We noticed an article in last week’s The Lincoln County News, “Time marches on for Damariscotta’s historic town clock.”
We, as citizens of Damariscotta, truly have to thank Rob Gregory, who has been responsible for winding the clock since 2012 and for his kind contribution to the cost of the new system.
This article brought back many memories of the Baptist church and the many area people who attended church service back in 1960.
Marjorie and I were dating at that time and were also members of the Damariscotta Baptist Church. The Rev. Donald Harrington was our minister at that time.
The Rev. Donald Harrington and his wife, Jean, and their children all lived in the Baptist parsonage.
Don and Jean started a group of young men, women, and young married couples. Both Marjorie and I joined the group in 1960. We met every Sunday evening at 7 p.m. with some kind of program, and after had light refreshments.
Some of the members who belonged at that time were Winton and Jo-Ann Jacobs, David and Arlene Wheaton, John A. Andrews, Mary Jane Dodge, Marjorie A. and Calvin H. Dodge, and Theo Ann Barstow.
Some of the activities we did as a group was going bowling over to Brunswick using the large balls. We always enjoyed that night out. In the winter, we went over to Sky High to go skiing. We also went on summer boat trips in the area and afternoon picnics on some of the local area ponds and lakes and at friends’ cottages. We also went out to David Hatch’s home on Back Meadow Road and skied on their back fields and had a lunch at their home afterward.
Our group also helped with many of the Baptist church suppers that were put on Saturday nights and enjoyed by everyone on Main Street and the local area. We also found that many people came from miles to enjoy these bean suppers.
Our group worked with other church members to put on some variety shows to earn money for church programs. We all greatly enjoyed doing this together, and a lot of fun was had by every one of us. We still have pictures of us all dressed up in different old clothes doing our parts with big smiles on our faces.
We also had a youth fellowship group which we took younger members on trips and different events around the area and other Baptist churches in the area. We once took this group of young children to a camp on a New Hampshire lake for two nights. This was a real fun trip for everyone.
We both just remembered going back to the year 1954 when the Rev. Christy Schyeveland was our Baptist minister, and his wife, Phyllis. We both enjoyed the Rev. Christy Schyeveland when we were young. I recall the Rev. Schyeveland often came to our home in a social call and he would bring a homemade loaf of bread his wife, Phyllis, had made that day. He also came to see Marjorie and her parents at their home on Round Top. The Rev. Schyeveland was loved by everyone in the Twin Villages area.
We now turn back to our friend John A. Andrews. John did odd jobs and cleaning in the Baptist church and took over the joy of winding the town clock in the Baptist church steeple. He did this job for a number of years. He enjoyed doing this job. He gave us this photo of him in the clock tower back in 2007 before it was taken down and rebuilt, which was are a real big project for the church and the town and all the people who gave money from the area and people who lived far away.
When talking to John Andrews, he often said how cold it was in the winter months and some lines got real hot in the July and August months. This photo gives a clear picture of the interior of the old clock tower and the clock’s works.
John also went on to say he often brushed down all the cobwebs that often formed on the interior walls and overhead area of the clock tower.
I still can remember John saying with a big smile he was never alone in the old clock tower and there were often some spiders as well as bats keeping him company.
John’s father, Bert Andrews, and I were Masonic brothers and both belonged to Alna Lodge No. 43 here in Damariscotta. We both shared many good Masonic meetings and meals together over the many years.
One other special event Marjorie and I shared was on Sept. 3, 1961, we were married in the Damariscotta Baptist Church and many of the people in our group back in 1960 took part in the wedding. The Rev. Donald Harrington married us that afternoon at 3 p.m.: “Marjorie A. Cooper and Calvin H. Dodge were married on Sept. 3, 1961 at 3 p.m. by (the) Rev. Donald Harrington.”
