Worship Is... [post 30]

"Things that we once thought were true now aren’t. The things we were raised to believe were truth no longer seem to be true because over time we all pick up little signs and baggage that attach themselves to us and mix up our understanding until we come to the place where all that is left is us and God, where the only thing we want in life is to be with God. That is what I think worship is."

- Laura Catoe 

Hagedorn Store-y [post 29]

Today I was at the Moxie working and I had a new client coming in at 2:oo. Her name is Barbara Hagedorn. Does that name ring a bell? If you were in Gadsden before the Mall opened you would know that Hagedorn's was one of Gadsden's coolest department stores and occupied our 417 building and the Fambrough building next door.

She enlightened me of stories of the events that took place there meaning the upstairs like a tailor, a lawyer, an artist, a hairstylist, and Hagedorn's management offices. She had a small sparkle in her eye as she spoke almost like opening a door that had been closed for a long time and good things being behind that door.



We had a great connection in fact she was my favorite client of the day. Before she left she mentioned an artifact from the first of the stores...a stainless steel cash register. She said it was very heavy and could take 2 people to carry it. She offered it to the church as a piece of found art as well as some framed newspaper clips of the store's history.

Cool, eh?



I can't tell what it means, but it sure is cool.

Thought you'd like to know.

-Kris Catoe

A Gadsden Vineyard History Lesson [post 28]

The Gadsden Public Library's grand re-opening is today, so the Gadsden Times ran a story over the weekend about the history of the library. As I was reading it, a paragraph caught my eye:

The club purchased a small collection of books and rented a front room in the new Moragne Building, in the 400 block of Broad Street, for $6 a month. Club members took turns keeping the reading room open for patrons.

I thought to myself "Hey, our church is in the 400 block of Broad Street. And when we took down the old metal facade of the 417 building, it says Moragne on the bricks."


So I e-mailed the author of the story, local historian Mike Goodson, to ask if that was our building. And indeed it was. The book club would have been upstairs. He sent me this picture:





(You can click on the pic to view a larger version)


At the far left is what is currently the Broad Street Basket Company. At the far right is Fambrough's. So those two in the middle? The Vineyard. 419 is the one with the temple look.


Link to the Times article (requires registration, I think, but registration is free)

- Laura Bentley Catoe