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Welcome to our 75th Anniversary as a camping community in Spencerville. Our earliest records tell us that we
started camping in Falls Church, Virginia in 1889. Through the years, our ancestors camped in such other
places as North East, Maryland, which is near Delaware, where we also had churches at the time. They also
camped in Washington, D.C., Avery, Maryland, on Telegraph Road in Virginia, in Savage, Maryland, and Glenmont,
Maryland, before coming here. In 1931, on the heels of the Great Depression, they were blessed when Luther
Poole and Herbert Thompson agreed to sell this land. A pioneer of our faith named Albert Sergeant bequeathed
a monetary gift of $2400 to the Free Methodist Church when he died in 1924 at age 87. I have a copy of his
will. The church saved the money and used it to buy this land in 1931, long after he had passed. It was just
enough to purchase the approximately ten acres. Located strategically between Washington and Baltimore, and
now bearing a Silver Spring address, today this land alone is worth several million dollars. The late Jesse
Milton Jennings once told me that he remembered using hand tools as a boy to hack through thick underbrush
alongside his father, Elder Jesse Jennings, and many others, to make way for portable saw mills. They
harvested trees and milled the lumber onsite. This magnificent Tabernacle and most of the cabins were built
with the lumber. The altars you see in front of you were custom made to fit perfectly level on the sloping
floor. They were made strong enough to hold the burdens people left here. They have been seasoned over the
years with many of our tears. It causes us to see them as treasures. We are overjoyed that so many of you chose to share the joy of our 75th anniversary celebration. Many have come from far and wide. If you are among those who traveled more than 50 miles to get here, would you please stand? If you haven’t already obtained a nametag, please do so, and ladies, please put your maiden names as well as your married names to make it easier to seek out old friends. Also, we will be having a professional photo made (by Michael Ross Photography) of everyone in attendance right after the service, so please assemble yourselves quickly as possible right outside the Tabernacle. Please leave your name and address on the sheet on the table, and we will contact you when we have the photo placed digitally on the Internet. We want to do a follow up mail out with some of the historical information after camp, so if you want to be in on that, leave us your address, e-mail, and so forth. Our Jubilee Meal is the Camp Board’s gift, so please feel free to enjoy good food and fellowship and stay for the day’s events. We are happy to announce that we have a new Camp Museum. My husband, Don Theune, renovated Cabin 108, originally owned by the Ira Cunningham family. It had been slated for demolition due to its deterioration, but Don had a different vision, and sought permission to save it. Over the course of four months, he completely restored it and I was able to furnish it with museum quality items. It is our gift for the 75th Anniversary of our camp. At 2:30 we will dedicate the new Camp Museum, so please come by Cabin 108. At 3, we will have a “Singspiration” here in the Tabernacle. Our traditional Baptismal Service will take place at 4 p.m. Our final service will be at 7 p.m. with testimonies and praise. It has been our privilege to sit under the teaching and preaching of Rev. Forrest States, and our worship leader, Rev. Deano Pulice and his family. Our Missionaries this week have been Dr. Frank and Rev. Carol Ogden. We’ve truly enjoyed hearing of their adventures for the Lord in Africa. You are ALL special guests, but we have a few I’d like to introduce. Rev. Darrold Phillips, our Camp Director, and his wife, Louise, book and greet the many groups and individuals who rent our facilities. It takes special people to interface with all the different folks who come here. Please stand. Thank you for all you do to keep the camp business straight. We couldn’t have a nice campus like this if it weren’t for our Camp Managers, Charlie and LeAnne (Shorb) Johnson. They go above and beyond to keep this place humming. We appreciate them immensely. Their sons, CJ, Brian, David, Mark, and Steven help out a lot. Will you please stand? The group that does the business of keeping the Camp in operation is the Camp Board of Directors, chaired by Rev. Dan Norheim. Also serving on the Board are Pastor Loren Edwards, Pastor Al Bugos, Ken Taylor, Don Theune (retiring Treasurer), Melba Brown, Debby Poole, Charlie Johnson and Darrold Phillips. New members are Wil Shorb, Frank Russell, incoming Treasurer, and I have been the secretary for the past two years. LeAnne (Shorb) Johnson is the incoming Secretary. Louise Phillips and Don Theune will help out with Treasurer duties in the interim while Frank Russell recovers from recent heart surgery. John Davis, serves us well as our attorney when we have legal issues. It’s been great to work with these people with a real heart for our campground. Would you all please stand? As I mentioned earlier, my husband Don and I renovated Cabin 108, originally the “Cunningham Cabin,” and turned it into a camp museum. We originally intended to set it up as a cabin would have appeared in 1931, but people came forward with many wonderful period pieces, so the project expanded way beyond our earlier expectations. As God directed our spirits, we chose to name it “The Dr. Gene R. Alston Memorial Camp Museum” with an adjoining “Serenity Garden” named for his mentor, Mrs. Julia A. Shelhamer. We are grateful to have Dr. Gene’s widow, Mrs. Shirley Alston, here today who drove in from Missouri with her good friend, Florence Oliver, and her son from Illinois, who came to help celebrate our anniversary and to be here for the dedication of the Camp Museum. Will you please stand? We also are happy to have Mrs. Cathy Fortner, Director of the Marston Memorial Historical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. She flew in yesterday for our anniversary celebration and Museum dedication. Will you please stand? Thank you. Please come to the Museum Dedication at 2:30. It is with utmost joy that we welcome the original Shorb Brothers Trio, our hometown heroes of the faith. In case you don’t recognize some of them, I have a picture to help you. They are well-represented here today. If you are a member of the Shorb Family, will you please stand? Thank you. (Hubert, Merlin, and Wilbert, are better known to us as Happy, Merl, and Wil.) Other tidbits of interest: Also singing with the Shorb Brothers Quartette in early years was Gene Thompson, a member of our conference. An early accompanist was John Dodson. The first time the brothers sang together was as children in 1942, on our Tabernacle platform. They began their professional careers in 1958, and produced 16 record albums. They came back from retirement about 1998 in a ceremony held at their home church, Layhill. They served as our Camp Worship Team for several years, with Hubert’s son, Dana, filling in for Merlin, who was pastoring a church in southern Virginia. Hubert’s wife is Jackie; Merl’s wife is Joy; and Wil’s wife is Ruth (nee, Begin), mother of Mary Shorb. Gene Thompson’s wife is Sheri, currently MD-VA Conference Secretary. At this time it is my privilege to introduce another very special guest, Alice Steucke D’Agostino, who will give us some personal insight and information about her grandfather, Calvin Butts, the gentleman who designed this magnificent house of worship. Alice is accompanied by her daughter, Holly, who is Calvin’s great-granddaughter, and also his great-great grandchildren, Holly’s twins. Note: Other details of the life and contributions of Calvin Butts to Free Methodism are documented, framed, and displayed on the back door of the Tabernacle, along with a story about another pioneer of our camp, Albert Sergeant. Their portraits, painted by artist, Frank Ballew, are displayed in the main foyer of the Retreat Center. Two other historical items you may find interesting while here today are the large wall plaques on either side of the pulpit area. On these are listed early “Life Members” of the Women’s Missionary Society and “Members in Memoriam.” We believe these to have been made under the leadership of Lillian Kelley, later Vander Linden. We owe their good preservation to Mildred Fulks, longtime camper (Cabin 35) and member of Rockville Church.
Presented by Martha Ballew (Mumford) Theune, Camp Historian |
