Chapel by the Poudre marks 50th anniversary

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Standing around walls of native stone in 1956, the congregation sang, "There's a chapel in the canyon by the Poudre, no lovelier spot in the hills."

This year, on July 12, the congregation--many of them descendents of the chapel builders--marked the 50th anniversary of the first service in their beloved Poudre Canyon Chapel. The place of worship remains a testament to faith, generous giving, hard work and community spirit.

A fellowship of year-round residents and summer visitors meets there every Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to the end of September. Ministers from various faiths rotate preaching duties, and many guest musicians fill the chapel with worshipful sound. Services this summer have also reflected on the chapel's history, from the vision to build a permanent place of worship in Old Poudre City in 1953 to the first gathering inside in 1959.

Sandra Lundt, daughter of building committee member Stan Case, was 6 years old in 1959. One of her favorite memories is of listening to Clarence Bliss, a member of the Greeley Symphony, play his cello. The same cello returned this summer for a performance by Will French, Stan Case's grandson.

Back in the 1950s, Judy Bartling served as chapel organist, but she also played the harmonica and yodeled. That gift also returned with cowboy singer and poet Gary McMahan of LaPorte yodeling at a Sunday service.

Chapel historians date the beginning of their community fellowship to May 5, 1952, when canyon residents chartered the Upper Poudre Sunday School. Summer sessions were held in the old Rustic Hotel and then at Arrowhead Lodge. During winter months, the Sunday school met in homes.

"We began to feel the need for a chapel," Eunice Jackson Bliss wrote in her diary, so they called a meeting and voted in 1953.

Residents pursued their dream for a chapel with four basic principles: Anything could be accomplished as long as no one individual received the credit. There would be no organized fund drive; all funds would come from a heart-felt desire to give. The building would be for the use of all denominations. All memorials would be listed in a "Memory Book" and not on the building or furnishings.

Shortly after the decision, a summer visitor and stone mason from Golden, George Nichols, suggested a stone building of native rock and said he would supervise. In the fall of 1954, the Abbott families donated land for the chapel, a school and community building.

Work proceeded as funds and labor became available. Bliss's diary recounts days of disappointment and days of celebration. She wrote on May 24, 1957:

"Cloudy and cold - around freezing. Judy Bartling and I took lunch to the men in pouring rain. The interior was filled with smoke from a bonfire built on the dirt floor. Rain was dripping between the sheeting.... The men were cold and looked discouraged. We served hot coffee and 'shoe-soles' from a carpenter's bench. Judy slipped up to the pulpit end of the chapel and cheerfully called out, 'I'm going to try out the acoustics!' She then began to yodel. The men were transformed."

Lundt, who is pianist for the chapel, attests that the acoustics are phenomenal. "Every musician I bring talks about the acoustics," she said. "I don't know that it was intentional, but it certainly is spectacular."

Four of the chapel's original members are still living - Iola Revis of Poudre Canyon, Eleanor Peterson of Fort Collins and Scott and Kate Abbott of Santa Fe. The July 12 celebration honored all of the families that helped build the church.

The chapel will be quiet now for several months, but it will come to life for the Christmas Eve candlelight service and then again on Easter Sunday - just hints of another spirited summer to come in the chapel in the canyon by the Poudre.