Help to Repair Ahpeatone Church

Ahpeatone Church damaged during storm.
By: Jennifer Carroll
How much is a memory worth? How much is a lifetime of memories worth? And how much effort should we put into keeping old memories secure while working toward making new ones? Our church is facing a hardship in preservation right now and we are trying to find a way to fix it.
Our old – historic church building lost part of its roof in the storm a few weeks ago.   A new roof is out of the question – the building is too old, too big, and a new roof too costly but a perhaps a patch in the roof could be done if we can find the dollars to do it and finding the dollars is where we need help.
The Ahpeatone school house, once a thriving school and the very center of community life, is now on the backside of history but it still has a story not yet ended if we can keep on keeping on.
The building, as it stands today, was built in 1931. This, in addition to a  grade school building, housed students from lst grade through 12 and gave the students attending a good solid small school education.  The floor of the old gym built a few years later, at one time held the feet of a championship basketball team as well as many years- worth of graduating seniors from its completion through 1957 when the last senior left to make his way in the world.  Classes through 8th grade continued until 1963 when the school closed and became a memory.
BUT – the church,  the Ahpeatone Baptist Church, which began in the 1940’s, and used the school’s study hall for Sunday services,  did not close its doors when the school ended and continues today with a small congregation – no preacher – but it has two active Sunday school classes where the Bible is opened and taught to the best of our abilities each week. 
The church has been the home to a variety of  events through the years  from weddings to funerals, revivals, baptisms,  family reunions, class reunions, 50th anniversary celebrations, wedding showers, birthday parties, church dinners, Christmas/ Easter celebrations, homecomings  - laughing, sharing, bible studies, all the things an active church offers -  a safe place that allowed the  coming together of many people… and now the continuation --is threatened-- all because of a storm and a hole in the roof.
The storm hit two weeks ago when hot August weather gave way to a summer thunderstorm…..  It came from the West and hit hard. It blew away two barns in the community and then carved a 15 foot hole on the roof of the church  on the East side which means there was wind circulation – a tornado and the damage was done.  The old building has weathered many storms throughout the years but this one hurt… As the only caretakers of the building we are struggling with how we can repair it.
Throughout the years we have patched and re-patched the roof – repaired the ceilings, repaired the windows, painted the walls, installed the pews, carpeted the sanctuary, installed bathrooms, and tried to preserve the building as best we could.  This time, however, the cost of repair is more than a few people can meet.  Working through six layers of old shingles, weak rafters and 90 years of use we have a challenge ahead of us trying to  preserve the memories of Ahpeatone -- past  - present -- and future by keeping the church open.
We have begun a Go Fund Me Page for anyone who might have a special association with the school or our church -  If you would like to help, donations can be set to:  David Gammill - church treasurer @ P. O. Box 280, Grandfield, OK 73546 or use:  Go Fund Me/ Help Repair the Ahpeatone Church. Any donation will be used immediately and appreciated.
Time marches on and the last chapter of Ahpeatone, I hope, has not yet been written ---so I will answer the question for you as to “what is a memory worth ?” ---- it is priceless.