The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995               TAG: 9501200194
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: Coastal Journal 
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   91 lines

CONGREGATION'S ONETIME SANCTUARY LOVINGLY RESTORED FOR USE AS CHAPEL

Even though the day was cloudy, the sun was shining inside the chapel at Haygood United Methodist Church.

The sanctuary glowed from the warmth of its new paint, a white made radiant by a touch of pink, and from its new rosy pink carpeting. Its beautiful wooden cathedral ceiling, curved support beams and wainscoting have been lovingly sanded and stained, restored to turn-of-the-century hues. The opaque church windows with just a tint of color kept out the clouds that day but somehow let the sun shine in, too.

In fact, the quaint landmark at the corner of Haygood and Ferry Plantation roads even looked bright from the outside. Its new white cypress siding and new roof were a cheerful sight despite the cloudy weather.

The historic chapel's rejuvenation is all due to a restoration that has been going on since 1992 when dedicated church member Alvis Oliver decided to have the chapel restored in memory of her husband Stanley Oliver. For generations, the Oliver family with its truck and dairy farms was a mainstay of the Bayside area and of the Haygood church congregation.

There was a time a few years ago when Bayside might have lost its historic 1896 landmark. A large modern sanctuary, built in 1964, relegated the little church to the status of chapel. The building with its steeple and dormer windows, so typical of turn-of-the-century church architecture, slowly began to deteriorate. Several years ago, it was in such disrepair that church officials considered tearing it down.

Stanley Oliver was a trustee at the time. ``Not as long as I live,'' Alvis Oliver recalled him saying.

She made sure Stanley Oliver's pledge was not forgotten when he passed away in February 1992. And now 100 or so church members enjoy early morning Sunday services in the restored chapel and the charming setting is popular for weddings.

Alvis Oliver treasures a tiny aged note pad on which Stanley Oliver's mother Alice first took it upon herself to research and write her church's history. She began with the visiting minister's salary - $72 a year - when the first sanctuary, a small wooden structure known as Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church, was built in the vicinity.

The 1832 church, replaced in 1868 with a new building, became a barn. The Oliver family's longtime connection with the church is revealed in the following anecdote. After the turn of the century W.W. Oliver, Stanley Oliver's father, purchased the wood from the barn to build a corn crib. And many many years after that, Stanley Oliver made the connection and took some wood from the old corn crib and had a cross made for the brand new church that was built in 1964.

Stanley Oliver's great-grandmother, Virginia, was a member. Alvis Oliver recalled a story that her husband told about his great-grandmother. ``He remembered hearing that she would walk barefoot to church up to a certain point,'' she said, ``wipe her feet with a towel and put her shoes on and reverse the procedure on the way home. Shoes were hard to come by then.''

By the time that Alice and W.W. Oliver and their seven children, of which Stanley Oliver was one, were attending church as a family, the present chapel was the sanctuary. To this day, Alvis and Stanley Oliver's children still use the woven wooden basket in which Alice Oliver carried each of the infant Oliver children to services.

``When Stanley grew up, one of the jobs of the boys was to build a fire in the church before services started,'' Alvis Oliver said.

She also remembers hearing about the time the church ran out of turkey at a fund-raising dinner. ``Stanley's mother told him to run home and get the ham out of the refrigerator to supplement.''

``It was a second home to them,'' she explained.

Church member Carl Tignor, a contractor, supervised the restoration of the chapel. Much of the effort can't be seen by the naked eye, he said. There was a lot of shoring up, lining up and replacing of wood. ``Now, it will hold up hopefully another 100 years,'' Tignor said.

Good news for Haygood church members and the city.

P.S. Several of you have asked how to purchase a partridge berry wreath like the one I wrote about in the Christmas column. The address is: Corinne Merrill, Wayside Gift Shop, P.O. Box 276, North Conway, N.H. 03860. I suggest you write and ask to be put on the list for her fall mailing. Then keep your fingers crossed.

WHALES, SEALS AND MANATEES are the topic of a program for children in kindergarten through second grade from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Virginia Marine Science Museum. The fee is $4 for members and $6 for non-members. Call 437-4949 for registration. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS

Alvis Oliver decided to have the chapel of Haygood United Methodist

Church restored in memory of her husband, Stanley. Now, the

sanctuary glows in new white paint, new rosy carpeting, replaced

wood and restained beams.

by CNB