CES (Institute) Teachers at Woodside Chapel for Inservice Training
The CES teachers of the New York New York South Mission - (L to R) de Paulas from Highland, Utah, Wests from Rexburg, Idaho, Conlins from Soda Springs, Idaho and Woodruffs from Alpine, Utah. We enjoy these wonderful missionaries each with varied skills, personalities and experience, and love learning from them and our outstanding CES coordinator President Cory Bangerter. We travel about one hour from Bay Shore, Long Island to Queens, NY to attend at our bi-monthly inservice meetings. In relation to what we may do in Utah, it's like traveling from Highland to Layton - about one hour away. The difference is that in Utah we would drive on one freeway the entire time. Here we drive on at least seven! Thank goodness for our GPS which we have loving named "Myrtle." Where else could retired people have more fun?
This beautiful building is the Queens, NY Stake Center, also called the Woodside Chapel. It is a grand structure built in 1944 for the Bulova Watch Factory as a handicap facility to help provide jobs for the injured veterans returning from WWII. It is a massive structure with elevators, an underground tunnel and extra wide hallways.
The building was, of course, completely renovated when the Church obtained it. The vast space was used well - a large, inviting double foyer, a lovely chapel, a well-equipped kitchen, primary room, library, numerous classrooms, a very busy family history center, beautiful offices and everything (and much more) that a large stake center would have. The CES offices are also set up in this building. There is also a good-sized parking lot...for Queens! That's a miracle. The current gymnasium was originally an indoor swimming pool for Bulova school students to use. That space is put to great use for sports, dances and dinners.
To construct a building for the handicapped in 1944 was indeed an innovative concept and literally decades ahead of its time. The Saints in Queens were fortunate that this "grand lady" of a building came up for sale just when Church growth required a new building in the area - one of those "coincidences" we hear about frequently in the Church.
2 comments:
That stake center looks wonderful! It has more character than the cookie-cutter stake centers here in Utah. ('Course, I don't to disparage the cookie-cutter buildings, because they are less expensive and they work.)
That's also a handsome-looking group of missionaries!
You'll have to ask the Conlins if they know the Winward family from Soda Springs. My brother married Shanda and her parents still live there. They are a great family. Sounds like you're having fun! Love ya! --- Joanne
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