Remember: Readers share history of Methodist Church

Rhea Corrion shared this photo of Methodist Churchs first board members from 1923 or 24. Contact Cathy Cottrill if you know the names of any of these people.

BONITA SPRINGS Thanks to Doris Ruth Wollam, Rhea Corrion, Judy Supinie and Kathy Schmitt, we now know quite a bit about one of the communitys most historic church.

Corrion was kind enough to send a history of the chapel that was the original Methodist Church.

The building was the original building for the current First United Methodist Church of Bonita Springs on Shriver Avenue, said Corrion. The house behind the chapel was the parsonage.

Corrion shared several church-related pictures. One features the first board members from 1923 or 24. Unfortunately, she did not know the names of the members, but Im including it today in hopes that someone can identify them. If you know anyone in the photo, please contact me.

The other photo is of the miniature model of the chapel that rides in the Bonita Springs Fourth of July parade each year, sponsored by the First United Methodist Church.

Wollam, whose parents once ran the Wayside Inn on what was then called the Tamiami Trail, has fond memories of the cozy little church. She was 12 years old when her family moved here in 1942 and she recalls helping to teach Sunday school at the church.

It was so nice in that smaller church, said Wollam. I remember the old-fashioned Sundays when we sang the old songs. It was so wonderful.

This is the original First United Methodist Church of Bonita Springs on the corner of Shriver and Crockett, said longtime resident Judy Supinie, a frequent contributor to this column. It was built in the 1920s and has since been added onto. I think the Matheson family was involved with the early construction. I am not a member of the church but drive past there often and at one time my precinct used to vote there. Currently they graciously allow the New Chorale of Southwest Florida, of which I am a member, to use one of their rooms for rehearsals.

Kathy Schmitt provided quite a bit of history about the churchs formation. Heres an excerpt:

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Remember: Readers share history of Methodist Church