Bethlen Naptár, 1989 (Ligonier)

Kálvin Egyházkerület

Presbyters and the minister, Rev. Alexander Mircse, to make calls: from the employers at the idle industries, to request donated man-hours; from the unemployed, donated work; from idle trucking firms, donated use of their trucks; from idle teamsters, their skills; from idle industry, some of their building materials, or their oil, or their gas.

And things began to happen. On June 5 the Consistory met again, and among other things, learned the following: church members had promised 400 day labor; the bricklayer’s union promised to help; $350.00 had been pledged; local industry promised assistance with necessary building materials; the oil companies promised several hundred gallons of oil and gasoline; the Ladies Aid set aside $900.00; and a $1000.00 loan was secured. The Ladies Aid, meeting at the same time, upon hearing of the excellent progress, pledged another $850.00 by July 1!

Formal „ground-breaking” ceremonies were held on June 26, actual excavation began on June 27 with seven men (the minister included) doing the digging. By early July the Ladies began cooking for the workers. Still, money and materials were needed, and the records show that among the earliest donations were cash from the Detroit Hungarian Reformed Church, and a railroad car full of crushed rock from the former mayor of East Chicago, Frank Callahan. The foundation was poured by August 1, then the real work started. Two Demeter brothers, Joseph and Robert, promised they „will supply bricklayers and oversee entire construction of the mason work.” Begining August 1, bricklayers came everyday, between 5 and 15, working so fast that as many as 30 men were needed to keep them supplied with materials. Among those named in the early records as having given of their invaluable time were many non-Hungarians in addition to Hungarians.

The women of the church cooked at a neighboring Orthodox church, feeding between 15 and 45 people daily. Food was purchased with money donated by the Hungarian Reformed Church of Whiting Indiana, the Hungarian Reformed Church of Joliet Illinois, several fraternal organizations including the predecessors of the William Penn and the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, the local utility company, and professional persons in the community.

Labor Day — September 5, 1932 — saw the laying of the Cornerstone, followed by (and celebrated by) an all-day dance and picnic. This seemed to give new strength to the workers, for by September 17 the walls were completed. A Hungarian flag was hoisted to the top of the tower, and again a dinner and celebration followed. Now the work of putting on the roof began,

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