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Welcome to our web site!
The Vicksburg Community Hall Association, Inc. in keeping with the orginal intent of
the organizers of this association, continue to uphold the constitution and by-laws of this organization for the benefit of
the community of Vicksburg and surrounding area.
From St. Paul's Reformed Church to
Vicksburg Community Hall, Assoc.
On
November 2, 1947, the members of St. Paul's Reformed Church voted to ask the Reformed Synod to dissolve the Vicksburg Church.
The last service of worship was held on December 28, 1947 after 47 years of service to the people of Vicksburg and the surrounding
community. The following May the Synod voted to sell the building for $1,500 to a group of stockholders and it became known
as the Vicksburg Community Hall Assoc. It wasn't too long until H.A. Cook gave the land west of the hall for a parking lot.
Shares of stock were sold for $20.00 each to help buy it. The pews were sold for $1,300 and the bell for $25.00.
Men of the community dug out the basement by hand and an elevator carried the ground to the waiting trucks. Then
built into the basement was a kitchen, diningroom, storage area, and restroom. To raise money for the stove, well, and septic
system and other equipment, they had food stands at the West End Fair and public sales. They also served public and private
dinners. The minute book shows a public Chicken and Waffle Dinner on 11/3/1954 from 5-8 p.m. The price was $1.25 for
adults and $.75 for children. Buelah Wetzel soon became famous for her waffles and her recipe continued to be used until the last
dinner on April 8, 2000.
The first officers of the hall were Pres. Harold Erdley, V. Pres. Maud C. Kaup, Sec. John R. Walter, and Treasurer's J. Paul
Cook and Mrs. Paul Young. A formal opening of the Vicksburg Community Hall was held May 24, 1949. They had a mortgage of $5,200
and paid it off in 10 yrs., having a mortgage burning celebrating the occasion.
The community center has been home to many organizations and meetings such as; Vicksburg Community Library, Young
Farmers, 4-H Clubs, homemaker groups, flower club, plays, and auctions, to name a few.
The idea for a library was conceived by Mary Baker Wilbur when the building was purchased. She had grown up in Vicksburg and
attended the local school, and even though further schooling and a career took her away from Vicksburg, she kept in touch
with relatives and her girlhood friends in the area. When she married and settled in Penfield, a suburb of Rochester, NY,
she became active in the operation of the Penfield Free Library and it was there in this position she was enabled to realize
her idea for a library for Vicksburg. Her contacts in Vicksburg approached the Hall Association about providing a room for
a community library. Volunteers quickly built shelves and they were partially stocked with donated books from community and
used books Mrs. Wilbur was able to to send from the Penfield Library. Maud and Lizzie Kalp became the first librarians.
Mrs. Kathryn Shoemaker then became the librarian when they resigned. William Royer, retiring to his boyhood home, became
the next librarian. When it closed, Betsy Carpenter and Hertha Wehr shared the responsibilites of operating the library. The
Vicksburg Library can look back on more than 40 years of service to the community.
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