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Amboy celebrates 100 years of church history

By Bob Albrecht
Published: May 23, 2010, 12:00am
3 Photos
The Fern Prairie String Band -- George Parsons, from left, Jon Englund, Art Newland and Ray Drake -- play &quot;Little White Church&quot; for a crowd at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Amboy United Brethren Church and North Clark Historical Museum on Saturday.
The Fern Prairie String Band -- George Parsons, from left, Jon Englund, Art Newland and Ray Drake -- play "Little White Church" for a crowd at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Amboy United Brethren Church and North Clark Historical Museum on Saturday. Photo Gallery

The string band played “Little White Church,” as Jerry Johnson pulled back the cover to reveal a plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Amboy United Brethren Church.

It’s a shared history, actually. The building stands; the church is long gone. In its space is the North Clark Historical Museum.

In the 1940s, when the building was still a church, Johnson said, he attended “box socials” in the basement on Fridays and sat restlessly in the pews on Sundays. He described box socials as auctions at which men bid on boxed lunches put together by the women who turned their heads.

“It’s still the original building, as far as the shape and everything’s concerned,” said Johnson, who sat on the steering committee that helped turn Amboy’s largest artifact into a house of artifacts in 1988.

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A crowd — about twice as large as the church held on those Sundays way back when — packed inside on Saturday to mark the building’s centennial in a celebration complete with music, fried chicken and long, frilly pioneer dresses.

Ruth Hamm, who was married in the church in 1949, wore one such dress. “It was my mom’s wedding gown,” she said.

The celebration included the unveiling of the plaque to mark the one-time church’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, sponsored by the National Parks Service. The building was included in the registry two years ago, but the unveiling of the stone marker was saved for the right occasion — the building’s 100th birthday party.

Once home to Sunday worship services, the living embodiment of a small-town church now holds exhibits of pumice rock from the May 18, 1980, explosion of Mt. St. Helens, a description of the Yacolt Burn of 1902 and a re-creation of the North Clark Lumber Co.

The pews, floors and slatted ceilings are various shades of rich brown. The outside is whiter than ever.

“To be put on the national registry, this is great,” Johnson said. “We took every board, refinished it, and put it back.”

The Fern Prairie Band of Camas supplied the entertainment. The quartet featuring a guitar, banjo, mandolin and a tub attached by a long string to what looked like a broom handle earned loud applause when they sang “Little White Church,” a famed bluegrass gospel song.

“Oh, the church in the valley; little white church is a place that I love so well,” they harmonized.

Museum committee president Barbara Hegedorn said she felt fortunate to hold her post on the anniversary.

She read a letter from Gov. Chris Gregoire congratulating the town for maintaining the building and enriching “the lives of our citizens and guests for generations to come.”

“We all benefit from the thoughtful examination and preservation of our shared history, and I applaud all of those who took part in restoring this church building,” Gregoire wrote.

After Johnson unveiled the plaque, he chatted with friends and relatives. It started to sprinkle, signaling time for Johnson to go in for lunch. As he did, he stopped and admired the stone.

“A lot of memories here,” he said. “This is great.”

Bob Albrecht: 360-735-4522 or bob.albrecht@columbian.com.

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