Thanksgiving Party

Commemorating the Memorial Hall
and cornerstone Time Capsule display

By Jonn Lavinnder

St. Saviour’s, Nelson, celebrated the selling of their Memorial Hall with a Thanksgiving party. The Memorial Hall has played an important role in the community of Nelson and the diocese of Kootenay. This event brought many people together from the community of Nelson, church members old and new, as well as other congregations along Kootenay Lake.

The contents of the cornerstone “time capsule” were displayed in a protected case provided by Touchstones Museum.

The evening began with people at each table singing for their supper. A few lines from a hymn that fit a description hidden under the table number: a hymn about angels, or alleluia…

People’s warden Julia Roberts welcomed everyone including Archbishop John Privett, Canon Neil Elliot, Jennifer Pring, Canon Jim Hearne, and Greg Nesteroff representing the Nelson Star.

Julia Roberts said, “Let’s start our reminiscences by going back to the beginning of this Hall. I obtained copies of church committee minutes from our diocesan archives. Plans for the hall were first mentioned in minutes from July 1919. A motion to build the hall was passed in Feb 1921. Plans for laying the corner stone were made at the church committee meeting in June 1922 and the church committee met in the new Memorial Hall for the first time in March 1923. The minutes sound very similar to contemporary minutes with much concern about where money will be raised to pay for the hall. The Mothers’ Club and the Boys and Girls Club contributed and a loan was received from the diocese. The cost of building the hall was about $10,000.”

“The cornerstone included a time capsule and Greg Scott, our parish history enthusiast, encouraged us to open the capsule before we give up the hall. We had the capsule opened a couple of weeks ago. Greg Scott is out of town so Ean Gower will tell us about opening the corner stone and the contents of the capsule,” she added.

Incumbent’s warden, Kitty Wright, honored two special women from the congregation: Rose-Anne Marshall for being treasurer for the past 17 years and St. Saviour’s senior advisor; and June Mills who, it was discovered, was celebrating her seventieth birthday. June was St. Saviour’s parish secretary for 8 years from 1998 to 2006. She served with 5 incumbents. Cake cutting and singing of Happy Birthday with John MacKay on the keyboard: other seventieth birthdays celebrated – Jane Gower and Sue Barrett.

Music was provided by Second Wind.