Day 79: A Historic Church

In my town as a kid I remember visiting a cool church that was at our local museum. It is not the biggest marvel of technology, but it is still very cool to see. In 1944 a LaPorte man was spending Christmas hemmed in at the Battle of the Bulge. As the bombs rained down on him he made a promise that if he made it back home he would make something that embodied the spirit of Christmas. This is the result of his efforts. He modeled the church after a real one in Lowell, Indiana. It is a scale model with every inch on the model corresponding to a foot in real life. The inside of the church holds 167 dolls in the congregation that sit in their pews waiting for the choir of 28 dolls to march in. Thirty two dolls sit in the choir loft as well. When you add the minister that equals 228 dolls. Now I am a grown man, and dolls are not my thing. This church though was great to see as a kid, and reading the story it was nice to see again today. Otto Giese used to display it in front of his business here in town, and now it sits at the LaPorte County Museum for all to see. As the people in the church sing their Christmas songs you really feel the spirit of Christmas. I think that Otto accomplished his mission. The church has seen many renovations, but the feeling is still the same. As it celebrates it’s 65th anniversary it is still surrounded by people curious to see the mechanics involved.

On my drive back home this morning I stopped just north of Monon to get some pictures. I really had fun, and love some of the results. I also took a few more pictures at the LaPorte County Historical Museum today that turned out okay. With this blog I can only post one so I thought that I would post the others online so that more people can see them. They are in two spots. I have a Facebook page for Pinola Photography that has the overflow pictures that don’t make this site. I also have a Flickr page with the same pictures on it. If you want to see more from my fun day both sites have the pictures on them.