Menu:
FAREWELL PARTY FOR THE REV. DR. FRED KELSEY
RECITAL WITH NATHAN WILSON AND KERRY MIZRAHI
Saturday June 7, 2008 – Special Recital by Nathan Wilson
Nathan Wilson, a treasured bass for 3 years with the Chapel Choir until he graduated in 2005 with a degree in music performance from Ithaca College, returned to the Chapel to present a very special “Return Recital.” Accompanied by pianist Kerry Mizrahi of Ithaca, Nathan performed a varied program including a work by one time Chapel Organist, Christopher Loy. Nathan promises to return to the Chapel or repeat performance in 2009.
Faith in Books Weekend
Special presentation by Family Reading Partnership
Thanking Gladys White and Art Berkey
For their support of the Bright Red Bookshelf Project March 2, 2008
Faith in Books Weekend is sponsored by Area Congregations and the Family Reading Partnership. Each year during this weekend, congregations are asked to bring in gently used children’s books for re-circulating into the community on Bright Red Bookshelves for other families to select and keep. During the Sunday morning worship service at Forest Home Chapel hymns and readings and Rev. Dr. Fred S. Kelsey’s Sermon “Bible = Biblia (Greek) = Book, Book of Books = More Books…” reflected the importance of words and books and
included a special presentation by Mary Milne of the Family Reading
Partnership.
The Chapel has always been a strong supporter of Faith in Books Weekend but this support has been made possible in large part by the contributions to Gladys White and Art Berkey. Not only does Gladys regularly restock the bright red book crate kept in the Chapel front hall, but she and Art take these books to the Family Reading Partnership sorted, counted and ready for onward distribution in Bright Red Bookshelves. Together Gladys and Art have contributed over 900 books!
ORGAN DEDICATION
In loving memory of
Martha Warren Hertel & Mary Warren Swan
November 2006
Guest Organist
William Cowdery has taught
on the faculties of Ithaca
College, Colgate University,
and Keuka College as performer,
musicologist, and
theorist. A frequent soloist,
accompanist, and lecturer at
Bach festivals in the
Northeast, he has been a
three-year fellow of the Bach
Aria Festival at Stony Brook.
Bill has authored numerous
articles in the New Harvard Dictionary of Music and the Harvard
Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1996). Recently he co-edited
“The Compleat Mozart” with Neal Zaslaw (Norton).
The Search and Dedication
Today We Dedicate Our New Allen C-6 digital organ to the memory of Martha Warren Hertel and Mary Warren Swan. The dedication of this organ has been made possible through the generosity of the people of Forest Home Chapel and the family and friends of these two sisters. Martha and Mary were long time Forest Homers, Quakers, supporters of the Chapel, and lovers of music. It is with great affection and enormous gratitude that we accept these gifts, looking to use this organ both as an integral part of our worship and in service to our wider community for many years to come.
This Dedication is the final step in an intriguing two year journey which included the investigation of two historic reed organs, both offered to us as gifts. One was in a United Methodist Church serving the rural community of Collins, Ohio, and one was in the home of Ithaca musicians, Dick Cogger and Mary Kirkpatrick. The committee considered the possible purchase of a small Moller pipe organ installed in the home of organist David Jackson of Spencer, New York. There was also the tantalizing prospect of the purchase of a very small, portable baroque pipe organ to be built to order in The Netherlands. Our final choice, a purchase from the Robert M. Sides Family Music Centers of Williamsport, PA, was the best fit for all the Chapel’s needs and a fine tribute to our celebration of 90 years on this site in Forest Home. We were helped in our search by the excellent advice of Marilyn Crooker, Cullie Mowers, David Talbot, Richard Strauss, Bill Cowdery, Larry Chase, Daisy Kirkpatrick, Christopher Loy, Carl Sundell, Roger Pellerin, Gerald Wolfe and others.
CRAFT FAIR AND BAKE SALE
|
|
 |
 |
For 21 years, Forest Home Chapel held what was deemed “the best craft fair in Ithaca” according to the Best Bets column in the local newspaper. Over 50 craftspeople brought their juried work to be attractively displayed and sold exclusively by Chapel staff, bringing in hundreds of loyal customers every year.
Pottery,
dried arrangements, textiles, clocks, glassware, toys, books, potpourri,
tree decorations, and even super-sized bears (see photo) were sold, as
well as hot homemade soup and bread lunches served at small café tables
in the main room. The small book, “25 BEST SELLERS: Patterns
from the Forest Home Chapel CRAFT FAIR,” was published as a way of
sharing “secret” directions and patterns of the most popular items made
by Chapel folk.
The Fair was the Chapel’s sole fundraiser during this time, and pulled all members together for every job from sewing bees ahead of time, to sending checks to craftspeople when it was all done. From small children to the elderly, every member had a job, most people had three, and – when asked – no one ever said no!
PEACE GARDEN IN LATE JUNE
Blessed with sun and perfect drainage, the weedy, sloping lawn in front of the Chapel cried out to be replaced with an all-season perennial bed. With the help of Alphonse Pieper, Elizabeth Mount improved the heavy soil with decomposing refuse from Cornell’s chicken barns, and checked possible erosion with heavy, flat stones.
Planting began early in 2001, and was designed so
there would always be something in bloom. Spring brings deep
pink creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) and pure white candytuft
(Iberis sempervirens ‘Snowflake’). Wedgewood blue iris
follow, plus a succession of deer-resistant cranesbills (Geranium
Sanguineum, Endressii ‘A.T. Johnson’, ’Cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo,’
x Magnificum, and Macrorrhizum ‘Ingwerson’s Variety’),
in shades of purples and pinks.
In June, magenta peonies blend with the cranesbills, deep purple sages (Salvia nemerosa ‘East Friesland’ and “May Night’), bellflowers (Campanula carpatica ‘Blue Clips’), and a pink mat of miscellaneous creeping thymes. Half-hardy calendula and biennial poppies (papaver somniferum) bloom reliably as volunteers. Purple spikes of lavender (Lavendula ‘Hidcote’) complement their own gray needles and the Llenroc stone planter which supports the Chapel’s sign.
July brings on the whites of chrysanthemums (Leucanthemum ‘Becky’) which bloom tirelessly for 3-4 weeks. Several daylilies, including the light pink Hemoracalis ‘Lady Stratheden,’ occupy the rest of July, before fall kicks in with its mauve Chrysanthemums ‘Ithaca hardy’ and the compact pink umbrellas of Sedum ‘Brilliant.’ In a good year, these fall bloomers hold on into November.
Dubbed the “Peace Garden,” it has been funded by Chapel members who have donated to its care in memory of beloved friends and family.