Scarsdale Congregational Church Remembering the Scarsdale Congregational Church About the SCC

We're up to 1952 in our parade of old-timers. 1952 was the year my parents and I joined this church. We had come up from Oklahoma in 1945 and joined the White Plains Presbyterian Church by letter of transfer from the Bartlesville, Oklahoma Presbyterian Church. We had friends in White Plains but the church wasn't a good fit for us and eventually we went looking. My parents tried Hitchcock. I tried the White Plains Unitarian. One Sunday we joined forces and visited Scarsdale Congregational. The welcome mat was out, and we were home.

In 1952 this sanctuary was one-year old having been completed in 1951 for $245,000. Dr. Howard Stone Anderson also came to the pastorate in 1951 on the retirement of Ned Boynton. And let's not forget Mrs. Anderson ­ Marlowe ­ who was also an ordained minister and a talented story-teller.

The 1950's were boom days for religion­good feeling, positive thinking, increased attendance, many new members. This partially reflected the appeal of the new sanctuary (1951) and a rebuilt Dyckman Hall to its present splendor (1955). In any case, there were two services every Sunday­9:30 and 11.

This meant 8 ushers (all men) every Sunday & this somewhat strained the resources of the 6 men who made up the standing committee on ushers. The only departure from the all-men rule was that boys from the Sunday School & Youth Fellowship were allowed to usher on Children's Day & for the Advent evening services. I'm not making this up ­ it's all in the annual reports. By 1957 the 6 men on the standing committee on ushers sent out questionnaires "to better canvass our male membership for a good, active up-to-date group from whom to select ushers". As for communion, this was served by male deacons only. The elements were prepared by the women of the communion committee.

Which brings me to a story on the lighter side. Since there were two services every Sunday a full complement of male deacons was needed every communion Sunday. My father was a deacon by this time & after serving at 9:30 one day he checked the pulpit (probably to see if there was water on hand). He expected to see a script for Dr. Anderson's sermon. No script. Just a tiny piece of paper with a tiny outline. Came the 11 AM service and sermon time again. But my father heard a completely different sermon. Same tiny piece of paper with the same tiny outline. Different sermon. Dr. Anderson was a natural speaker and enjoyed it to the hilt. These weren't today's deeply thoughtful, well-researched sermons.

We are fortunate that we can always request copies of today's sermons from the office to take home and read. Wouldn't do you any good to request a copy in the 1950's. No copy. Just a tiny piece of paper with a tiny outline.

The deacons also served a matrimonial function at this time. My mother died in 1956. Carolyn Johnson's husband died in 1955. Both Papa and Carolyn ­ who by the way was a charter member of this church ­ were serving on the Board of Deacons. Romance bloomed and they were married in 1961. And had 18 good years together.

Papa also became treasurer of this church in 1972 and served 15 years. This was a job he dearly loved.

What was I doing all this time? One main activity was with the Business & Professional Women, an evening associate group of the Guild. I believe it was formed about 1952. The 1955 church annual report says the B & P's were then in their 3^rd year and had 26 members. Who were they? Connie Farnham's mother, Irma Amberg, was a member. Irma & Connie's sister Jane ran the Jane Engel dress shop, a shop still sorely missed. Lena Ryers was a teacher in the Pelham schools. Eunice Willis was an interior decorator and had much to do with the decoration of the Boynton Room.

Dorothy Funck was a bank vice president. Barbara Keel sold space for the yellow pages. I was variously with The Reader's Digest and the National Student YMCA. Kate Goodson was a county social worker. It was Kate's idea that our project should be scholarships for graduating seniors of Westchester high schools. Kate drew up the application blanks and the prospectus which we sent to every high school guidance counselor in the county. We offered a $200 scholarship. Lest you think that was a small amount ­ not in the early 1950s when a student could go to one of the state universities for $1200 a year ­ room, board, and tuition.

The idea was that our $200 would bridge the gap for a student who had a nest egg from summer jobs, perhaps help from parents, perhaps a Regents scholarship but needed a bit more. We had a good response, depending on the school. Yorktown Heights always had several good students, Croton Falls, Roosevelt High, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and others. We would divide up the applications and go out in groups of two to visit in the students' homes. We were young and full of beans and would go anywhere. Then when the visits were made we met on a long Sunday afternoon and fought it out for our candidates. The first few years ­ 1953, 54, 55 each ­we awarded two $200 scholarships every year. Money was raised by a benefit bridge.

By 1956, we aided 4. By 1959 we were awarding five $200 scholarships and one $100. How was this possible? We had a member named Elizabeth Ham who worked for the owner of the race horse Secretariat. Elizabeth may have had a piece of Secretariat too­ I'm not sure. Anyway, Elizabeth interested her boss in the scholarship project and he sent us a $1000 check for some years. We also raised money by adopting the Dibblelogs as a project. In 1964 we had $1600 to give away, in 1975, $2000 to be used for scholarships. Eventually the B & P's dwindled down to a precious few and disbanded ­ the late 1970's or early 1980's, I think. Our members had retired and moved away, some died, some just got tired.

BUT ­ though the B & P's are defunct, their legacy lives on. We had a member named Katharine Andrews who retired and move to Maine. In due course a letter arrived from a Maine lawyer announcing that Katharine had left $10,000 in her will to the B & P Scholarship Fund. The bequest was passed to the daytime Guild to be used for scholarships. I don't know what alternatives the Guild considered but they made a good choice. They invested the $10,000 with John Beyersdorf, the interest and dividends to go to College Careers. My father also gave a block of stock later to the scholarship fund. Under John's careful guidance we have a nice portfolio. Last year we gave College Careers $2825.

College Careers is a private, not-for-profit corporation in White Plains organized for the purpose of taking educationally and economically underprivileged young people (of Westchester and Fairfield Counties) out of poverty by offering them the opportunity for higher education combined with unique counseling services. This year College Careers had some 200 students in school. In addition to educational services, College Careers has pre-college counseling for substance abuse, General Equivalency Diploma and job readiness programs as well. Working with young people to live a drug-free life, tutoring and training them to get through the frightening and challenging world of college life is their overall goal.

For these young people,
      Yesterday can be a wind gone down,
      A sun dropped in the west.
      Tomorrow is a day