UNITED CHURCH HISTORIC BIRTHDAY PARTY CELEBRATION

On January 28, 2004, the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior added the United Church of Ludlow to its august listing known as the National Register of Historic Places, an honor accorded to only a handful of Ludlow structures.  The Church building was completed in May 1892, and this year is the 120th anniversary of its construction.  By coincidence, it also is the 220th anniversary of the founding of the Church in 1792.

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The United Church is having a public Happy Birthday celebration to commemorate these two anniversaries. The celebration will occur at the Church on two consecutive days – May 5th and May 6th.  

The Birthday Party celebration will begin with a host of free activities from  3:00 to 6:00 pm on Saturday, May 5th, all in the historic Church building located at the intersection of Pleasant and Elm streets.  Two of these 15 or so activities are registering to request searches of the voluminous Church records for family historical information and  tours of the Church belfry by agile visitors to see the 1,000+ lb. bell cast in 1839 by an apprentice of Paul Revere (of Revolutionary fame).   All of these activities focus on the history of the Church and of Ludlow.

On that Saturday, the Church, starting at 5:00 pm,  will serve a traditional, scrumptious chicken pie dinner with a huge birthday cake and pies for dessert at the unheard of low price of $5.00 per person, with children under 12 being served free of charge. 

The Birthday Party will continue on Sunday, May 6th, with a worship service starting at 10:15 am, which will include the dedication of the recently framed, 46-star American flag issued upon admittance of Oklahoma to the Union in1906.  This flag, along with a number of 45-star flags (Utah, 1896), was found in 1999 in a trunk located in the attic of the then Church’s parsonage.  All of these flags are in remarkably good condition.  The worship service will be based, in part,  on information pertaining to a worship service conducted more than 100 years ago. 

On that Sunday afternoon, a free, old fashioned Ice Cream Social will result in everyone making their own ice cream sundae from a multiple of toppings that will be available.  The Saturday afternoon activities will be repeated on Sunday afternoon for those that missed them the prior day (or just want to see them again). 
There will be lots of helium balloons at all of the activities so mark your calendars and join in the fun of this historic celebration.  Everyone is welcome!

For further information, contact David Almond at 802.228.2414 or [email protected],  or visit the Church’s website at www.unitedchurc.us or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/UCLudlow.