This was a time for seeking some cleanup and fix up energies. An ice cream social and flea market were undertaken to raise additional funds to make needed repairs on the church. Some local publicity opened the generous hearts of people near and far. Donations came in various sizes from wood carvings to a set of steel-plated front doors. Insulation and new siding were put on the church, and the church was warmed inside and out. Our thanks to all who helped make needed repairs and improvements!
The cornerstone of the church contained some artifacts from the time during which it was laid. Some of those items were “a few pieces of our national coin, several of our leading papers, and a glass bottle in which was sealed a small manuscript.” Perhaps this is a good place to reprint the words:
“In the year of our salvation, 1869, on the 12th day of September, the day dedicated in Christian liturgy to the holy name of Mary the Virgin Mother of God, the redeemer; and in honor and in invocation of that name, many people standing devoutly around, Rev. Nicholas Raymond Young, by the favor of, and in virtue of faculty granted by the bishop of the diocese, laid this corner stone as a perpetuate testimony to truth and faith. Pope Pius IX sitting in the chair of St. Peter, John Baptist Percell being Archbishop of Cincinnati; Ulysses S. Grant being President of the United States; Rutherford B. Hayes being governor of Ohio; the American people happily reposing in the bosom of peace.”