CHRIST CHURCH Calvert Co. MD

“I can remember Christ Church with no lights or heat. We had kerosene lamps on the pillars and a wood stove in each corner. Charlie Reynolds, the Sexton, laid the fires on Saturday and was there early Sunday morning to start the fires so it would be warm when we got there. He also pumped the organ.”  

–Virginia McCready

“We used to share our minister with St. Paul’s Church in Prince Frederick, and one of our ministers, Mr. Halbert had a very active Youth Program.  As a teen, I can remember the hay rides he helped us organize. We would all get in the back of the truck – not a little pick-up truck – but a big farm truck – and sit on bales of hay all the way up the road to Washington D. C. or Glen Echo.  I don’t remember how many of us were on the truck, but we fit on as many as we could!  We had so much fun, and we waved to everybody along the way.  One time we were super excited when a newly-wed couple that we knew followed us up the road in their decorated wedding car, and we thought that helped to make the trip extra special!”

–Dotty Greene

“Pre-school children went into what is now the “bride’s room” in Church for Sunday School with Miss Jane Williams where we would have our own little service and hymns.  Everything was done quietly, so we would not disturb the regular service held inside the Church.  Miss Jane was the sweetest lady and all of the children loved her.  When we aged out of Miss Jane’s class, we attended the regular 10 AM service and had Sunday School after the service was over.  The adults went out to their cars while classes were held inside the church.  Each age group went to a different part of the Church with their own teacher.”

–Nancy Dare

“For Tournament Supper at the old Mutual Hall, they used to kill the chickens and hang them up on the clothes lines.  They used to scrub the crab shells after the ladies finished picking the crabs. The deviled crab was put in these shells then and served at the Tournament Supper. They used to have all the ladies bring in potato salad and set it up on the stage on a table, not in the refrigerator, and it sat there all day.”

–Nancy Zinn

“My earliest memory of Christ Church, as a very small child, was that we would come and help our mother with the altar guild.  That was back in the time when you never went in the Church without a hat on your head – your head needed to be covered.  We would get the black choir caps and put those on our heads, because that was just the way it was.  We’d go up and help mother, and we thought we were so great that we could go in the Church and help her prepare the altar for the Sunday service and other services they might have.”

–Mary Linda Wegner

“Favorite early memories….Well, the Christmas Pageant was one of our favorites.  I remember the Christmas Pageants and being a part of them.  The Sunday School children started out as the little choir children with the 4 and 5 year olds.  They wore the white cape with the red bow, and they had the little candles.  They would march up to the front of the Church, and they were the ones who sang Away In The Manger. For the girls you started out as the angel choir, then you graduated to Gabriel, and then you became Mary.  And, the boys started as Shepherds, and then you would go on to being a wise man or Joseph.”

–Nancy Dare, Mary Linda Wegner, Nancy Zinn

“I guess it must have been in the early 80’s. Steve Dunlap did a lot of excavating under the Church building, built a machine room for a furnace down there, and put a sump pump system in.  And, I think he had an archaeologist come in and they did find, I think I’m correct about this, they did find some remains and artifacts and stuff underneath the church building.”

–Jack Maguire

“My favorite memory would be the little grab bags for kids. You’d reach in and pull out a little tissue wrapped package. There might be a little airplane or a little army tank in there. These were made of metal back then.  They weren’t cheap like they are today with plastics.  And, they were a whole 5 cents at first and then 10 cents.  I think they were 5 then they went up to a whole 10 cents on us. But they were worth 10 cents you know.”

–Billy Skinner

 “My Father, Jack Briscoe, use to ride in the Tournament, and at the time, the Jousting was held at the junction of Mackall Road and Broomes Island Road. He was very fortunate to be able to ride a horse that came out of the Army, who was called Boco.  After he’d finish riding, he’d take the saddle and the bridle off, and just slap the horse on the rear sending him home.  It was around 3 miles south.  Once the Tournament was over, they’d go home and the horse would be standing right beside the corral with all the other horses, just waiting to get in.”

–John Briscoe

“One of the stories told to me, was one time the rope fell off the Church bell, so it couldn’t be rung. So my grandfather put a ladder up against the side of the Church and climbed right up the steeple.  He didn’t have any rope or anything holding him for safety. He climbed right up there and fixed the Church bell.”

–Tommy Briscoe

“I guess my favorite early memory had to do with the Hall, the old Mutual Hall.  I remember it very pleasantly about the Tournament suppers, and all the work that those suppers entailed with the lack of facilities there.  I don’t know how they did it, and they were delicious.  And, then the dance followed after the Tournament.”

–Margaret Prouty

My favorite memory is the Tournament dances.  I know I was crowned one time by Buddy Parran. We always had a band, not just records or anything, we had a real band. It wasn’t a huge band, but we always looked forward to that, and the crowns.  I kept them for a long time. That was a very special thing if you got to be crowned.”

–Lucretia Fisher

“You went to church every Sunday morning, and we always wore our little hats.  That was a big thing.  Sometimes we even wore gloves.”

–Betsy Hillary

“The old One-room Schoolhouse was in shambles, and we would play in and out of that.  It was everything from a fort to a castle.  We had a lot of fun over there.  Then we would go down into the woods, and we played down there.  And let me tell you there is some beautiful wooded property that is around this Church, with fresh streams that you can drink, well, you used to be able to drink from, I’m not sure I’d do it anymore.  But, you know you used to be able to find all kinds of little animals down there.  We used to spend hours and hours on the property here playing.”

–Thom Latimer

“So, thinking about back to my earliest memory of Tournament, I just remember getting a day off from harvest on that last Saturday in August. Growing up on a tobacco farm, Tournament was something you looked forward to right before going back to school of course.  I remember my Dad saying ‘You go have fun at Tournament’ he says, ‘but be careful around the horses, don’t get around the back end of any horses, because I don’t need you getting kicked.  We need you next week on the farm.’ I enjoyed Attic Treasures and the hot dog stand the most, and they are still my favorite parts of Tournament.  And, so far, I haven’t been kicked by any horses in over 50 years of attending Tournament.”

–John Yoe

“I think my earliest favorite memory was probably coming into Church and gazing up at the beautiful window of the good Shepherd.  And I think it was a sunny Sunday, and the light filtering through the windows, the side windows, and just the beautiful colors, the prism effect was just lovely. I’ve always loved music and hearing the adult choir sing, and it’s like I’m going to do that one day, and I have.  I have always been involved with the choir.”

–Peggy Cochran

“My earliest memories of Christ Church are children’s Sunday School.  I remember my Sunday School classes were in the Church after the regular service, before the Parish Hall was built.  Each Sunday School class had its area within the church.  My class met in the left front, in the choir pews that were in front of the old organ.  I could look around the Church from there and see all those classes, one in each corner and in the middle section of the pews.  When the Parish Hall was built, that was a tremendous improvement, because all the kids left in the middle of the service and had Sunday School during the second half of the service.”

–Peter Cochran

“Dorsey Gray was our neighbor, and he had a pony.  And, Jeff Denton and I used to go over there, and we’d run this pony down and catch him and we would ride him.  And, we asked Mr. Gray if it would be all right if we brought him over here for the Tournament and have pony rides.  He said, ‘Sure, help yourself’.  So, we originally started the pony rides.”

–J.P. Weems

“I always wanted to be in the Jousting Tournament. So, one year, my Dad decided I was going to raise a cow and calf, take the money from that, purchase a horse, and I was allowed to ride as an aide and escort the riders back.  And I also conned him into allowing me to go to the dance afterward, and he said, ‘Only if you behave and you sit there like a lady’.  And somehow I pulled it off.”

–Sue Skinner

 “My earliest memory of Christ Church would be the Tournament down at Mutual. For the Jousting I think they had three different fields that were used at the Harkness’, and they kept moving it, because he had crops that he would raise. After the Church no longer used it, a fellow use to store hay in it. Then I remember the old Mutual Hall burned down.”

–Fred Gott

“Several years ago, there was a renovation done under the Church, and   graves were found under our Church. When Father John found out about the graves, he took the young people who were being confirmed under the Church.  It was part of the confirmation training, and he tied it in with death.  It was a wonderful experience.”

–Russell Costley

“Early events were held at the Mutual Hall, which served as our Parish House.  It was located south of the Church on Broome’s Island Road at the entrance to Laveille road.  It was there that Halloween and Christmas parties for the Church School were held. When decorated for Halloween, it was very scary, but oh what good times we had there.  Also, the Tournament Supper was prepared and served there, followed by the Tournament Dance.  It was at the dance where the knight capturing the most rings in the Tournament that afternoon, crowned the lady of his choice – The Queen of Love and Beauty.  These dances were well attended and the social event of the summer.  My favorite Tournament Dance story is when one of the Knights of Christ Church, while dancing with his betrothed, kissed her – creating much discussion of its appropriateness.”

–Jane Estabrook  

“I remember the dances that were held in the new Parish Hall, not only because they were exciting for a young girl, but because friends of my parents came to our house at the end of the jousting day to enjoy box suppers and other refreshments on our front porch.  The porch was very full of laughter and good cheer.  After that, the ladies went upstairs to freshen up and dress for the dance.  What a glorious spectacle took place on the second floor of our house.  It was breathtaking for a teenager like me.  The ladies had their make-up cases and compacts outs and helped each other with dabs of powder and rouge, fussed with their hair and put on gorgeous gowns all to prepare for an evening of merriment, friendship, and tradition at the dance.  It might be said that everyone was in very high spirits throughout the evening.”

–Nancy Klapper