Freeville United Methodist Church celebrates 175th anniversary

Melanie Allen is a longtime village of Freeville resident. Born in Miami but raised in the village, Allen is frequently involved in the community.

Allen has been a member of the Freeville United Methodist Church (UMC) for 65 years, which is the longest for a current church member.

“This village was filled with kids, so there were a lot of them here,” Allen said, who first attended a service at UMC when she was five. “They had a big Sunday school and a big youth group.”

Allen’s time with the church is within the 175 years that UMC has been a part of the Freeville community. UMC was organized in 1848, and it was reorganized in 1874 when the church filed a new certificate of incorporation with Tompkins County.

UMC will be holding a 175th anniversary event from 4 to 6 p.m. Dec. 9. The celebration will include songs, stories and soup. Village Historian Kristen Olson will provide a presentation on the history of UMC through photos.

“It’s fun for me to see the celebration and see everybody working together in the community,” Allen said.

UMC previously called 66 Main St. its home. Then, in 1891, the church moved to 39 Main St. Prior to the move, a parsonage was built in 1878 at the church’s present location.

Freeville United Methodist is one of two churches in the village. The other, which is called the Temple of Truth, was founded in 1895.

“People love their history and what they’ve done,” said UMC pastor Penny Sutterby, who’s been with the church for four years. “It’s exciting to see everything that’s going on and everything that’s been done in the past.”

Before Sutterby filled the role of pastor, roughly 10 pastors have come through the church in its history. Every Sunday in the church, Sutterby preaches Wesleyan theology and more.

“It’s exciting to be part of this church and its traditions,” Sutterby said.

Allen noted that UMC has been big on mission work through the years. This includes a food pantry, a free Thanksgiving dinner annually, Christmas gifts for families in need, donations to foundations, free supplies for local teachers and students and more. 

“It was a fun church. There was always something going on,” Allen said.

Allen noted the changes that the church has gone through over the years. Back when Allen was a child, the church brought in over 60 families. These days, Allen said it’s about seven families, but it still brings in “lots of children.”

“You came, sat down and listened,” Allen said as she described attending services while she was growing up.

The church has always been a big part of Allen’s life, and the tradition of being in the church began with her parents. It’s a good reason, Allen added, why the church has been around for 175 years.

“I’m proud we’ve made it this long,” Allen said.

Dryden Dispatch appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Local meetings this month 

The Dryden Town Board has two meetings this month, on Dec. 14 and Dec. 21. Both meetings begin at 6 p.m. The public is invited to attend, or people can watch it via Zoom.

The Village of Dryden Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet in person at 7 p.m. Dec. 20.

Book club to meet on Dec. 19

Jennie’s Book Club is slated to meet at 10 a.m. Dec. 19 at the Southworth Library on 24 W. Main St. in the village of Dryden.

The club will be reading “Christmas Bells” by Jennifer Chiaverini. Inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem of the same name, the novel celebrates Christmases past and present.

For information, go to southworthlibrary.org.

Southworth Library offers preschool storytime

Preschool storytime will take place every Friday this month at 10 a.m. at Southworth Library in the village.

The schedule for preschool storytime is as follows:

• Dec. 8: Chanukah Stories — Chanukah Lights Everywhere
• Dec. 15: Gingerbread Men — Gingerbread Friends
• Dec. 22: Holiday Story Fun — Assorted Holiday Titles

Enjoy stories, crafts and songs for toddlers, preschoolers and their families with library director Diane Pamel and staff. Each family will receive a free book.

Go to southworthlibrary.org to register for preschool storytime.

Registration open for Shooting Stars program

The Town of Dryden Recreation Department has opened registration for the Shooting Stars program.

Shooting Stars is a co-ed, in-house basketball program that aims to teach kids about basketball basics through games and skill-building activities. Program participants will learn to dribble, shoot, pass and play basketball.

The program is for children in kindergarten through second grade. It will run on Saturdays between Jan. 6 and Feb. 10 from 9 to 10 a.m. at Dryden High School.

The cost for the program is $20. To register, go to drydenrec.recdesk.com.