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first event of 1965 that meant a lot to us was the dedication of Emmanuel
Evangelical United Brethren Church on Cortez Road in Bradenton, Florida.
Relocating the church and building the first two units had been a hard fight.
The old building in the downtown area had been bought from the Presbyterian
Denomination. We had outgrown it. It was adequate for the summer season,
but during the winter we had so many visitors, especially from the mid-western
states, that had to be turned away because of lack of parking space.
The First Evangelical United Brethren Church - Bradenton, FL (Old)
The
new church was very unconventional in appearance, but very utilitarian. Some
of the older members had objected to moving the church three miles from the
old location. This was necessary in order to get the acreage needed for future
growth and for adequate parking. One man said that we would lose half our
congregation when we moved. He was certainly wrong! We lost only one family
of four. The old gentleman who made that prophecy even went to the new five
acre location.
We were alone on the vacation trip, which was from July 19th to August 11th
and, as usual went north. We had a Thrash reunion that year, during the vacation
period. We probably spent most of the period we were away working on the
house with just the usual visits to relatives and friends in Ohio and West
Virginia.
Dr. Dewey Whitwell was our speaker for the revival this year. He stayed with
us at the parsonage and was an interesting guest. He was a published author
of religious articles and poetry, and probably the best known evangelist
in our denomination. (E.U.B.) The revival began on March 1st and closed on
the 7th.
We were disappointed that Dr. Whitwell did not do any calling with Troy.
He stayed in his room and wrote, while I was teaching and while Troy went
calling in the afternoons. One day Troy was late coming home from his calling
and the good Dr. was afraid we would not get the evening meal over in time
for him to get to church a half hour early to greet the early arrivals. He
was walking the floor and I said to him, "Dr. Whitwell, you need to cultivate
one of the fruits of the spirit." I smiled when I said it and he asked "Which
one of the fruits?" I answered, "Patience."
We went to Tallahassee for Lanny’s high school graduation and he came back
to Bradenton with us on April 22nd and stayed three days. Howard Grace, Robbie
and Beth visited us on May 12th. Robbie printed his name very properly in
the guest book in large letters and Beth wrote her's, not so properly, in
cursive, also in large letters.
We had many other interesting guests in 1965. Zylpha was with us 126 days
during the year. In 1964 she had been with us 110 days.
