Update
February 1, 2012

The biggest news to share this week is that the building has been released by the State Police, making it possible for us to continue with demolition of the damaged part of the structure. Within the next few days, the crew from Green Construction and Restoration will knock down what is left of the Meeting House and Pilgrim Hall and the adjacent hallway. Debris will be hauled away. Members of the Artifacts Committee will be present during the demolition to identify any parts of the structure that should be saved. Saved parts will include pieces of the timbers, nails, granite steps and stones from the foundation. They will also be keeping an eye out for remnants of the brass plaques that were hung in the narthex and Foundation Room and the Backus Plaque from the narthex. If there are other salvageable pieces they will be set aside as well.

The Public Adjuster (PA) we hired to help ascertain the value of the contents of the facility is working through the content that remains to identify anything that is not salvageable. These items will be disposed of once the PA has finished his work. We have also received approval from the insurance company to move ahead with the removal of asbestos tiles in the Bugbee Center, which will be done as soon as the PA completes his work with the contents. The tiles must be removed and the area in which they had been installed remediated before any other work can proceed. All of the rooms and hallway on the lower level of Bugbee, as well as the two lavatories on the second floor will be remediated.

Work has continued at 603 Main Street. Windows have been replaced, siding is to be installed and interior painting and cleaning will likely be finished this week. This will leave the house in good condition and allow us to find a tenant. Later in the spring a new roof will be put on the house.

The Building Committee has met to interview possible General Contractors and Architects. All of the people they have talked to have been informative and well-prepared. The Committee will begin narrowing down the list of possible companies to be considered for the project, plan second interviews and move ahead toward securing the services of the firm(s) they believe best suited to help us with the reconstruction project.

The Restoration Committee has been hard at work. Once the asbestos remediation is complete they will be able to move ahead quickly with getting work in the Bugbee Center, room 206 and the offices started. There is months of work to be done before we will be able to use these areas again.

Worship on January 29 was at the Community Education Building on the Johnson Memorial Hospital campus on Route 190 (Chestnut Hill Road), as it will be for the foreseeable future, until our facility has been built. Both the 8:15 and 10 o’clock worship services were well attended, and we hope there will continue to be a growing attendance at the 8:15 service to ease some of the crowding at 10 - - although there was plenty of room for all in attendance at both services. Sunday school resumed just down the hall from the worship service, with lots of kids and lots of rejoicing at being together once again. The lobby was the perfect spot for coffee hour.

On February 1 Anne Kirkpatrick, Rick Skodinski and I will be on the cable access show Karen’s Korner which is aired at 7:30 PM on channel 15 on the Enfield Cox cable. The show will be repeated in the same time slot for four weeks.

We continue to receive contributions and words of encouragement in the mail and by email every day. Although many have offered help, there is, at this point, nothing hands on to do. We are grateful for the prayers and the good thoughts. The loss of the Meeting House is a cause of grief. Several people attended the meeting after worship to talk some about the loss and how we are responding to it. There will be other opportunities to talk and share as time goes on which will help us all deal with the grief we are experiencing. I am always happy to talk with members about concerns they have and about the experience they are having with the loss.

Check the web page for information on upcoming fund raisers.

Update
January 23, 2012

The 285th Annual Meeting of the Somers Congregational United Church of Christ was held on Sunday, January 22, in the Auditorium at the Town Hall. This Sunday marked the last time we will be gathering for worship in that space. We are certainly grateful to the town of Somers for allowing use the space and grateful to the Board of Selectmen for working with us during the last three weeks. They have been kind and supportive and represented the town in the best possible ways.

Beginning on January 29 and continuing for the foreseeable future we will be worshiping in the Community Education Building at Johnson Memorial Hospital, 201 Chestnut Hill Road (Route 190), Stafford Springs. The Community Education Building is located on the right of the driveway as you enter the hospital campus from Route 190 (Chestnut Hill Road). There is ample parking, the building is handicap accessible and there is plenty of room for Sunday school as well as our worship services. There will be both 8:15 and 10 o’clock services.

Confirmation Class will begin meeting in the Office Trailer at the church on Sunday, January 29. Class will be from 5:30 to 7 P.M. and will follow the same format as we did through the fall. Confirmation is still scheduled for March 25, but we will be discussing location and exact details over the next couple of weeks. At the Annual Meeting, the Building Committee passed out a two question survey they are hoping members of the church will complete.

Question 1, do you have any special expertise that may be helpful to the Building Committee as we proceed with the planning, design and construction of our new church building?

Question 2, do you have any comments you would like to share regarding improvements or enhancements that you would like to have considered during the building process?

Your answers to these questions may be dropped in a box provided at worship each Sunday, mailed to the church at PO Box 295, Somers, CT 06071, or emailed to the Building Committee at build@somerscongregational.org All comments should be in the hands of the Building Committee no later than March 1, 2012. All comments will be reviewed by the Committee and shared with appropriate subcommittees.

The Artifacts Committee met last week to begin thinking about how to preserve some of the history of the Meeting House. They are considering appropriate use of the bell and pieces of wood, nails and other items from the original building. Your suggestions to the Artifacts Committee would be welcome as well.

I have on my desk, a box of wonderfully drawn, glued, written and created cards and letters from sixth graders at the Mabelle B. Avery School. Each student has taken the time to share his or her initial reaction to the fire that destroyed our church, some memories of the building, chimes and pillars and encouraging words for those of us who have lost so much in the fire. Their thoughtfulness is much appreciated, and their words of encouragement and good cheer did indeed have the desired effect.

Please check the space on the website for information about upcoming fund raisers. Among those in the next week will be a coupon fundraiser at Mona’s Pizza and Wings. Our friends at Mona’s will contribute 15% of all sales to patrons using the special blue coupon. Coupons are available at the church office - - stop by and get some for yourself and your friends and family!

Thanks for all your continued support and watch this space for a new update soon.

Peace,

Barry Cass

---

Update
January 18, 2012

The Church Council took some significant action at their meeting on Tuesday, January 17. In an important step towards moving the re-building process along, they voted unanimously to hire an Estimator to help determine the value of the building prior to the fire. The role of the Estimator is to quantify the material and labor needed to complete construction. In determining specific values of items the Estimator has available appraisers and a broad knowledge of construction costs.

The Council also voted to hire a Public Adjustor (PA) to address the contents portion of our claim with the insurance company. The role of the PA is to be our advocate in appraising and negotiating the insurance claim. The PA will prepare an estimate of the value of our lost contents and prepare necessary claim documentation to be given to the insurance company. Our PA will work with the insurance company’s adjuster to determine the amount of the final settlement for our loss. Members of the church will need to prepare lists of what has been lost so that values can be determined.

In further business, the Council appointed Sue Jandreau and Dorian Jones to an Appreciation Committee, to send appropriate thanks yous to contributors. An artifacts committee will be responsible for dealing with questions about the bell, use of wood left from the fire, and other possible items recovered and needing restoration. The artifacts committee will be Janice Morton, Ailene Henry, Deb Juzba and Sharon Renzoni. Ailene is our Church Historian and she and Deb Pero have already created a display about our meeting house which can be seen at the Somers Public Library. An Organ Committee, made up of Laurie White, Heather Loupe, Rob Trusch, Jackie Nappi, Bill Kirkpatrick and Malcolm and Joanne Chadbourne was also appointed. They will be looking into the replacement of our pipe organ.

The Somers Cooperative Preschool has found space to use at the Somers Baptist Church and is relocating there for the rest of the school year. The Thursday AA Group is meeting at Sun Valley and the Sunday group has found space at the Congregational Church of Somersville.

Several businesses and groups beyond the church have planned and had or will have various fund raisers on behalf of the church. Announcements of these events will be posted on the website and the Facebook page and will be listed in the upcoming issues of Highlights.

Although renovations are nearly completed at 603 Main Street, our tenants have decided to move to another location so the house will be empty and available for rent after February 1. We are grateful to the many people in the church and beyond who have contributed to the various organizations that have helped replace fire damaged items for the family.

We will worship on January 22 at the Town Hall auditorium. In addition to worship the 285th Annual Meeting of the Church will also be held in the auditorium that day, followed by the annual Board and Committee Organizational Meeting. Beginning on January 29 worship and Sunday School will be held at the Community Education Building on the campus of Johnson Memorial Hospital on Chestnut Hill. Watch this space for further information about that.

---

Update
January 11, 2012

On Tuesday, January 10, the Church Council moved ahead with appointments to continue the clean-up and restoration work and to begin getting organized for the rebuilding of the Meeting House. Rick Skodinski and Beth Rosa were appointed as members of the Insurance Committee, with Rick as chair. Donna Hanks was appointed Treasurer of the Insurance Committee. In that position she will handle the money from the insurance company and the money paid out to the clean-up and restorations people. Two other committees were appointed.

Restoration Committee: Jim Jewel, JoAnn Hornyak, Liz Scanlon and Carly Sanborn. Building Committee: Mark Marschall (chair), Sara Mulvihill, Pat Jones, Jim Jewell, John Jones and Tom Mehl.

There was also finalization of the process and forms to be used in creating the list of items lost in the fire. Various Boards will be responsible for the various parts of the church and some of the work has already begun.

An office trailer was moved onto the site and electricity was turned on. We are awaiting phone and internet connection and the arrival of office furniture. The unit is big enough to provide office and meeting space for as long as we need it. Once all services are connected we will be open during our regular office hours -- 10 to 3 on Monday and 9 to 3 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The clean-up part of the work is near completion and the restoration of the addition and Bugbee Center will be getting underway in the next couple of days. It is also likely that the remaining debris of the Meeting House will be demolished in the next few days. The rest of the building has been "buttoned up" in anticipation of worsening weather.

The work at 603 Main Street is also nearing completion. Walls and ceilings damaged by water and smoke have been replaced, primed and repainted. The house will be ready for occupancy within a few days. There are several fundraising efforts under way to help the family who lives in the house; notable among them are efforts at the Somers Elementary School and the Country Diner. Please be in touch with them directly for more details.

There are also several independent fund-raisers for the church being planned by groups and individuals in the community. We do appreciate these efforts, although we hope those wishing to raise money for the church would be in touch with us so that efforts can be coordinated.

There will be two worship services this Sunday -- 8:15 and 10 – in the Town Hall auditorium. The January Community Supper will be held from 5 to 6:30 P.M. at the Congregational Church of Somersville, on Maple Street. Arrangements for choir rehearsals are being made.

I cannot express strongly enough how grateful the members of the Somers Congregational United Church of Christ are for the prayers, letters, messages of support, and continued involvement of our friends in the community and beyond. Please continue to watch this space, our web site and our Facebook page for future updates.

Peace to you,

Barry Cass

---

Update
January 7, 2012

On Sunday, January 1, just before midnight, our historic meeting house burned to the ground. The fire, which began on the first floor, quickly spread through the entire structure. Somers firefighters, assisted by fire departments from several other towns, poured over 150,000 gallons of water onto the Meet House, the Bugbee Center, the office area and the house at 603 Main Street. The entire 1842 Meeting House is gone and the attached Pilgrim Hall is a total loss. We are fortunate that the tactics employed by the firefighters, combined with the fire safety features built into the 1998 addition, saved the back part of our facility.

The church offices and parts of the Bugbee Center were heavily damaged by water and smoke. Although we will eventually be able to use these parts of the facility while a new meeting house is constructed, for the time being, and into the next few months they will be unavailable to us.

We will worship in the auditorium on the lower level of Town Hall through the month of January while we make arrangements for a long-term site for worship and Sunday School. The choir robes and the pastor’s preaching robes and stoles were removed from the facility and dry cleaned and are expected to be in use at worship.

On Friday, January 6, an office trailer was moved into the church parking lot. The fifty foot long trailer has office and work space which will allow us to begin operations there by January 10. There is an office for the pastor, for the administrative secretary and a fairly large room where meetings can be held.

Cleanup at the site continues. The contents of the offices and Bugbee Center have been removed to be cleaned and will then be put in storage. Carpets have been removed from the entire facility. The walls of the Meeting House that were not destroyed by fire will be demolished as soon as the site is “released” by the fire and police investigators who continue to look into the causes of the fire.

Most of the Nativity Sets that were on display throughout the facility were not damaged. They have been removed, cleaned and placed in storage. Nativities in the sanctuary, Pilgrim Hall and the upstairs hallway were lost.

Everyone is wondering what they can do at this point. We need continued prayers.

We need everyone to be patient and to realize that there are many factors involved in the clean-up and that following clean-up there is construction work to be done before we can return to using the offices and Bugbee Center.

We need members and friends of the church who made a pledge for 2012 to continue to contribute on a regular basis.

There is little to be done in terms of manual labor at this point and the church building and grounds are a crime scene and hazardous area.

The support we have received and the many, many phone calls and e-mails and Face Book postings have helped us through this very difficult first week. Somers Board of Selectmen, Lisa Pellegini, Kathy Devlin and Bud Knorr have all gone beyond reasonable expectation to be available and helpful to me and the church since the early morning of January 2. I am grateful both personally and as pastor to so many people it is impossible to begin to list.

Please know that your kindnesses have touched my heart and buoyed my spirit.

We have lost our beautiful, historic and memory-filled Meeting House, but the spirit of community and cooperation, and the affirmation of the presence of God no matter what we face are strong and clear as we move on.

Blessings,

Barry Cass