Sunday, June 2 WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013
KENDALLVILLE SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
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Tours of historic McCray Mansion offered
Events Kendallville Airport Fly-In and breakfast, all day starting at 6:30 a.m., Kendallville Airport; McCray Mansion Tour, 1-6 p.m., McCray Mansion, 703 E. Mitchell St.; Historic Church Tour, 2-5 p.m.; Porch Tour of Historic Homes, 2-5 p.m.
Silent films to run on silver screen in home BY BOB BRALEY bobb@kpcnews.net
KENDALLVILLE — No celebration of Kendallville history would be complete without celebrating what Elmer Ellsworth McCray gave the city. That’s why tours of his mansion are being offered June 2 as part of the city’s sesquicentennial celebration. The historic home was one of the showplaces of the city in its day, and it is again now, thanks to the efforts of its current owners, Mike Post and Michael Nelaborige. It was E. E. McCray’s father, Hiram McCray, who obtained patents for refrigeration, but it was E. E. who made them the basis for the McCray system of refrigeration with the McCray Refrigeration Co. Inc. of Kendallville. Charles Roll said in his 1931 book, “Indiana: One Hundred and Fifty Years of American Development,” that E. E. McCray had the talent to develop the patents “to such a point that he may rightfully be called the founder of modern sanitary refrigeration. “The result is a business which sustains one-third of the families of its home
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
The McCray Mansion as it appeared from the outside in 1928, the year it was completed.
community, which has made McCray synonymous with efficient refrigeration, and brought a food-saving and health-protecting service into homes, stores and institutions throughout the country and in many foreign lands as well,” Roll said. Chicago architect Ralph E. Stoetzel designed the mansion in 1926 for E. E. McCray, his wife, Lena Orr McCray, and their daughter, Sarah Amanda McCray. Building was overseen by local contractor George Diggins, and the colonial revival home was completed
in 1928. Evidence indicated that woodworkers from McCray Refrigeration were involved in building the residence, Nelaborige said. Tours of the home will include Stair Hall, a circular staircase that spans 18 feet and is embellished with an interpretation of a “Vetruvian wave” frieze and many other hand-carved details. In many ways, Stair Hall looks like something you’d expect to see in a mansion in a film from the 1930s. In SEE MCCRAY, PAGE B2
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Mike Post and Michael Nelaborige have restored the living room of the McCray Mansion in Kendallville.
Sarah McCray stands in her wedding dress at the base of the stairs in Stair Hall in this 1936 photo. Sara married Robert West Candler of Atlanta, Ga., at the mansion on June 24, 1936.
In May of 2006 Jeff and Andrea Wolheter moved to Kendallville to plant Bridgeway Evangelical Church. The church began as a small group in their house in late September of that year. In March of 2008 Bridgeway began meeting in the Kendallville Youth Center on Sunday mornings for worship.
Breaking Barriers, Bridging Gaps, Building Community
GRAND OPENING AT NEW LOCATION JUNE 2, 10:30 AM (210 Brian’s Place just east of Fairview Plaza)
Bridgeway previously met at the Kendallville Youth Center with their office and weekday activities held at the Activity Center at the corner of William and Lincoln Streets. Bridgeway is now meeting at 210 Brian’s Place and will have a Grand Opening on June 2 at 10:30
Bridgeway’s desire has always been to share the Good News of Jesus Christ by being His hands and feet. Twice a year Bridgeway has a “Be the Church” Sunday instead of having their typical worship service. They worship God by serving others as His Church on that Sunday morning. This has included going to nursing homes, doing work for the elderly, cleaning windshields at a gas station, paying for and doing laundry for people at a local laundromat, giving away hundreds of loaves of free homemade bread, and numerous other service-minded things. Bridgeway has also done free oil changes for single moms. They have been involved in local community festivals and activities such as the Apple Festival, Kid City, the Main Street Festival, Trick or Treat on Main Street, and the Polar Bear swim at Bixler Lake. After meeting for five years at the Kendallville Youth Center, Bridgeway has moved to a more permanent location at 210 Brian’s Place (just east of the Fairview Plaza). Bridgeway will have a Grand Opening Service at the new location on June 2 at 10:30 AM. All are invited to attend.