1987: BETTY KAUFFMAN'S BETHEL LUTHERAN - EARL WILLIAMS' "DOGTOWN"

Over the many years I have been writing, I have found many new friends, and renewed many old acquaintances. The letter I received from Mrs. Kauffman was a particularly treasured contribution to my column, as she recalled her beloved Bethel Lutheran Church on Johnston Avenue in Hamilton through her talent as a poet. Mrs. Kauffman probably forgot that I met her way back during my years as a classmate of her son Kieth, one of my singing buddies in Miss Louise Baird's music class. Her husband, Henry was one of our favorite Hamilton High teachers. Unfortunately, I had Herb Griffiths as my science teacher, and Mr. Kauffman specialized in Chemistry......a subject far above my mental capacity.

1989: Bethel Welcomes Rev. Jeffrey Elliott

I very frequently hear the church bells ringing over at Bethel, but I must have missed a transition. Is there a visitor to this site who can bring us up to speed on the status of that legendary Bromley church which has been a landmark for those of us in the Bromley section of Hamilton. I understand that Lutherans have abandoned the building and there is another religious group serving the community.

1951: BROMLEY'S BETHEL LUTHERAN CHOIR

THANKS TO ALICE SCHMIDT MULLEN, MY CLASSMATE FROM HAMILTON HIGH'S CLASS OF '51 ("THE CLASS WITH CLASS!") FOR THIS GREAT PHOTO OF BETHEL'S CHOIR. I KNOW MANY OF THE MEMBERS IN THE PHOTO, AND I ESPECIALLY APPRECIATE THE PHOTO OF JEAN AND MRS. WILLARD GRIMM, WEBB GRIMM'S MOTHER. WEBB IS AN OLD FAMILY FRIEND DATING BACK TO THE 1930'S WHEN HE AND MY BROTHER LED A BOY SCOUT "TROOP 9" (?) IN A LITTLE GROUP CALLED THE "LYNX CLUB." I SEE WEBB AND JEAN REGULARLY WHEN I SING FOR THEIR "HAPPY HEARTS" SENIOR CITIZEN GROUP. ADDITIONALLY, I SANG WITH BILL BAGGOTT BACK AT HHS AS PART OF A BARBERSHOP GROUP. BILL COULD HAVE BEEN A METROPOLITAN OPERA SINGER. HIS VOICE WAS COMPLETELY ETHEREAL.

THANKS SO MUCH ALICE, YOU'RE THE BEST!
(ALICE EXPRESSED CONCERNS THAT NAMES MIGHT BE MIS-SPELLED. IF
ANY VIEWER(s) SEE MIS-SPELLING, PLEASE EMAIL ME AND I WILL CORRECT THE ERROR (thomglo@verizon.net)

Front row: Peggy Petry, Eileen Webber, Barbara Baggott (Bill's sister), Alice Schmidt, Betty Yeager, Joanne Slaboda, Gail Spitz, Doris Roth, and Grace Schmidt (No relation to me.)

Second row: Starting with the girl behind Barbara Baggott: Joan Harvie, Betty Kauffman, Edith McGowan (her family owned Mrs. McGowan's pies on Whitehead Road, next to Thermoid), Mrs. Grimm (Webster's mother), Mrs. Petersen, Jean Grimm (Webster's wife and with child), and Mrs. Butterfoss. (She had a son, Eddie, and a daughter, Louellen.)

Third row: Isabelle Bair, Eugene Roth, Bill Baggott, Keith Kauffman, Walter Illian, Webster Grimm, Henry Kauffman, Bill Jennings, and Mrs. Symanski.

Bethel Lutheran Church 90 Years Old

Articles such as this is what makes the local history project worthwhile. That venerable old church on Johnston Avenue in Hamilton will celebrate 100 years in Hamilton in 1917. The real estate, as seen in the article, was sought in 1916. In this year of 2006, Rev. Haus' Bethel is still a valued community asset.