“A No Brainer”-CE Veep
Photos by Lil De Laat It was an evening of celebration and recognition as the vision of a renovation for the Croton Community Church took a giant leap toward becoming a reality. On Monday, August 9th, The Consumers Energy Foundation stepped up big time to give this initiative some serious traction by awarding the Croton Historical Society $25,000 toward the refurbishing efforts. The church was filled with folks from the Croton community and beyond as the big check presentation culminated efforts to provide this venerable house of worship with a well deserved facelift. The Croton Community Church was built in 1871 and is a landmark for Croton Township. This year is the 150-year anniversary of this historical building, one of the first entities to receive electricity when the Croton Dam was put into service in 1907.The original 1871 bell is still sounded before services on Sundays. The First Congregational Society was organized in 1871, but by 1911 that congregation had ceased to exist. The Croton Religious Society was deeded by George Erwin, who had earlier established the Croton power plant and had purchased the Church building. In August of 1942 the steeple was hit by lightning during the night. It was decided to dismantle the steeple and plans were drawn up to put a roof on the cupola. With funds gathered from around the area and a Bingo party at the Croton School the resources were secured to fix the damage. Ernie Whitmore (who worked for Consumers and lived across the street on Division) temporarily secured boards with a rope until they could start restoration. And now, thanks to the added support of the Consumers Energy Foundation a new restoration is soon to begin. During the presentation Consumers Energy VP John Broschak expanded on the long relationship between Croton Township and Consumers, stating that while they get thousands of grant requests a year, this one was a “no brainer”.
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