Facing Tomorrow, Understanding Yesterday, A History of Orange ...

activitiesthat were fun. In December 1939, for instance, the Woman's
MissionarySociety joined with the Sunday School to hold a Christmas
partyin the Hut. Reminiscent of those earlier parties that "Miss" Ethel
Hoganand "Miss" Mabel Maddry remembered, this time the church had
aChristmastree, entertainment, and the groups gave out treats.
World War II Changes
Butthe world was changing in 1939.War, of course, was on the horizon,
andthat was the big news, but the Methodist Church was changing as
well.In 1939, the rift caused by slavery almost a century earlier was
healed.The Methodist Protestant, the Methodist Episcopal, and the
MethodistEpiscopal Church, South, merged to form The Methodist
Church.In 1968, The Evangelical United Brethren Church joined with
TheMethodist Church to give the denomination its present name, The
UnitedMethodist Church. The reunification of the church in 1939 affectedthe
women ofthe church as well. In 1940,the women's organization
wasrenamed the Woman's Society of Christian Service; it later became
theWomen's Society of Christian Service.
Changing the name didn't change the women's work. During the
1940sand 1950s, they continued their fund-raising projects - selling
everythingfrom "Garden Gimmicks" to flyswatters, shampoo, dish cloths
andtowels, lemon and vanilla flavoring, and all-occasion cards. They
workedat the church's concession stand at University of North Carolina
homefootballgames and continued serving their famous suppers at the
churchand holding bake sales. Proceeds from these money-making
ventureswere used to help purchase hymnals for the church, linoleum for
thekitchenfloor of the Hut, and pots and pans and an electric broiler for
useinthe Hut. They also paid for cabinets, a hot water heater, and a sink
fortheHut, as well as for the labor necessary to install piping and wiring
intheHut.
The women's group made contributions to the Parsonage Building
Fund.In 1946, the WSCS of Orange Church furnished curtains and
shadesfor the parsonage that we shared with the Carrboro Methodist
Church.The curtains for the kitchen and bathroom were made from feed
sacksgiven by Omie Blackwood and Nellie Hutchins. Alice Hogan and
OmieBlackwood made the curtains.
Alloftheir energies, however, were not spent in fund-raising. They
continuedto support the Methodist Orphanage by sending towels, pot
holders,and aprons that they had made. They took Christmas gifts to
patientsin the Veterans Administration Hospital, and, together with the
wholecongregation, helped to send three girls to the Methodist Youth
Fellowshipinspirational retreat at Louisburg. They joined the $10 Club (a
fundtohelp build new Methodist churches) for one year, made quilts for
afamilyin the community, sent large boxes of clothing to Hungary, and
establisheda students' college fund to provide aid to a church member.
Churchactivities during the early 1940s were overshadowed by war.
Twelvemembers of the congregation - Nat Birtchett, Ir., Robert
Blackwood,Vernon Burch, Ira Byrd, Alvis Dixon, Walter Everett, Bruce
Hogan,Marvin Hogan, Norwood Hogan, Preston Hogan, Nellie Maddry,
andRichard Pleasant - served in the armed forces. Two others -
VernonStrowd Hogan, son ofPoidrous and Hattie Hogan, and Carl Craig
Hogan,son of Curtis and Alice Hogan - died in action. GM 3/c Vernon
S.Hoganhad enlisted in the Navy in 1941 and was serving aboard a ship
somewherein the Pacific when he was killed on November 11, 1943. He
was28years old at the time of his death and was survived by his parents;
FACING TOMORROW, UNDERSTANDING YESTERDAY 35
Alice Hogan
Carl Craig Hogan
Vernon Strowd Hogan