Volunteers feted for painting historic building
FORWARD TWP — Those on the North Union Church Cemetery Association board of directors thought they would confer a small gift on the four men who painted an old church at the cemetery at an open house Saturday, but one of the volunteers told the board members to take a seat.
Dean Zinkhann, Evans City mayor, was one of the four who volunteered to scrape, prime and paint the exterior of the 1860 church on Beacon Road over the summer.
After accepting his gift from the board, Zinkhann explained that at some point during one of the painting sessions, he went to use the outhouse at the rural church — which is now used for a only few weddings per year — and noticed the seats inside still were made of wood.
“I got a splinter, but no one would help me get it out,” Zinkhann said.
With that, Zinkhann presented the board with two new, modern toilet seats, complete with lids. He also offered to install them.
“I don’t want anyone else to get a splinter,” said the thoughtful Zinkhann.
Connie Frierson, president of the association, laughed along with all those in attendance before inviting everyone to enjoy warm cider and cookies.
But she and the rest of the board members are very serious about the appreciation they have for Zinkhann and his crew.
“They were there every day at 8 a.m. and worked until 3 p.m., Frierson said. “Dean is 80, but he is just completely dedicated to preserving this place.”
She said having the men at the church every day for three weeks was “like a party every day.”
“This is really a community relationship,” Frierson said. “I mean, I’ll know these guys for the rest of my life.”
Zinkhann said North Union Church has great historical value.
“This is the only historic building left in Forward Township,” he said. “I hate to see old buildings collapse.”
Most attendees at the open house Saturday are descendants of those buried in the peaceful cemetery outside the church.
Names like Hartzell, Mock, Blair and Watson dot the tombstones in the cemetery, and those names were represented at the open house.
Renee Mock, whose great-great-grandparents, David and Carrie (Maharg) Hartzell, rest outside the church, said many of the people who attended and who are on the board are related.
“There are only three people in the cemetery I’m not related to,” she said.
She called Zinkhann and his crew “a godsend.”
“There is so much history here,” Mock said. “It would be a shame to see it fall down and die.”
She recalled two potbelly stoves heating the church when she was a little girl until the Rath family, who lived adjacent to the church property, bought an oil furnace for the church many years ago.
That furnace has since been removed, and one of the potbelly stoves remains in place among the pews.
Jennifer Vulhop, of Forward Township, was baptized at the church in 1970. Her great-grandfather, the Rev. T. James Blair, was the church’s final pastor, having served his flock from the turn of the 20th century until his passing in the mid-1950s.
A succession of guest pastors then led the church until the congregation was disbanded.
“This is our heritage. These are our families,” Vulhop said of the importance of preserving the church. “It’s the link to how we became the people we are today.”
Jennifer’s brother, Paul Blair, of Center Township, also greatly appreciates the work of the four volunteers who painted the church.
“I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “They put in their own time and did a wonderful job.”
The association has many more projects planned for the church, but on Saturday, the focus was applauding the work done by the volunteer painters and the upkeep of the church that means so much to so many.
Vulhop hopes the church and cemetery will be maintained for generations to come.
“We have a vested interest in having somebody take care of this space when we end up here for eternity,” Vulhop said.
