December 2010

Dear Friends,

Somehow, Christmas and the New Year whizzed by, and we failed to get our annual newsletter out until now. 2010 was a year of changes – losses and gains.

The only surviving member of St. Frances Methodist Church, and its most ardent supporter, Elizabeth Widmer - "Bet" to some, "Lib" to others - died this past March, at 103 years old. Bet lived a gracious, engaged, active life up until her last few months, getting out nearly every day, always riding by to see 'her church'. Having no need of personal material goods, she instead provided overwhelming generosity to this church during its active years, and to its restoration afterward. As well, she was a generous donor to her alma mater, UNC-G, and to many charities that served the less fortunate in life. Her vision for the St. Frances moving/restoration inspired all of us who worked with her. Lewiston-Woodville has lost a great friend, and we will be forever indebted to Bet for her stewardship of this beautiful church, and her many examples of a life impeccably lived.

But this year also brought new beginnings. Clara Urquhart and husband Chris Blanchard, and Mac Griffin, and Briley Johnson all moved from Wilmington to Lewiston-Woodville this year, providing us with much needed youth, interest, and energy. Bill and Rebecca Warren's son, Frank, was born in July, making his Woodville debut in December; also in December, Lindsay Griffin married Jack Vaughan, and are living in Woodland - not too far away.

And perhaps we've found a new beginning for Grace Episcopal Church, too. Joe Cooper, much loved minister at St. Thomas in Windsor, kindly served as minister for our first Christmas Eve service at Grace Episcopal in 3 years. A wonderful turnout, thanks to Pattie Urquhart’s efforts - and hopes for a new tradition.

Other new beginnings - Claudia Griffin and Clara Blanchard have now joined Historic Woodville as co- directors with me. Not much work to do now - no $, no projects - but we hope to get busy soon with the creation of a Woodville history/visitor center to house all that we've accumulated on Woodville's history over the years - more than enough to pique any family or visitor's interest in our past. This all awaits the sale of the partially restored Martin-Bazemore house.

A generous bequest for the future care of St. Frances significantly reduces our financial needs there. But we still have maintenance/upkeep needs for the Martin-Bazemore House until it is sold, ~ $2500/year just for its known (insurance, utilities/mowing/general maintenance) expenses there. Despite the kind end of year donations this year from some of you, we still need ~ $2000 more just to cover these known, as well as unanticipated, expenses.

If each person receiving this newsletter contributed just $25, this would make help us meet our needs for 2011. Any tax deductible amount you send to keep us afloat for the coming year will be so much appreciated. As always, the directors are unpaid, so your help goes directly to our expenses.

A plentiful and healthy 2011 to all,

Molly, Clara, and Claudia

HISTORIC WOODVILLE
3104 Hillmer Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27609
Phone: 919.833.4009 E-Mail murquharmears@gmail.com

Visit our website at Historic Woodville

* All donations/grants are tax deductible and 100% funded to our various projects – directors receive no compensation

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