By Edgar Prescott in the Daily Olympian. February 24, 1980.

In the early 1920’s Helen Wolf came to Yelm to teach in the high school. “I felt that the town was so interwoven it was difficult for an outsider to belong,” she says. “I liked the people, but it seemed they had built something that was important to them, something which an outsider might threaten.

“Then I met Mrs. Pugsley. She loved books the way I did. She had a library, as my father had. She became for me an oasis in what had seemed a desert. Everything changed, and Yelm became as precious to me as it was for everybody else. The experience helped me to realize later that when somebody comes into our town or our church, we must do more to make them feel a part.

“Mrs. Pugsley was active in Yelm Community Church. She may have been Sunday school superintendent. I don’t identify her role, but I’m certain she was doing some important work.

“Another person who stands out in my memory was Mrs. King. Sundays, when I happened to go to services a little early, I would see her standing in the back of the church with about four rows of people, teaching the adult class. I wasn’t involved. I suppose I thought that as I was employed as a teacher, I had better give all of my resources to the job.

“Mrs. Kind had a son, John. In the social life of the town everybody did things together. It was like an extended family. By this time I had lost my sense of strangeness and was a part of it, too. John was brilliant. He was a leader. He was one of those people everybody loved.

“The thing that shocked me awake to the greatness of Mrs. King was John’s death. He was living away from Yelm at the time, teaching in Eastern Washington. He was killed in an automobile accident. We were devastated. We couldn’t believe that it had happened. We went to the funeral and Mrs. King came around and comforted all of us. She put her arms around me and said, ‘He’s all right, Helen.’ I thought, ‘She has something I want. If a mother loses the pride of her life and still has faith to believe that it is all right, I want to find out what she’s got.’

“I was privileged to remain a part of the community and the church,” Helen continues. “My husband, Harold, was a leader in the community. He was aware of everything that went on, and he encouraged my participation, but he did make one rule. ‘Go to church,’ he said. ‘Do any work you like, but don’t go to Ladies Aid.’ That’s what they called the women’s church group in those days. ‘The first Wednesday of every month,’ he said, ‘the ladies get together, and the town is filled with gossip. You don’t need it.’

“I tried to explain that it isn’t that way, that women starved for companionship come together, and they talk. It’s news they are discussing, but Harold heard them gathered in the isles of his store, and it sounded like gossip to him.

“I wonder sometimes as I think of those of us who call ourselves Christians, if indeed this isn’t the impression we give, that we are a closed corporation with our own signals and our own language.”

In 1925 the Ladies Aid, under the presidency of Mrs. D. R. Hughes, was busy raising funds. The rapid growth of the church and its increasing usefulness as a religious center of the community was about to culminate in an extensive building campaign.

It was during the ministry of Earl Hanna, 1925-29, that an educational hall, costing approximately $6,000, was constructed, of which $4,000 was provided in the form of a loan from the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension.

In the spring of 1929 an addition was built onto the parsonage, costing nearly $500. A bathroom with fixtures costing $125 was added. At the same time the sanctuary was reorganized, the platform and pulpit moved from the south to the north end, and a furnace installed.

“The used to heat the church with wood,” Truman Wilcox remembers. “Axel Carlson would bring in a load of logs and roll them off the truck. Somebody with a drag saw would come and cut them.”

In September 1931, the Eureka Church, no longer in use and falling into bad repair, was torn down. The materials were hauled to Yelm and used in the construction of a further addition to the parsonage. A second story was added containing two bedrooms, a hall and several storage spaces. The study also was enlarged. The labor was donated, both the work of wrecking the church and rebuilding the parsonage.

“I went away to the city,” Cleora Paine says. “I was gone for several years and when I came back our church was gone and our school was gone. I went around to my sister and I asked, ‘What in the world has become of our church?’

“She said they had torn it down and used the lumber to complete the second story for the parsonage at Yelm. They had even sold the land it was built on that Mr. Algyer had given us back in 1899 and turned the money over to the Yelm building fund. And our bell was gone. They had given it to the Yelm church.”

“One of my great experiences in bringing up my children was my involvement with the church,” Helen Wolf says. “I suppose this is pretty normal. When people become parents they want their children raised in the faith as they were.

“I was involved with being a youth superintendent. I guess I was youth superintendent for 30 years. It meant Sunday school in the mornings and evening meetings. In the summer it meant a retreat, weekends at least and sometimes for a week at a time. It was Epworth League, then MYF.

“Probably our most fruitful period was during depression times. Our Yelm Church instituted a camp for the whole family. It was over on Ohop Lake. We were allowed the use of the campground. Our won people did the work and the cooking. We had regular classes. One of our teachers was an Episcopalian priest from Buckley. Another was a man who taught us about the stars. I remember the feeling of excitement we shared as we lay on our backs and looked up at them and learned their positions in the heavens and the constellations and their names.

“We had campfires and boating. We went in trucks because we couldn’t afford cars. Some who couldn’t afford to pay, brought potatoes for the whole camp or corn or anything else we could use. We had something going that was fantastic.

“It went on for three or four years. We took tents. If we didn’t have children, we were available as counselors. Little ones, even babies, were there. People were so poor. All of us were, but those who had something to bring were proud, even the men who couldn’t come because they were working. They brought supplies. Their children were in camp. I still can’t believe the wonderful women, the food they turned out.

“Then we went to Epworth Heights which was at Redondo. It was owned by the Methodist church then. I was the counselor there for maybe five years. A counselor there for maybe five years. A counselor was in charge of 10 or 12 girls. Those were good years.

“My boys went to Ocean Park. They remembered their camp for a long time. Every year the church would send 20 or 30 from high school or junior high.”

The big event during the pastorate of H. E. Nelson, 1929-34, was the celebration of the church’s 25th anniversary. The first announcement of the event appeared in the Nisqually Valley News on Nov. 9, 1933.

“On Nov. 14, 1908, the incorporation papers for the Yelm independent church were taken to Olympia, and properly filed. That day marked a great occasion in the history of the Yelm prairie, for dreams and plans had come true.

“For many years previous to the forming of the local church body, ministers of various denominations had visited the community, preached in available buildings, ministered as best they could to the people, then moved on. Among them were circuit riders as well known as Ebenezer Hopkins of Tumwater and Rev. B. F. Brooks, Presiding Elder.

“The day came when make-shifts were no longer harmonious with the growth of the community. Sentiment in favor of building and maintaining a local church was created: Committees were appointed to draw up plans for a structure. Means were discovered for the raising of funds, until enough courage was raised to begin the venture.

“The building committee was composed of three men, James L. Mosman, Dow R. Hughes and T.W. Murphy. These men became also the trustees for the new properties, consisting of two front lots, on which the church and the parsonage now stand, donated by A. S. and J. A. and Laura McKenzie.

“A work so sacrificially begun deserves to be maintained in the same spirit. The celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 24, is partly an expression of appreciation of what others have done for us, and partly a determination to continue the great work. Anniversary gifts of 25 cents or multiples of 25 will be gladly received, to apply on church indebtedness incurred in serving the community.

“Let everyone do his part.”

On the following Thursday, Nov. 9, 1933, the local newspaper featured the second story:

“The pageant, depicting the history of the Yelm M. E. Church, and the growth of the church in the Northwest, will be presented at the high school auditorium on Tuesday evening, Nov. 14. Mrs. J. R. Loutzenhiser has arranged the pageant, assisted by Wesley Roehr as historian. An effort is being made to obtain Mrs. Kate Stevens Bates, daughter of Governor Isaac Stevens, first governor of the territory, to take part. Dow Hughes, a charter member of the church, will take part in person, while Mr. And Mrs. James Mosman and Mrs. Laura McKenzie will be represented by proxy.”

The same issue of the paper contained the following announcement:

“Yelm Community M. E. Church, H. E. Nelson, Pastor. Sunday School, 9:50 a.m. Morning worship 11 o’clock. Dr. Roy L. Sprague, District Superintendent of the Vancouver district, will bring the message. Our take-off, for the 25th anniversary celebration. Be sure and hear him.

“Anthem by the choir.

“Epworth League 6:30 o’clock. Message by the pastor; subject, ‘Twenty-five years of service on the Yelm Prairie.’ A fellowship hour in the Social Hall will follow immediately after the evening worship.

“The Silver Anniversary celebration begins on Tuesday at the noon hour with a pot-luck lunch. Program in the afternoon with former pastors and friends present. Twenty-five cent dinner served 5:30 to 7 p.m. Pageant of historic interest at the High School, beginning at 8 p.m.”

The final story appeared in the Nov. 16 issue:

“The 25th Anniversary of the Yelm M. E. Church was celebrated the past few days in a manner particularly fitting and appropriate. The festival was started off last Sunday with an appropriate sermon delivered by Dr. Raymond Sprague, District Superintendent, to one of the largest congregations ever assembled in the local church.

“On Tuesday the program was again renewed, this being the exact day twenty-five years ago when the local church received it charter. A pot luck lunch was served at noon to a large group of members and friends, former pastors and others connected with the church.

“At the program at 2:30 letters were read from former presiding elders and pastors, among them were C. A. Tod, D. Ronald Martin, Rev. Seeley, Rev. W. H. W. Reese and others.

“Dow R. Hughes presided at the meeting and read the list of names and told of the affairs twenty-five years ago.

“Rev. A. W. Smith, former pastor, spoke at some length on past experiences at Yelm.

“A picturesque pageant, depicting the early days of church life in the Pacific Northwest, entitled ‘The White Man’s Book of Heaven,’ written by Floss Loutzenhizer, was presented following the banquet which was attended by most of the people of the community, and was shown to a packed house.

“Some of the outstanding and interesting interpretations were made by Bob Sanders, Marlin Stillings and Charles Wilkenson, as Indian chiefs in search of ‘The Book.’ W. O. Roer as Jason Lee, Raleigh Wilson as Darrel Lee, Ralph Buchanan as the Hudson Bay Manager, Rev. B. F. Meredith as Wilbur Fisk, and Phil Martin as an army officer were especially good, portraying these characters who did so much to establish churches in the Northwest.

“The Olympia sewing circle of 1860 was a highlight in the program. The costumes were true to the period and were worn with the grace of former times. Mrs. Kate Stevens Bates, daughter of Governor Stevens, first governor of Washington Territory, took parting this scene. Mrs. B. F. Meredith, Mrs. R. C. Salyer, Mrs. Judson M. Wilcox and others showed the audience that sewing circles as well a human nature have not changed in the last 70 years.

“ The final scene showed the organization of the church in Yelm. Characters portrayed in this scene were James L. Mosman, Dow R. Hughes, Mrs. Laura McKenzie, Grandma Coates and others. Mrs. Rhoda Eddy portrayed the part of the beloved Grandma Coates in a very admirable manner.

“Each scene was introduced and closed with music. The hymns were sung by a quartette composed of Mrs. Wesley Roehr, Marian Stone, B. F. Meredith and E. C. Simmons. Mrs. Jeane Grinde sang ‘The Land of Sky Blue Water,’ and R. C. Salyer sang a solo from ‘The Messiah.’ The high school orchestra furnished several musical numbers and, as always, was well received.

“Mrs. Loutzenhiser is entitled to much credit for the work in assembling the pageant in the short space of time in which she had to work. Wesley O Roehr assisted with historical data and Miss Ruth Numan assisted in coaching and make up.

“Mrs. J. M. Stone was the accompanist and Mrs. A. R. Dull was the reader, introducing each scene.”

It would appear from other stories in the same issue of the Nisqually Valley News that the whole town was involved in the celebration. Local merchants, churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike decorated their windows for the occasion, some with oldtime relics and wearing apparel of the past century. The Grange store was decorated with pictures, one of Mr. And Mrs. James Longmire, a large picture of Mount Rainier and one of Coates’ livery stable on a Sunday morning.