Page 10 - MLD Book

Sunday in July, and as I said, Michelle arrived on the same day in 1965 as the new organ did. So while I was dying to spend as much time as possible with the brand new organ, I had two small children to care for and my time was governed by Mary Bell the cleaning lady coming two days a week and Melvin’s availability as well. Therefore, it was a great handicap that Watercloset’s office was where the present library is! He did not let me practice when he was in the office (too loud to think!), but would never give me a schedule as to when he was going to BE in the office! He was ready to retire and actually seemingly did so a couple of years before he really left! Since I was young and fresh from Germany, my energy level far surpassed his, but he never interfered in that part, nor did he aspire to come up to my level of intensity. His wife was a really loud individual named Bea, and she was always calling him to tell him to come home because he was tired. At her suggestion he often became tired! But I never knew when he would be tired! The extent of his musical understanding was that he “let” the Bach Society do the big dedicatory concert, but would not pay any of the costs connected with it, and even wanted to charge us $100 for the use of the building. As stated previously, that helped lead us to the Cathedral a little while later.
1972
I think it was around 1972 when things began to turn around because the vestry decided that they could allot an amount to pay a few singers $70 A MONTH. Ardis King and Bob Davis were among the first to agree. Then one magic night, we went to the Stephen Foster Story in Bardstown. Mike and Wilma Wilson, and Daune Mahy were all in the show. After the show, those three agreed to come sing at Calvary. Mary and Matt were little, but they sang in the choir too, and Mary is in the choir still to this day. Matt wasn’t quite that eager! Shortly thereafter, I think in 1974, Harvey Turner joined the choir, fresh from his ship singing days, Sharon Brown came on board, and Herbert Thornton joined in 1979. He was our first African
American choir member and was a gentle, loving, talented person whom we admired greatly. At last we had a really good choir and things took off from there, gained momentum, and lasted until that fateful day in 2012 (much more on that later!).
From the time I started in 1964, a dedicated lady named Elena Durham was the Mrs. Everything at Calvary. She knew everyone, cared for everyone, answered the phone, kept the Rector on course, did the bulletins and ran them one by one with blue carbon paper in between each sheet, was confidant to many, and was the financial secretary as well. She always answered the phone as if it were Doomsday, wailing out CALVARY CHURCH in her most funereal manner. We accordingly called her MORTICIA behind her back! The best story about Mrs. D (as she was called by most of the parishioners) was that she counted the offering money every Sunday afternoon. But she did it at home, spreading the money and checks out on her bed, after marching the offering up Fourth Street, holding it in a brown paper bag inside her coat, no matter what the weather! This went on for years. Imagine that procedure working today!!! Mrs. D worked at Calvary for 34 years, until one day she was told to leave. Few knew the real circumstances of that move, but Frannie, her daughter,