day Frank was reported missing in action. Frank was 26 years old.
-Bruce Moore Gordon was Rev. and Mrs. Gordon's 3rd son. At the age of 17, a year after Richard died, Bruce joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. Bruce was a recent arrival at No. 9 Service Flying Training School in Centralia, ON. Bruce was the “baby” of the course, being one of the youngest trainees. Bruce and another young man were in training doing solo flights in Anson planes when they were blinded by the sun. The two planes collided midair, killing both pilots. Bruce was only 18 years old. As stated in the Haldimand Press in 1944, Bruce was accorded full military honours. The burial party of airmen marched from St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church to the Hagersville Cemetery where Bruce is buried.
-William Frank Mitchell, at 20 years old, enlisted in the Royal Air Force and joined the grounds crew. Bill was posted overseas and served in England, Ireland, Africa and then India. On May 1st, 1944, about a month after being in India, Bill and his crew, took off early in the darkness of morning for an operational flight. Their aircraft became airborne in a normal manner and started to climb and then rapidly lost height and crashed into a jungle. Bill died that day. He was only 27 years old.
-Dennis Royal Patton - It bothered Dennis so much that his step-brother Frank Weaver had died in the war that at the age of 20 Dennis enlisted in the army. In June 1943, he embarked to the United Kingdom and joined the Royal Regiment of Canada. On July 6, 1944 Dennis was sent to France and 12 days later, (on July 18), he was killed in action in Normandy. Dennis was 22 years old.
-Harold Donald, at the age of 26, enlisted in the army. He went to Kiska, Alaska for training. Harold served in the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment of Canada. He became a qualified driver for operating a universal carrier. He participated in the Battle of Caen (the largest city of Normandy). On July 25, 1944, Harold hit a land mine while driving a universal carrier. A month later, on August 28, 1944, he died from his wounds received in action. Harold was 28 years old.
-Kenneth Allen Morris, at 17 years old, enlisted in the army. Ken was anxious to join his step-brother Dennis Patton. Ken went to England and France and then he joined the Essex Scottish. March 8, 1945 was the attack on Xanten. It was quite dark and things were very much disorganized. The platoon was hit by machine gun fire in the open and Ken died that day of his wound. He was only 19 years old.
-Tom Laidlaw recalls Rev. Gordon dropping into his home one evening and as usual said, "How are you all?" His wife replied, "Tom was full of cold last night, but was at work all day as usual." Rev. Gordon asked, "What did you do for your cold?" Tom replied, "One of the boys suggested a drink of hot brandy." The next Sunday, the congregation got a temperance sermon, a really good one, and were told four things liquor was no good for...one of course, was that it was absolutely no good for a cold.
-In May of 1946, Rev. F.R. Anderson, BA., BD., chaplain to the R.C.A.F., was inducted in the Hagersville charge.
-Tom Laidlaw travelled a great deal with Rev. Anderson. Tom said, "I shall never forget Rev. Anderson telling me about the longest nights of his life, pacing back and forth along the airport runways, listening hour after hour for the sound of a motor which might mean another of his Bomber Squadron was returning to its home base. What condition would his boys be in, wounded, dead, nerve racked, hysterical or what? He paced with a Bible in one pocket and a bottle of rum in the other. The boys had to have something to snap them out of their ordeal or their long hours facing death."
-In 1970, Rev. Adam Thomson was inducted into St. Andrew's. Rev. and Mrs. Thomson had one son, Norman. They were both originally from Scotland. Mrs. Thomson was always at the door on Sunday mornings to greet everyone with a smile and her lovely Scottish accent.
-Little white Bibles were given to each child when they started Sunday School. The children earned a pin/bar for each year they attended Sunday School.
-In the 1970's, Evelyn Green, Eva Hobbs, Ruth Anne Hyde and Doris Wilson were influential women in the young people's lives.
-In 1971, the Memorial Hall was added, thanks to a lot of hard work by our local contractors.
-In 1972, the congregation took on the responsibility of the Hagersville Arena concession booth. We did that for 47 years.
-Our church had a Women's Bible Study, a Men's Group and Young People's group. We had bake sales and served at many banquets.
-The time wine was used for communion instead of grape juice. This was done by a 1st time elder. It was NEVER done again!
-Brenda Gallant said, "When growing up, our church was booming with children and every empty space was used as a Sunday School classroom."
-In July 1977, Rev. Henry Gray visited from Belfast, Ireland with the intention of moving to Canada. After conducting a service at St. Andrew's, a call was issued. Rev. & Mrs. Mary Gray and their 7 children moved to Canada. They were loved by everyone and they had a great impact on our congregation and community. Three years later, Rev. Henry Gray left Hagersville with his family to return to Ireland to become the minister at one of the largest Presbyterian Churches in Ireland. It was a very sad day for all of us and a profound loss for our church.
-In 1983, Thomas Laidlaw was 96 years old. He was our senior elder and oldest member of our congregation.
-During one or two choir practices, we were shocked and scared when we saw bats flying around the sanctuary. The bats kept swooping towards our heads.
-Jean Nixon quilted 2 wall banners for the church. They were both featured on bulletin covers distributed by The Presbyterian Church of Canada.
-George Gilbertson said, "In 2000, I was honoured to witness 4 generations of my family being baptized together."
-George Gilbertson said, "In 2006, Carol and I renewed our wedding vows on our 50th wedding anniversary at the church, during a Sunday service."
-Every year, Cathy Redding organized amazing children's Christmas pageants. One year, the elderly needed to be educated on what an "Emoji" was before the pageant started.
-Prior to the Christmas pageant, Cathy Redding would spend a day with the children rehearsing, making pizza, baking and making crafts. One year, she had a disagreement with the children that fruit isn't a pizza topping. After much discussion, the children won and pineapple was then made available as a pizza topping. Of course it became an annual conversation each year after that.
-Rev. Bob Dawson said, "As minister, I had the opportunity and priviledge to baptize my granddaughter. It is one of the best memories I have."
-The moving and enlightening Remembrance Day Services.
-It was incredible the countless hours Brenda Gallant spent researching the 11 members/affiliate members, from St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, who died in WWI and WWII. We now have a face to every name and a binder on each man. We are all truly thankful for what they did for our country.
-We were honoured to have WWII RCAF Pilot, Lloyd Bentley attend and participate in our Remembrance Day Services in 2017 and 2019. Lloyd was 96 and 98 years old.
-Jean Nixon has spent her entire 94 years attending St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. She said, "Every Sunday my family and I would dress up in our very best clothes, hats, and shoes to go to St. Andrew's Presbyterian.
Church has been a big part of my life over the years."
-In June 2023, Maxine House turned 95 years old and is our eldest attending member of our congregation.
-Brenda Gallant said, "Four generations of my family attended this church. It is heartbreaking that it is closing."
-Brent Ellis said, "When I think what it is that I will most remember about St Andrew’s and my 15 or so years of association there, it will be of the wonderful people I have met and come to know. But it will also bring thoughts of the church itself. For starters, it is a handsome building, impressive and solid but welcoming, inviting people to come in.
And once inside and up the stairs, one finds oneself in a beautiful light filled sanctuary, always so well maintained and so beautifully decorated for the special holidays of the church. And I will remember especially the quilted wall hangings, notably the one that depicts the church itself. What a work of art, so lovingly stitched and designed.
And I will remember the days of the choir, with Bev at the organ. Wonderful soloists, and music that so enhanced the worship. And also of course, how you adapted to changing conditions so that worship could carry on, praising God, hearing the word.
I have been so blessed to have been a part, in a small way, of such a great group of people, such a wonderful congregation. I wish you all God’s richest blessings in the days ahead."
THANK YOU to everyone who put their heart & soul into our church the past 143 years. We know that God has greater plans for us and we feel truly blessed that we have so many wonderful memories to hold onto.
As Jeremiah 29:11says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
