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By John Barlow
Staff Reporter
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 As settlers established the west, the cornerstone
of every community was the school and the church.
The residents of Davisburg have worked for more than four years to rebuild the cornerstone
of their community which overlooks the homesteads from its familiar perch on the
hill.
The Davisburg Church revitalization project is 90 per cent complete as the once-abandoned
church will begin hosting weddings and other events this summer.
'I hated to see the thing neglected,' said Rodger Blackwood, a church trustee. 'Our
idea was to save it, enjoy it and make use of it.'
The church has hosted a fund-raising pancake breakfast every summer for five years.
The breakfast has helped raise money to restore the 110-year-old church. This Sunday
from 9 am to noon, the church will again host its annual fund-raiser and everyone
is invited to see the bright new church.
Volunteers labored to build the church in 1888 and 1889 on land donated by Herb Starkey.
David Thorburn, Morris Stewart and John Irving were the original trustees of the
protestant church which was part of a mission congregation of Sheep River, High River
and Davisburg.
Many descendants of
the original families who built the church remain in the area.
Theresa (Irving) Berglund is also one of the trustees who helped restore the facility.
'It is a good old historical site with some great memories,' said Berglund.
The province recently declared the Davisburg church a historical site and granted
the board of trustees funds to rebuild the church.
As Blackwood, Berglund and other residents began the reconstruction, memories and
stories their parents had told them came flooding back.
Blackwood told of the difficult task volunteers had in digging graves during a Canadian
winter.
'People always seemed to die in the winter,' recalled Blackwood. 'The grave diggers
were having liquid refreshments and resorted to dynamite at times.'
Or there was the time the entire congregation was snickering at the preacher who
was obviously perplexed why his service was so humorous on this particular Sunday
morning. The preacher did not notice the mouse that was sitting attentively on the
pulpit in front of the preacher.
Although Davisburg Church was primarily a Protestant church, many Catholics also
attended simply because they had no place else to worship.
'One resident who attended the church went to St. Mary's School and he was told the
sin he committed was that he went to a Protestant church,' chuckled Blackwood.
There are many stories to be told of the quaint church which was boarded up after
its final service in 1958.
The residents wanted to ensure the church would be a part of the stories and memories
of future generations.
After receiving the provincial grant, the trustees enlisted the help of the original
homesteading families to assist in restoring the facility.
Berglund said the response was a blessing as the donations, from as far away as Ontario,
almost matched the provincial grant.
Even new families to the area who did not have family ties to the historical site
chipped in.
A stone outside the church reads, 'To the memory of the pioneers of the Davisburg
district.'
More than 100 years after the original homesteaders built the church, their grandchildren,
great-grandchildren and their friends and families came together to keep that memory
alive.
The trustees have been scouring antique auctions looking for furniture to complete
the restoration. The coal burning lamps in the church were stolen and they are looking
for hanging lamps to replace the ones that were taken.
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