Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1919-10-16
CORNERSTONE OF
CHURCH IS LAID
Fitting Exercises Held Sunday
as Stone is Laid by Officials
of Denomination.
WONDERFUL RECORD IS MADE
Members of Church of Christ Pledge
Enough to Insure Opening of
Edifce Debt Free.

Sundays services of the Church of
Christ held at the high school were
without question among the finest of
the kind ever held in Alma, and the
day had not passed before the church
members of friends of the denom-
nation had come forward with pledg-
es totalling nearly $4,000, thus in
suring the new church being opened
this fall free from debt, from the
funds which these pledges will pro-
vide.
All of the services of the day were
held in the auditorium of the high
school, but at noon, following the
morning service, adjournment was
made to the gymnasium, where a
splendid basket picnic dinner was
held, which held the close attention of
a large crowd for over an hour.
AT the morning worship the atten-
tion of the church membership was
called to the needs of raising funds
for the payment Of the debt which
the erection Of the handsome new
editice was making, and Rev. G. l..
Snively of Lewiston, Illinois, made a
plea, and at the Reminscence and
Memorial service held in the after
noon another plea was made for
pledges to the fund, Rev Snively ask
ing for pledges which would total
S22.500. Nearly all of those in at
tendance in the afternoon had attend
ed the morning service and made
pledges, but still further pledges were
forthcoming and the amount rapidly
grew until almost all of the entire
$50 800 asked for had been pledged.
Payments are to be made within
three years. This insures the OPEN
ing of the new Church of Christ this
fall with the church practically free
from debt, and the answer to the
plea of Rev. Snively must stand out
as one of the finest contributions
ever made in Alma in a like period,
for religious work.
The Hon William A. Bahlke was
then called upon for an address on
the early days of Alma, an address
which proved highly interesting to
those who crowded the large audi
tolium and the balcony of the high
school. He spoke of the days of
Starving" Gratiot, leaving it to his
hearers to make the comparison with
the Gratiot county of today.
Mr.. Bahlke told of the early days
in Alma and its moral tone, as com
pared with that of today. He told
of six saloons in the struggling ham,
let, and of another at the race track,
where the Republic plant and the
plant of Libby, Mcneil q Libby now
stand, with its saloon to cater to the
thirst of a public that couldn't wait
until it could get across the river to
the half dozen located in the village.
He told of the banishing of the saloon
from Alma a decade ago, and in clos
ing said that it was his belief that
the liquor question was settled for
ever.
The early days of the Church of
Christ in Alma was given by Mr..
Winchell, who carried the growth of
the congregation down to the present
from its formation in 1911, when
church meetings were held from
house to house. The purchase of the
old NJ. +. church, used for some years
as a bowling alley and pool room
and its conversion into a church was
told, as was the continued growth of
the religious institution, which has
made necessary the handsome new
Superior street edifice.
Professor Albert p. Cook, repre-
senting the Presbyterian church of
Alma, spoke of the departed Presby-
terians who had done so much in
church work in Alma, paying a trib-
ute to their memory
Rev. Priest of the Baptist church
read extracts of diary, which was
the work of the late Samuel Ander-
son, which spoke of the first form
alton Of a Sunday school in Alma in
1864, and the formation Of the Con-
gregationaist church in the village In
closing he extended TO the Church
of Christ his best wishes for its sue.
cess.
Professor Hansford McCurdy. rep
resenting the Methodist Episcopal
church Of this city. extended con
gratulations to the Church of Christ
on the great work that it was doing.
Sunday evening a highly interest
ing service was held which attracted
a large audience. who greatly en-
joyed the services.
II was stated that it would be
month before the heating plant for
the new church would be ready for in
stallation, and as a result II has been
announced that services for the bal
ance of the present month will be
held in the old church.
Verne +. Rogers was in Grand
Rapids the first of the week attend