A couple days before Christmas 1902, near midnight, early settlers Doc Roberts and Hotel owner George Lizotte sailed back from Tampa to Pass-a-Grille with a precious cargo, Christmas gimcracks, ornaments, toys, sweets for the ladies, cigars for the men and a bucket filled to the brim with hard sweet candies. On the way they’d invited the parents and children of Disston City (now Gulfport) to join them in Pass-a-Grille for a Christmas celebration. By mid-morning Christmas Eve, a stately pine tree, fresh cut from Pine Key, or neighboring Cabbage Key (now Tierra Verde) stood adorned with shimmering glass bells, tinsel garland, and candles of all hues of the rainbow. It was Pass-a-Grille’s first Christmas tree.
A brief story about Pass-a-Grille’s first reported Christmas celebration, is forever memorialized in Historian Frank Hurley’s second local history book, Times Past and Tales Remembered, on pages 3-5. That story was written by him, (as were the rest of the tales in that book), at the request of Renee Roos, who was founding publisher of Grille Bits – the newsletter of the Pass-a-Grille Community Association since 1987. It has been repeated twice in the past in Paradise NEWS and is a fascinating tale of faith, hope and celebration on a recently settled island off the coast of Tampa Bay.
Song and religious services were first held in local hotels – the Holloway, Buckeye and Lizotte, and then in private homes. In 1910, a year before Pass-a-Grille was incorporated, a small group gathered around a Christmas tree in the schoolhouse. That was the unofficial beginning of the first church on the barrier islands of Pinellas County. Funds were raised in 1913 to buy property and build a church building.
By 1914 the first Board of Trustees of the Union Church was elected and the congregation began meeting in the “Old Schoolhouse” on 10th Avenue. It was dedicated on Christmas Eve 1917, with founder, Evangelist Dr. Milan Bertrand Williams serving as Pastor until 1936. The church was named Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church in 1941. Pastors represented several denominations. In 1949 they joined the Congregational Conference of Florida. The last three pastors at the “Old Church” were Congregationalists who were loved and are still remembered by the community for their spiritualism. As the Sunday school grew to over 100 children during the 1950s, the growing congregation decided to build a new church.In March 1959 the congregation moved into the new church on 16th Ave. A few years later the congregation became a part of the United Church of Christ (UCC). Today, the church has over 900 members. A thrift shop, day school and counseling clinic were begun during that time. Houses and a hotel were torn down in the 1970s to make room for parking. The Montessori School was formed as an outreach to the community in the late 1980s.
In the 1990s a new educational building was added, and the courtyard remodeled to include a labyrinth, fountain and garden. The altar area was enlarged to make room forever-increasing usage. Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church is the west coast of Florida’s only barrier island church on the National Historic Register. Today this active church continues to reach out to community, country and world-wide missions as it did from its beginning. Centennial Year Events The Church’s 100th Anniversary Celebration “Year of Gratitude” had a full schedule of events enabled by a dedicated Centennial Committee headed by Glenda McKinney, recent Church Council Past President. Committee members include Gus Pries, Barbara Baker Smith, Bob and Dixie Rogers, Rev. Dr. Keith and Jeanne Haemmelmann, Vonette Nifong, Larry and Shari Ellis, Jo Ewers, John Conover, Bob and Linda Goecker, Pat Dunn, Sue Prather, Betty Cologne and Susan Holderness. The Celebration concludes with a 100th Anniversary Celebration Banquet on Saturday, March 16, at Isla Del Sol Yacht and Country Club. Guests will include former church leadership, Rev. G. Scott Comrie and Rev. Emily Bell, and Dr. Don Eckert’s widow,Pat Eckert (see Pastor List in accompanying story). Also on hand will be Florida UCC Conference leader Kent Siladi and other local pastors. Tickets are on sale every Sunday in the Fellowship Hall and the church office (360-5508) at $35 per person.
On Sunday, March 17, the Centennial will culminate with a “Celebration of Voices” at the 10 am service, with the church’s Bell and Community Choirs joined by the Florida Orchestra Brass Quintet to provide special music throughout the service. With all voices and ages welcome, any singer who would like to join the Choir is asked to contact Jo Ewers at ewersjo@gmail.com for the music and rehearsal schedule. On Palm Sunday, March 24, the Celebration of Voices Choir will present the Cantata “Wondrous Love” by Lloyd Larson during the 10 am service.
Earlier Centennial events were noted by Church Historian Barbara Smith:
- A 100 Voice Choir in March 2012 kicked off the 100th Anniversary year; ongoing historical displays of the church’s past; Sun catchers and night lights with a picture of the church were made available for sale; a Centennial beach bonfire with music last November and there was a Centennial picnic; every month there were centennial games.
- There was a Centennial Concert Series all year. The church was open last March 24 and 25 for the Pass-a-Grille Woman’s Club Home Tour with a tour of the church’s stained glass , antique appraisals, luncheon, art and antique displays, and an explanation of the courtyard labyrinth.
- In January, Patty Waszak’s Musical Variety Show started the 100th Anniversary year, followed by Disneyland’s El Capitan Theatre’s organist Rob Richards and pianist Alex Zolst.
- Shirts with the 100th Anniversary logo were sold to many members, a 100th Anniversary Directory and a 100th Anniversary Booklet with be ready for the March Celebration weekend, and a 100th Anniversary Quilt, depicting in pictures the church’s past, was put together by the quilting group, The Piecemakers.
In February, the church received recognition for its 100th anniversary at a Tampa Bay Ray’s pre-season game, and a Proclamation from the City of St. Pete Beach will be presented at the March 16 banquet. After all is said and done there will be a DVD and Year of Gratitude photo book for sale, and the church members have been gathering items all year for a time capsule to be placed on the church property. Senior Pastor Haemmelmann came from a Chicago ministry and began his ninth year with the congregation and is celebrating his 30th year of ordination in 2013. “It is a fascinating church to serve,” he told Paradise News, “with people attending from across the country and around the world. It’s a unique setting only to be surpassed by a generous and welcoming church community. It has been a great year with concerts, a big Thanksgiving bringing in over 1,000 pounds of food for the St Petersburg Free Clinic, and record numbers of members, both youth and adults, on Mission trips to Nicaragua, Alabama and other sites in the US and abroad. We’re looking forward to the weekend celebration culminating a wonderful Centennial year. This church has been a part of the community for a long time, and it’s our hope that residents will help us to celebrate the wind-up to our 100th year. They are certainly always welcome.”
Long-time Member Reminiscences Louise Houser, (Becker), recalls, “It was a beautiful summer day in 1958 when Fred Houser and I moved to Vina Del Mar in St. Pete Beach from Atlanta, as it was our life-long dream to live near the beach and the water with our three young boys, ages five, four and six months. We were active in the Peachtree Methodist Church in Atlanta, so our very first Sunday we headed to the Pass-a-Grille Church on Tenth Avenue. I have never received such a warm welcome—it was a wonderful experience. Everyone there was very friendly. One lady told us that they had no nursery, but said ‘I will look after your baby and next Sunday we’ll have a nursery!”“We joined immediately and became involved with the planning of the new church. Soon after the move to the beautiful new church, Fred and I were elected to be a part of the Diaconate. Later, Fred was president of the church and I became chairman of the Women’s Evening Fellowship before we had Circles. I was also chairman of the Religious Education Committee and a member of the Board of Trustees. Fred passed away in 1994 after a long battle with cancer. In January 2010 I married Robert Becker in our chapel with a ceremony performed by Rev. Haemmelmann. My love for this very special church started with the warm and wonderful welcome at the ‘old church’. Bob and I praise God every day for our many blessings as we help celebrate our church’s100th anniversary.”
Dr. Richard Norenberg’s father, the Rev. Hugo Norenberg was Summer Interim Pastor from 1953 to 1956. Richard says, “We had moved to St. Petersburg in 1940 soon after Dad retired from an active ministry in Nebraska due to health reasons. We had been very active at the First Congregational Church in downtown St. Petersburg and I was at North Central College in Naperville, IL, when Dad ‘got the call.’
“The minister at PAG by custom had gone up to New England each summer, so the Congregation had begun the practice of hiring Interim Ministers to keep services going. Dad found it very therapeutic to serve a little church again as the demands were not too great. During those years, my folks would move out to Pass-a-Grille. I was working at the St Petersburg Times during college as I had thought of being a journalist and would join them on the beach. I got to know many current members and after Dad passed away in 1973, we kept in touch. Two years ago my wife Arlene and I sold our large town house in St Petersburg, moved to our smaller home in PAG and joined the church as members. We have our tickets for the big Centennial dinner and we’re delighted it’s still an active little church with a lot of significant outreach.”For Barbara Baker Smith, the story actually began in 1923 when her grandparents, mother and uncle came to stay in St. Petersburg for four months from Indianapolis, and often made day trips to Pass-a-Grille. “My mother and her family fell in love with Pass-a-Grille,” Barbara recalls.
“After WWII and with illnesses in our family, mother and my father, Paul Baker began their new adventure in the old Coastal Artillery barracks on First Avenue and Pass-a-Grille Way in May, 1947. We stayed in apartments on 15th Avenue and the house at 1701 Pass-a-Grille Way on the bay. “We were looking for a church and had come from a Quaker community, finding Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church to our liking. My sister, Becky and I became active in the Sunday school. Our mother and father became active in the running of the church. At the ‘old church,’ I was confirmed in 1951 by the first Congregational Pastor, Captain John Turner. I also sang in the choir there as I do today in the ‘new church’, and I was a member of the first Senior High Youth Fellowship. Under Dr. Donald Eckert, I became Historian for the Church and have kept the records of our past history and written about some of our history for the Centennial booklet. For me it has been an exciting time and I have a deep love for this church and its people. The changes have come fairly easy for me; even though at times there were challenges.”
The Next 100 Years Glenda McKinney told Paradise News, “Through 100 years of wars, conflicts, depressions, booms and changing technology, we give thanks to those who have gone before us and have created a legacy of willing service. “Today’s congregation uses that legacy as a springboard into the next 100 years. In 2012, PAGBCC earned the status of Global Mission Church for the work it continues to do here and abroad. The middle, high school, college and adult mission groups have served in Haiti and Latin American countries as well as providing physical, financial and spiritual support to disaster areas in the U.S. “Locally, the members support the Free Clinic and have become the largest non-profit contributor in the county, to Pinellas Hope, Habitat for Humanity and the Good Samaritan Mission. Over the past few years, The Piecemakers’ ministry made and donated 400 blankets to All Children’s neo-natal unit. On March 3 many will participate in the CROP walk that provides donated food for the homeless. Our Church also sponsors Montessori By the Sea, for children ages 3-9. The school is staffed by American Montessori Society Certified teachers.“We note the above not out of pride but with the prayerful hope it will inspire people of all ages who are looking for a way and a place to serve.” Special thanks to Barbara Baker Smith, Glenda McKinney, Rev. Dr. Keith Haemmelmann, Louise Houser Becker, Dr. Richard Norenberg and Margery Grandstrom.[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. straiman@mindspring.com.]Author: Steve Traiman
Photos: PAGCC and Jim Tizzano
Date: March 2013