June 2024
Anna Louise Bates, Church Historian
The Willing Workers of the New Paltz M.E. Church was organized on November 18, 1887. In the years prior to its disappearance from the church minutes during the 1960s, the Willing Workers served as a valuable fundraising and community support club.
Over the years, the Workers devised many clever schemes to raise money for the church, which seemed to be in constant dire straits. In 1921, the group noted in its minutes that it donated $6.80, an appreciable sum at that time, to the Official Board from the sale of Kirkman Soaps. The minutes for 1922 mention a food sale and a “Dollar Social,” and also a Fricassee Chicken and Biscuits dinner, featuring mashed potatoes, escalloped tomatoes, and cabbage slaw in addition to the chicken. They took up a collection to buy new dishes for the event. Later, the minutes note that the Chicken Supper Committee reported the whopping sum of $101.10 raised at the event. The money was donated to the building committee, which was, at that time, seeking a location for the church building that is currently in use. The Workers also made quilts and showed them. Some were made from blocks donated by the members.
The traditions started by the Willing Workers continue in other forms at our church today. Rather than a chicken dinner, we raise funds with “No Chicken Chicken Dinners,” and we have food giveaways to support the New Paltz community. Devoted knitters and crochet artists make prayer blankets for congregation members. Our church has history and traditions that connect over time. It is largely because of those traditions that our church remains strong today.