”
She did things I didn’t think were humanly possible with a
plunger!
”
Rev. Alison Berry, pastor of the Gilroy United Methodist Church
said.
”
She sat on it and made a tail out of it, all while expertly
playing piano and singing really funny lyrics.
”
“She did things I didn’t think were humanly possible with a plunger!” Rev. Alison Berry, pastor of the Gilroy United Methodist Church said. “She sat on it and made a tail out of it, all while expertly playing piano and singing really funny lyrics.”
Berry was describing a benefit concert held at the church last week featuring French Canadian comedian and ragtime pianist Mimi Blais.
It was the latest in a series of creative fundraisers held by the church, which is in desperate need of money to fix more than $14,000 in plumbing problems.
The pastor lives in the church parsonage on Fourth Street, just a few blocks from the church. When the parsonage developed a plumbing problem, Ernie’s Plumbing had to dig a 180-foot trench in the ground just to determine the problem.
It turned out tree roots had grown into the pipe, which had been installed in 1953.
It was easy for the roots to find a way in over time as the tar and masonite pipe cracked over the years, causing the walls to begin breaking down.
The crew worked for more than 22 hours to clear the pipe by hand and when they finished, they had a pile of gnarly twisted roots that was four feet high and 10 feet long.
“It was a very well-nourished tree!” church trustee Hugh Gailey said.
In these economic times, it is hard enough for small nonprofits like the church to come up with what is needed for their usual expenses, much less an unexpected expense of this magnitude. So the congregation of 60 active members has been doing all sorts of creative activities to raise funds for the parsonage plumbing project – known as the PPP. Other residents from the community have become involved as well.
Many have helped out, such as volunteers Marge and Bud Burchell, retired contractor Don O’Dell, Presbyterian Jan Paterson – who performed in a concert benefit for the PPP – and local performing artists Sandra Marlowe and Andoni Bundros. So far, the various benefit efforts have brought in roughly $5,000, church treasurer Pat Frietas said.
Just when the church was starting to feel they were getting on their feet, Gailey walked into Trimble Hall – at the back where the classrooms are located – last week and discovered a plumbing backup that was making the toilets inoperable. After hours of investigation by D&L Rooter into why the pipes could not be cleared, a mysterious object was discovered lurking in the sewer line.
D&L had to go back to the drawing board and build a special tool, which was used to pull the blockage out. They determined that the city of Gilroy had accidentally left a plug behind when testing the sewer system for leaks – in 1974! Debris gradually built up around it until it was completely blocked.
A retired scientist, Gailey couldn’t resist bringing it to church last Sunday for a “show and tell” presentation. It looked like a small tree log; it was ten inches long and cylindrical in shape, with metal at one end.
“I think Trimble Hall had become jealous of all the attention the parsonage was getting,” Gailey joked. “It wanted some plumbing work done too!”
This week the church is preparing for a big sale, which they have dubbed Granny’s Attic. Retired Gilroy teacher Barbara Gailey is organizing it, and people all over Gilroy are pitching in to contribute. So far, people have donated everything from refrigerators to hand tools.
I am donating my mother’s children’s book collection – she was a teacher – and her many skeins of unused yarn. There will be items such as large sized women’s slippers, dishwashers, couches, a circular saw and a floor jack, just to name a few items.
Alene Creager, office manager for Jones Brothers Enterprises, was on her way to Goodwill with a truckload of donations. When she heard about the sale, she diverted her goodies to the church instead.
“Miracles happen here all the time,” Julie Bradbury said, vice president of the local United Methodist Women.”When we really need something, this community comes through.”
How to help
What: Methodist Church Sale
What: To raise money to make plumbing repairs
When: 8:30 a.m. Saturday
Where: United Methodist Church, Fourth and Church streets
