When David Spickerman was a little boy in the 1950s, he remembers catching a ride to Sunday school at the Butler Center Church with his neighbor in her even-then antique Model A Ford.
The oldest Methodist church in Wayne County drew large numbers of its congregation from Conquest and Victory in Cayuga County, just a few miles to the east. In addition to Sunday services, they came in for ice cream socials and church dinners, and sent their youngsters to vacation Bible school in the summer.
But by 1968, the Butler Center Road church, built 130 years before, faced dwindling membership and was closed by the church conference.
It sat, mostly unused, for 30 years until Spickerman - by then Butler town supervisor - and members of a newly-organized preservation group obtained the deed for the decaying building. It now belongs to the town.
The goal is to open a museum in the rear part of the structure and to use the sanctuary for community events. The Butler Historical Preservation Society's 75 members have raised about $30,000 so far toward the restoration efforts. The town has chipped in, as well.
A lot of work has already been completed, said Dorothy Wiggins of the society. There's a new roof and a new furnace, and the pews have been repaired along with much of the building's interior.
But there's concern about where the money will come from to replace the rotted wood exterior siding.
The building is on the national and state Register of Historic Places and therefore must comply with certain rules to remain historic. That precludes aluminum siding, Wiggins said.
The preservation group has already hosted numerous fund-raisers - selling notecards, hosting a holiday tea, and "selling" the building's pews and windows. They weren't physically sold, but the buyers will be honored with a plaque.
The society's board of directors decided a similar effort might work with the church's bell, cast in 1865 by Rumsey and Co. of Seneca Falls. The society is asking for bids in a mock auction, with the high bidder having their name placed on a special plaque in the building. It's suggested that the sealed bids be in the amount of at least $1,000, but lower amounts will be accepted as contributions. The auction will end March 1.
Another source for the money - Wiggins figures the wooden siding for the Greek revival church will come to about $20,000 - will come from the sale of copies of historic photographs.
One of the members of the preservation society, Jim Chatfield, with his wife, put together a CD with more than 100 pictures of the area's historic buildings, including the church. The CD sells for $15 and profits will go to the church.
There are also plans to publish the photographs.
"My father and his sister were baptized in the church in 1888," Chatfield said. "My wife's mother and grandmother went to the church."
All of Wiggins' children were baptized in the Butler Center Church. The church sits across Butler Center Road from the sawmill - still operating - where the trees it was built from were made into boards.
And, in 1993, even though the building was nearly falling down with neglect, her daughter got married in it.
"She was raised in the church," Wiggins said. "She wanted her wedding there."
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
But by 1968, the Butler Center Road church, built 130 years before, faced dwindling membership and was closed by the church conference.
It sat, mostly unused, for 30 years until Spickerman - by then Butler town supervisor - and members of a newly-organized preservation group obtained the deed for the decaying building. It now belongs to the town.
The goal is to open a museum in the rear part of the structure and to use the sanctuary for community events. The Butler Historical Preservation Society's 75 members have raised about $30,000 so far toward the restoration efforts. The town has chipped in, as well.
A lot of work has already been completed, said Dorothy Wiggins of the society. There's a new roof and a new furnace, and the pews have been repaired along with much of the building's interior.
But there's concern about where the money will come from to replace the rotted wood exterior siding.
The building is on the national and state Register of Historic Places and therefore must comply with certain rules to remain historic. That precludes aluminum siding, Wiggins said.
The preservation group has already hosted numerous fund-raisers - selling notecards, hosting a holiday tea, and "selling" the building's pews and windows. They weren't physically sold, but the buyers will be honored with a plaque.
The society's board of directors decided a similar effort might work with the church's bell, cast in 1865 by Rumsey and Co. of Seneca Falls. The society is asking for bids in a mock auction, with the high bidder having their name placed on a special plaque in the building. It's suggested that the sealed bids be in the amount of at least $1,000, but lower amounts will be accepted as contributions. The auction will end March 1.
Another source for the money - Wiggins figures the wooden siding for the Greek revival church will come to about $20,000 - will come from the sale of copies of historic photographs.
One of the members of the preservation society, Jim Chatfield, with his wife, put together a CD with more than 100 pictures of the area's historic buildings, including the church. The CD sells for $15 and profits will go to the church.
There are also plans to publish the photographs.
"My father and his sister were baptized in the church in 1888," Chatfield said. "My wife's mother and grandmother went to the church."
All of Wiggins' children were baptized in the Butler Center Church. The church sits across Butler Center Road from the sawmill - still operating - where the trees it was built from were made into boards.
And, in 1993, even though the building was nearly falling down with neglect, her daughter got married in it.
"She was raised in the church," Wiggins said. "She wanted her wedding there."
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
The Citizens' Say
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