Free“A healing church for a hurting world”

May 2009

A free publication of the First Free Methodist Church in Calcutta, Ohio

~Memories for Mother’s Day~Cooking for one Mom was

“Cheaper by the Dozen”

ree represents many things:

your neighborhood First Free Methodist Church located on St. Clair

Avenue, the cost of this publication to you, and most importantly,

the price of having all your sins forgiven and getting to live a new life in

Christ. If you are not already aff iliated with a place of worship, we would love for

you to consider us as your church. We want to be your own personal community resource

where you feel comfortable attending and learning more about God and his unique purpose for your

life. That’s why we sent YOU this publication. If you would like to discover more about God or f ind out

just who he really is and how much he loves you, Pastor Steve Forsythe presents practical messages for

today’s modern world taken straight from the Bible. Our live Praise Team also provides an upbeat blend of

contemporary music and old-time favorites with singing, guitars, drums and keyboards. We look forward

to you coming and hope to see you soon. And p lease fee l f ree to br ing your f r iends a long , too!

FLive Laugh Love . . . p. 3

What we did & what we’re doing

The Church Lady Potluck . . . p. 4Remembering Mom & some of

her favorite recipes

Blessing In Disguise . . . p. 6(Disclaimer: Contains medically

graphic photos)

On the cover . . . Everett & Lizzie (Tate) Diddle (a.k.a. “Pup & Mum”) pose with their 12 children - four of whom still attend our church, which their parents helped establish - during a holiday gathering on January 1, 1957. (Back row l to r) Clyde, Howard, Harold, Ray, Earl & Floyd (middle row) Mary, Ever-ett, Lizzie & Martha (front row) Delma, Ethel, Ruth & Edna.

C o n t e n t s :

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

~ John 8:36

DVD Series (just some of the fun stuff we’ve done that you may have missed during the last quarter & more!)

Live Laugh Love

“For where two or three

come together in my name,

there am I with them.”

~ Matthew 18:20 (NIV)

Weekly evening DVD series for small group ses-sions and Sunday morning classes that were opened to the neighborhood and community . . .

• Focus on the Family’s The Truth Project with Dr. Del Tackett was a 12-part weekly evening study on what truth really is. It challenged, “Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?” and asked, “Who is God?” To find out more about this riveting series and watch the trailers visit www.thetruthproject.org/

• Love, Sex & Lasting Relationships by Chip Ingram was a 10-part study geared toward the “20-Somethings” and post-high Sunday morning class. This series unrav-eled Hollywood’s model to “long-lasting” relationships vs. God’s perfect plan for love and sex in a step-by-step professional college seminar setting. More information about this subject can be found by going to Chip In-gram’s Living on the Edge store site at http://store.lote.org/store/product/146

• Fireproof Your Marriage was a 6-session evening study based on the number one inspirational movie “Fireproof: Never Leave Your Partner Behind” starring Kirk Cameron. This series transformed relationships and was well worth attending! To learn more about this movie and study check out www.fireproofthemovie.com/

C O M I N G S O O N !CHECK OUR SIGN FOR

FUTURE COMMUNITY EVENTS

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU!

Free | May 2009 3

• Coffee, juice and donuts are provided in our Fellowship Hall

downstairs at 9:00 a.m. every Sunday morning.

• A variety of interesting topics are available from which adults may

choose for Sunday morning classes beginning at 9:30 a.m. Children’s

Sunday School is also provided during the same time.

• Morning worship service begins at 10:40 a.m. During that time,

nursery supervision is offered for infants through 23 months, pre-

school classes for children ages 2 through 3 and junior church for

kids ages 4 through 12 years is also provided.

• And if you love crafts, there is a meeting held every Wednes-

day morning beginning at 10:00 a.m. followed by lunch.

We would love to have you join us!

“Some of my favorite memories of cooking and my Mom [Antonette “Toni” (Fricano) Buckley, pictured to the right on September 29, 1973 at her daughter’s wedding & again below with her family baking] happen during the holidays. As in most homes, Christmas was an exciting time while growing up. We would start mak-ing cookies the beginning of December. Every night we would make a couple different kinds to give out as presents. This is how I learned all of the Christmas carols; we would bake and sing! One of my favorite cookies to make was the Sour Cream Cut-out Cookie. My job was always icing. Today, even as old as my kids are [pictured below is the youngest daughter of four children, Allison Wolfe Stansbury - her siblings include Annie, Joel & Sarah] they still go to Grandma’s house to help with the cookies.” ~ Debbie Wolfe

Mother’s Day wouldn’t be the same without remembering all the special times & events in life she was there for you guiding & teaching

Sour Cream Cut-out Cookies• 1 c. shortening• 2 c. sugar• 2 eggs• 5 c. flour• 1 tsp. nutmeg• 1 tsp. salt• 1 tsp. baking soda• 1 c. sour cream• 1 tsp. vanillaCream shortening. Add sugar and eggs, then beat. Sift flour, nutmeg, salt and soda. Add dry ingredients and sour cream with vanilla alternately to short-ening mixture. Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill. With a rolling pin, spread out to around an 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes or until bottom is lightly brown. Ice as desired. We typically use a powdered sugar glaze with food coloring, a drop of va-nilla and water to desired consistency.

“Little did we know when we were grow-ing up that we were getting a diet that would be encouraged to people at a fu-ture date. Soup beans with dumplings was one of the staple foods we had along with the vegetables Mum [Lizzie (Tate) Diddle, pictured above] canned from the garden my Dad, ‘Pup’ had every year. I was the youngest of 12 and each year the bigger kids went berry picking. Mum canned those, as well, and many times we had homemade bread with berries, brown sugar and skim milk (which came from a dairy that may have thrown it away after taking the cream from it.) She would make her bread twice a week and sold it at times for 10 cents a loaf. As a treat, she’d sometimes make us cinna-mon rolls, too.” ~ Delma Eisenhart

Cooking for one Mom was “Cheaperby the Dozen” during the Great Depression years

Mum’s Bread• In a very large mixing bowl, dissolve 2 packets (2 Tbsp.) yeast in 4 cups of warm (100-115 degree) water• Add 1½ Tbsp. salt, ½ cup sugar, ½ cup shortening, 10 cups flour• Mix together• Slowly add in 5 more cups of flour and kneed until smooth• Let rise in bowl until doubled• Punch down• Divide into three sections and place in greased/sprayed bread pans. Let rise un-til doubled and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly brown.

The Church Lady PotluckRecipes good enough for God’s house & yours!

“Give us today our daily bread.” ~ Matthew 6:11 (NIV)

4 Free | May 2009

Lemon LushFirst layer• 1 stick of oleo, melted and cooled• ½ cup finely chopped nuts• 1 cup flourMix and press into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely.Second Layer• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese• 1 cup powdered sugar• 1 cup Cool WhipBeat together. Spread on crust.Third layer• 2 packages of lemon Jell-o instant pudding (or can also be made with chocolate)• 3 cups milkMix together then spread the remaining Cool Whip on top. You may also sprinkle with nuts and/or add maraschino cherries.

Daughter recalls a canning catastrophe

“We always had a garden while growing up and Mom [Alice (Watkins) Diddle pictured to the left with her daughter] would can a lot. I’ll never forget one night all five of us children were in bed and we heard this big crash in the basement. My dad was working night turn. Mom, being scared to death, called her Mom, who didn’t live too far away. She came down and went to the basement to find a jar of corn had spoiled and broken open all over the floor. What a mess! But there was no intruder. My Mom was a great baker, though. Lemon Lush was my kids’ favorite. She made it for their graduation parties and it was always a big hit at church socials.” ~ Debbie Sines

“I got this recipe from my Mother [Vir-ginia (Sayre) Torrence Kincaid, pictured above with her daughter, in the Tri-State Campground’s kitchen where she was head cook] and it is the first thing everyone reaches for!” ~ Miriam (Torrence) Keys

Everybody’s favorite cookie

Butter Horns• Mix ½ c. sugar, 4 c. flour and ½ tsp. salt in a bowl. Make a hole in the center, but not to the bottom.• Dissolve 2 sticks of butter in 1 c. of warm milk then add 2 pkgs. of dry yeast.• Add liquid and 2 beaten eggs to flour mixture and stir until all flour is moist-ened and a dough forms. • Cover with plastic wrap and a hot, damp tea towel. Let set in refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. Then divide dough into 6 equal sections keeping unused portions in the refrigerator. Roll out each section in a circle to 1/4 inch thickness. Spread with filling consisting of 2 sticks melted butter, 2 c. sugar, 3 tsp. cinnamon and 3 c. nuts chopped fine. Cut into 12 wedge pieces and roll from the wide end into crescents. Let stand for 20 minutes and bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Glaze with 2 c. powdered sugar, 4 to 6 Tbsp. milk and a few drops of vanilla mixture.

Mom’s Apple PiePreheat oven to 350 degrees. Then to make dough, mix 3 c. flour and ½ tsp. salt. Add in 1 1/3 c. Crisco. Mix with an electric mixer. Add 1/3 c. cold water and mix well with mixer. Divide dough in half and roll out with rolling pin. Place one half of dough into a 9-inch pie pan and fill with 8 medium to large pared, cored and sliced apples. (What-ever kind you have in the fridge will work. I like to mix them!) Sprinkle a mixture of 2 tsp. cinnamon and 1 c. sugar over apples, then dot with 3 Tbsp. butter and sprinkle with 3 Tbsp. of flour. Place the rolled-out top crust on the apples. Make decorative slits in it before baking to allow the steam to escape. Bake 1 1/2 hours or until pie is golden brown. Makes enough dough for a 9-inch pie with a little left over.

“For Mom & Apple Pie!” was the stock answer of American soldiers in World War II whenever journalists asked why they were going to war . . .

“This was my mom’s recipe and also her mom’s recipe. It’s the BEST! There ends up being some left-over dough, so I roll it out, put it on a cookie sheet and spread it with butter, cinnamon and sugar and bake it. (My mom did that, too!) It’s great!” ~ Cathy (Whippo) Diddle

Free | May 2009 5

from a gash on his forehead. Unknown to everyone at the time, this was the first of what would be three successive surgeries. This one found him as the recipient of a tita-nium rod in his leg, along with a plate and screws inserted below his hand

to fix his wrist. To make matters worse, Chuck’s son was getting married in eight days and he was supposed to stand up with him and be Eric’s best man. However, another out-of-the-ordi-nary occurrence happened that same day during the surgery which seemed to lend some hope to the situation.

For the past eight years Chuck Standley, and his son Eric, as well as life-long friend Dan Wolfe, and his son Joel, have ventured out on their annual father-son motorcycle trip. Last year began no differently. The 2008 trip was scheduled to hit the road on Thursday, June 19. They had planned their four-day jaunt to take them, as well as Chuck’s stepson Casey, from Calcutta, OH to Elkins, WV on day one, then onto Staunton, VA for the second day’s journey, fol-lowed by winding through Gettys-burg, PA before heading back home on the final leg of the trip. Little did they know when they said good-bye to their families be-fore heading out that morning around 9:00 a.m., their fun excursion would be cut very short. Less than six hours later, every rider’s worst nightmare happened. Around 2:50 p.m., the group was traveling on Rt. 250 and they were about 20 miles south of Fairmont, WV. Dan’s bike was a short distance ahead of Chuck’s, when suddenly he heard Chuck yell for Eric. “We both had headsets on so we

could communicate,” Dan said, “and I heard Chuck shout Eric’s name and then we lost communication.” Dan knew something was wrong, but as he slowed to circle back, he hadn’t known then that Chuck, who had 40 years riding experience, and Eric had gone down. They had come to a very sharp curve in the road when a utility truck and Chuck’s bike met in the middle and sideswiped each other in what was later called by the police a “true accident.” Neither party was cited for the incident. One theory on how it occurred is that something hanging from the side of the truck caught the crash bar on his bike causing the col-lision. “I wasn’t sure if my leg was still attached,” Chuck said. “It was just hanging there and I thought maybe my jeans were just holding it on.” Remarkably, though, Eric wasn’t hurt and the bike barely showed signs of being in an accident. And what happened next is still a mysterious God-send to Chuck. “I was laying there on the road in pain and all of the sudden these two guys show up out of nowhere,” Chuck said. “They were there be-fore Dan got back, which only took about two minutes, and well before the ambulance got there. One had an actual bed pillow with him and put it under my head and then reached for my hand and started praying for me. To this day nobody knows who they were, where they came from or where they went.” Chuck, however, was headed no-where except to the hospital. He end-ed up being life-flighted to the WVU trauma center - Ruby Memorial - in Morgantown. There doctors discovered that Chuck had broken his left leg in multiple places, as well as his ankle and foot and wrist. He also required stitches

Blessing in Disguise . . .

6 Free | May 2009

a reported 120 to 150 fixators a year. During this time between proce-dures, he and his wife Beth, who is a teacher, both prayed - not for healing - but that the following surgery could incorporate everything all at once. In four weeks, however, their prayers, along with those of their immediate and church family, were more than answered. On November 11, Chuck had the antibiotic rod removed, a scheduled bone graft procedure from his hip completed and the fixator attached by Dr. Sontich. “Before the surgery [with Dr. Son-tich] was over though, the plastic surgeon came out and told Beth that he didn’t get to do any of his work,” Chuck said. “He didn’t have to do ei-ther procedure when my leg was un-wrapped because my skin had healed

well enough to attach the fixator.” It was another two weeks still before he could put any amount of weight on it, however. The next several months proved to be very painful and filled with many sleepless nights. During this whole process, Beth had to see to everything concerning him and their household. However, their outlook on the situa-tion is not one that you might expect. “I’m not saying you don’t have bad days,” Chuck said, “but I’m glad it happened and Beth is glad it hap-pened.” “I know this will sound weird,” she said at one point, “but I feel like this was a gift from God.” Chuck agrees that this has been a blessing in disguise.

“It’s not fun - it isn’t fun and it’s not going to be fun for a long while,” he said, “but it changed my life. The big-gest blessing has been that God has given me an opportunity to witness every day and put me in a position to let me trust him.” He said that his fixator is a great conversation starter. “Beth and I have had the opportuni-ty to talk to and witness to at least 50

people when we’re out as a result of this,” Chuck said. “There are oppor-tunities every day to witness. We’re really going to miss this thing.” His fixator was “penned in” to be removed on April 21 and followed by a brace as his recovery process continues. As an overall result of the trauma to his leg, Chuck lost four inches of his tibia and will still re-quire one more surgery to remove a resulting tumor in his hand from the insertion of the plate in his wrist. He is expected, however, to regain full use of his leg in the future. Since the accident, Chuck has sold his motorcycle and he and Beth plan to take up bicycling when he is healed. There’s only one thing he really wants to continue to do, however. “I want to remind myself of this every day and continue to do more of God’s work,” Chuck said. As for the fixator? He and Beth plan on making it into a lamp. Chuck and Beth, as well as Dan and his wife Debbie, are all members of the First Free Methodist Church. Chuck is a small business owner and Dan is a CPA, both in Calcutta. Chuck and Beth live in Salem, OH and Dan and Debbie reside locally.

A double rainbow appeared in the sky hovering over the WVU stadium which overlooked the physical thera-py department not far from Chuck’s room. This provided yet another re-minder to everyone that God was in-deed near and in control. Needless to say, Chuck made it home five days later, celebrated his 55th birthday the following day and was able to be in his son’s wedding

two days after that. Over the course of the next month, however, Chuck ended up develop-ing a staff infection from the opened wounds and ended up needing to have the rod removed. So on August 22, he had an antibiotic rod made out of cement-like material inserted as a non-supporting replacement and a cast put on his leg. The infection proved to be a stub-born one, however, and his leg was not healing. “I needed to have a fixator put on my leg, but the doctors had thought we would need to do a muscle wrap and a skin graft first because none of the skin on my leg was healthy enough to attach it,” Chuck said. “So I had to go see a plastic surgeon next.” A fixator by definition is a device that provides rigid immobilization of a fractured bone by means of rods attached to pins that are placed in or through the bone. So Chuck was referred to one of the best people for the job - Dr. John Sontich out of Cleveland who puts in

Blessing in Disguise . . .

“ . . . I’m glad it happened . . .”

Free | May 2009 7

Back Cover . . . (Top) Denise (Ewing) Repella as a child with her mother, Dorothy and young-er brother, John, then again as an adult with her young daughters (l to r) Hayley, Holly and Heidi. (Below) Sue (Diddle) Giambroni with her mom, Jean Diddle Perkins, posing for a photo taken with her on Mother’s Day, then again as an infant with her mom and grandmother, Lila White in 1959. Fi

rst F

ree M

etho

dist

Chu

rch

1626

0 S

t. C

lair

Ave

nue

Eas

t Liv

erpo

ol, O

H 4

3920

(330

) 38

6-63

99fi

rstm

atri

xmin

istr

ies@

yaho

o.co

m

Tribute to women & mothers . . .“She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction

is on her tongue.

She watches over

the affairs of her

household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children

arise and call

her blessed;

her husband also, and he

praises her:

‘Many women do noble

things,

but you

surpass them all.’

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD

is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

~ Proverbs 31:25-31 (NIV)

Pastor Steve Forsythe and his wife, Carol, have been serving our church for eight years. He has been a pastor since 1981 and joined the Free Methodist church in 1992. Steve and Carol met in college at Toccoa, GA in 1977 and they will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this June. In addition, they have three daughters and three granddaughters. Pastor Steve has many hopes for the future of our church. He believes that there is a deep hunger in the hearts of our people to experience something more than they are currently experiencing in their relationship with God. He feels this will be discovered as more people come to see: how

deeply God loves them, what it can be like if they fall “head over heels” in love with God rather than just really liking the one who is sparing them from hell, understand the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and find an active role in ministry. Our goal as a church is to get outside of the walls and impact our community and world.