PEORIA MAGAZINE October 2023

Members gather at Blue Ridge Church, 22426 N. Blue Ridge Road, Edelstein

third of the graves there are Nurses,” said Brian Nurse, 73, who drives with wife Sue from their home in the Quad Cities to attend services. “We come down every Sunday,” he said, adding that he prefers the cozy confines of the Blue Ridge chapel to the church near his home. Nurse point ed to the stained-glass window at the church depicting the “Blue Ridge pio neers,” which was made in California and presented to the church in 1961 by his grandfather’s brother, “Dr.” Frank Nurse. The doctor title was bestowed on Frank Nurse as an erudite man who spoke five or six languages, said Nurse. The cemetery carries special meaning for Meyer, who recalls walking through the graveyard after every church ser vice as a child. “It was just something we did,” she said. The cemetery also has been the site for an annual Memorial Day service “since Civil War days,” said Meyer. “Peo ple will gather around the flagpole there and sing ‘God Bless America.’” Other Blue Ridge traditions have fallen by the wayside as the congre gation has declined. The Blue Ridge Men’s Group, which disbanded a decade ago, used to hold an annual pancake-and-sausage breakfast that

always proved popular, said Meyer. The church still holds an annual sausage sale in the spring, she said. RURAL RESILIENCE The Blue Ridge faithful haven’t given up. An open house will be held at the church at 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 with refreshments. “We want to bring in other families, people who want the church-family feeling,” said Blair. The congregation also will hold its third annual vendor event at the Pearce Community Center, 610 W. Cedar St. in Chillicothe, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18 (the day when Chill icothe holds its Santa Claus Parade) to raise money for the church. “That’s the time when we have a Blue Ridge bake sale. We do good there,” said parishioner Sally Snyder. Ellen Donsbach, who got married at the church 33 years ago, is already busy planning a Thanksgiving dinner program, while Peggy Hicks works on special programs to supplement the Sunday service once each month. The program for the last Sunday in August featured a talk by Kristin Schmidt, who’s been teaching orchestra students in South Peoria for the past 12 years.

Carolyn Blair said it’s important to maintain Blue Ridge Church despite its dwindling congregation. “There are reasons involving histo ry and family, plus I think the small country church still has a place in this world,” she said. “Some of the younger people prefer a megachurch where you don’t have to hold a hymnal and read off a screen, but we still do it in the traditional manner. I know they have bands at some of the other churches and we’ve had performers play here, too, just not all the time. “We just had someone come back who said they’d be coming every week. We want to do outreach programs to find others and welcome them in.” It’s the kind of rural can-do spirit that has defined and sustained this small country church in Blue Ridge for 182 years, and counting.

Steve Tarter is a Peoria Magazine contributor who was born in England, raised in Boston, moved to Peoria to attend Bradley University and decided to stay. He has spent a career in journalism and public relations

OCTOBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 11