Cherished Chapel & Golden Agers Intertwined

WINDHAM - The cops didn’t need to be called but the only time it got quiet was during the 50-50 drawing when the WAJPL Golden Agers held their annual picnic at C.D. Lane Park in Maplecrest.

A jubilant summer ruckus ensued, on Monday afternoon, when seasoned citizens from the towns of Windham, Ashland, Jewett, Prattsville and Lexington (and beyond) treated themselves to homemade fare.

Judy LoPresti, who organized the event, at one point had to threaten to keep the raffle money herself if everybody didn’t pipe down which they eventually did, with Lorna Puleo hauling in the dough.

Puleo, as it turns out, is also a member of the Mitchell Hollow Chapel restoration committee which is quietly going about the business of prettifying the venerable meetinghouse, dedicated in 1898.

Harold Benjamin and sidekick Neal Higgins are applying paintbrush and caulking gun to the site on the outskirts of Windham, at the juncture of Mitchell Hollow Road and Mill Street.

Benjamin, a spry octogenarian, claims he is “supervising” the job while Higgins gets closer to heaven in the bucket truck and ladder.

“He’s like a father to me,” says Higgins of Benjamin who was born in Bristol, Connecticut, and raised on a farm in Lanesville.

Benjamin is one of 18 brothers and sisters, indicating that winters in the Lanesville hollows back in the day must have been mighty darn cold, perfect for romantic mom-and-pop cuddling.

Harold was mowing the lawn at the church for a year or so without asking for a nickel before getting hired. The place is near and dear to his heart.

WAJPL president Lula Anderson has similar feelings, serving as pastor for the yearly service at the chapel, keeping it active, noting that her sisters, Florence Kiley and Louise Armstrong, were married therein.

Anderson, now 94-and-a-half years old, will be at the pulpit again on Sunday, August 9, at 2 p.m., telling the story of “The Wind Eagle.”

Vicky Beckmann is happy to continue the efforts and legacy of Margy Davis, who helped found the restoration committee.

Beckmann is one of many Mitchell Hollow folks who, after one of the yearly services, was asked to share their thoughts about the beloved chapel and its connection to their childhoods.

“I was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mitchell Hollow,” Beckmann wrote.  “There were farms then with lots of acreage. Most of the families attended church at the chapel. My grandparents/parents were active members.

“My parents, as I remember, ran the rummage sale and Easter sunrise service, carrying water to do the dishes. My daughter was married there.

“A neighbor had a horse drawn carriage carrying them to the Country Club in Windham for their reception. My two oldest granddaughters were christened there in a beautiful ceremony,” Beckmann wrote.

And also sweetly remembering a bygone era, Judy Lamanac wrote, “my mom played the piano for the church. 

“They told me that she put me on the chair next to the piano when I was a baby. When I got older, I liked to sit there,” Lamanac wrote.

“My mom said long before I was born, they put the piano on a truck and sunrise service was at the top of Mount Pisgah. The chapel is home to me. I always find peace when I go there.”