Fireside Chats – An Oral History of EUUC
A big, giant, huge THANK YOU to all those who made it happen.
The Fireside Chats project is winding up and I have been reflecting on how much help I have had to make The Chats a
success. It was sometime in 2009 when Marilyn Warner first suggested the Lay Ministry Team honor longtime members
of our church by recording their personal stories and remembrances. She dubbed her brainchild “Fireside Chats” and
the name stuck. Marilyn also provided the initial list of potential interviewees by age and year of membership. She
helped to make early phone calls to the participants and provided invaluable ongoing advice and moral support.
Unbeknownst to the Lay Ministry Team, Donna Warren had already been in conversation for some time with Edith Faste
regarding her own idea for recording oral histories of EUUC church elders. The synchronicity was certainly there, but
Donna never dreamed of doing a project of this size and scope. Nevertheless, she signed on to the Lay Ministry Team
project and worked closely with me to organize, schedule and plan for the Fireside Chats recordings. She prepared for
and skillfully facilitated conversations with nine groups of people over three very full days. She made phone calls for
pre-interviews as well as reminder calls – she met with me in person and by phone numerous times, as well. Donna also
purchased the original DVDs, video tapes and some snacks and beverages that were served before and during the
recordings. Donna arranged to borrow and operate a VHS camera that was used as backup video. And, along with Gail
Smith, Donna hosted the first Fireside Chats viewing in RE 1 & 2 in September of 2010.
Orlien and Margot Becker generously loaned their VHS camera to the project so we would have a back up video.
Scott Warner provided a comprehensive spreadsheet of all EUUC members which allowed us to make decisions on the
final list of potential participants. I also consulted Scott with regard to grounds keeping activities to find out if any
mowing or other yard work was planned during our scheduled recording times!
Don Snow helped to make initial phone calls and conducted pre-interviews for some of the participants. He also
generously donated his time in order to create nine versions of visually pleasing and documentary quality DVDs. I am
grateful for Don’s skillful editing. He worked very diligently with John Rutter, Norma Bruns and others to try and identify
individuals pictured in two historical photographs which were used in one of the recordings. Don also made The Chats
available to us online in order to preview as well as send to family members who live out of state.
April Cook donated the use of and provided instruction for a digital audio recorder which made a backup audio
recording possible. She also generously purchased, designed and printed 82 DVD labels for the Fireside Chats
recordings.
Susan Senft, our capable church Administrator, provided assistance with scheduling rooms and equipment, answered
countless questions and offered patient administrative support.
Sheryl Landry was the first to offer her video camera for The Chats. She was willing to let us use her personal supply of
DV tapes and volunteered to assist with converting the DV format to DVD. Ultimately, we did not use her camera for
our project, but greatly appreciated her early enthusiasm and support.
Jeff Davies was our technical advisor extraordinaire who gave generously of his time and expertise. Jeff also donated
the use of his personal video camera and tripod, two microphones with stands, a DVD recorder, a mixer and various
cables which allowed us to record The Chats directly onto a DVD. He provided hands-on assistance and taught us how to
properly connect and operate all of the A/V equipment which included a TV/monitor, DVR recorder, mixer, 2 remotes, 2
cameras, 2 microphones, 2 tripods, 2 microphone stands, 2 carts a couple of power strips and what seemed like 800
cords and cables. Jeff even drew a detailed diagram for our use, and with the patience of Job, reviewed the setup with
us many times. After recording, the disk had to be “finalized” to ensure the video could be played back on most
computer and television DVD players. So, I engaged in considerable nail-biting, finger-crossing, breath-holding and
hand-wringing until the process was completed.
Craig Wyss was the first to offer use of his personal digital camera. He even purchased extra memory cards, a card
reader and provided instruction even though we did not ultimately use his camera for the project. Craig also generously
purchased the blank DVDs and sleeves needed for duplication. Craig created more than 82 DVDs that will eventually be
distributed to participants, the EUUC Library and others.
Doug King was also involved in the early stages when we considered using still photos for documentation. He offered
advice, brainstorming and his professional photography services, if needed.
Alicia Jones, Bo Rush and others volunteered to help us with a test recording in The Friarplace. Alicia was also willing to
be the backup facilitator for a day of recordings, if Donna could not be present.
Terry Bayless provided access to and advice regarding archived materials. The banners that were prepared for the EUUC
50th Anniversary were especially useful as they allowed participants to review events and refresh their memories prior to
sitting down in front of the camera.
Kyle Gillis loaned us some DVDs from her personal collection. Those recordings of historical events were instrumental in
helping us become acquainted with past interviews and more thoroughly prepare for The Chats. Kyle agreed to provide
safekeeping for the original/master copies and an edited set of Fireside Chats DVDs. In addition, Kyle offered technical
advice and her camera if we needed it. She also spent time testing equipment with us in the RE Foyer.
Sam Spencer, being one of the first video documentarians at EUUC, generously allowed us to review some of his work.
Watching these recordings on VHS tapes inspired our questions for participants as well as the format and interview style
that we used for The Chats.
Jack Robinson showed up at church on a Sunday evening last spring (2010) to help two weary women move heavy
furniture and clean up after our final day of recording in The Friarplace.
Gail Smith tracked timelines, wrote and submitted articles for This Week at EUUC and The CommUUnicator as well as
Board Announcements. Along with Donna, Gail hosted the first Fireside Chats viewing and bought snacks for attendees
last September (2010). Gail also collaborated with Nancy Samuels and Mike Healy in order to produce a final version of
the Fireside Chats Release Form. She assisted Craig with DVD production, applied special labeling and ensured the DVDs
were safely transferred to me.
Mike Healy provided legal advice to Gail which made it possible to create a final copy of the Release Form.
Pat Meeker also agreed to have a conversation with Mike Healy about distributing the DVDs through the EUUC Library.
Nancy Samuels provided her website photo permission form that served as our original template for the Fireside Chats
Release Form. She generously offered collaboration and advice that was instrumental in creating the Release Form.
Liz Bawden put me in touch with Ruth Nelson’s family so that I could get our Release Form signed by her son who is the
executor of her estate. I was also able to send Ruth’s daughter a copy of her Fireside Chats recording on DVD.
Karen Ernst brought snacks to one of the early Fireside Chats viewings then took the time to solicit any volunteers willing
to bring snacks to the other viewings. Karen attended most of the viewings, coordinated the volunteers and also made
reminder calls to those who generously offered to bring snacks.
Joan Anderson, Margot Becker, Norma Bruns, Karen Ernst, Ellie Nicholls, Kathy Roben, Judy Scott, Gail Smith and Vicky
Webb all contributed to this project by volunteering to bring snacks to the Fireside Chats viewings.
Fireworks teachers Kirk Barker, Vicky Kleinman, Ron Kleinman and Carolyn Tucker allowed us early access to RE 1 & 2 in
order to get set up for the Fireside Chats viewings. Karen Attwood and John Davison may have been present on one of
those days, as well.
I would like to thank all the EUUC members and friends who supported this project by attending the viewings, helping
with snacks/drinks or assisted in setting up the room and cleaning up afterwards. There were many along the way who
cheered us on by offering their kind words of encouragement and gratitude.
I am grateful for the members of the Lay Ministry Team who consistently and compassionately listened, supported and
provided invaluable advice and assistance with this project over a period of many months. I would also like to thank
them for taking over my duties with regard to this project when I resigned from the team at the end of March (2011).
Most of all, I am thankful for the 38 members of EUUC who participated by generously sharing their memories and
giving of their time. Were it not for your willingness to courageously sit in front of two cameras and share your
experiences with all of us, we would not have these invaluable oral histories. Thank you for your dedication to this
church and for creating and documenting these important historical events!
I am proud of the work I did on this project and hope it has been of value to the congregation. As you can see, it took a
village to create the Fireside Chats and I am most grateful to all of you for contributing. I fear I may have forgotten to
mention some names – and for that, I truly apologize. I would also like to sincerely apologize to Estelle & Virgil Rayton.
They were asked to participate in these recordings, but due to scheduling conflicts, we were unable to include them.
I hope that, one of these days, someone will pick up the Fireside Chats baton and start ‘Phase II’. If so, I would be happy
to provide consultation if that would be helpful. In the meantime, I hope you will be inspired to write or record your
own stories for posterity and share them with others if you are so inclined.
With Appreciation,
Kristen Petrakis
Fireside Chats “Producer”