August 2018 Oak Island Update 2970 DeVilbiss Ln, San Antonio, Texas 78264

A Word From Our Pastor

Dear Friends

As we approach the 150th anniversary, I find myself thinking about those eight

founding members of this congregation and what they would think about the

church and buildings today. So much has happened over the course of 150 years,

so much has changed, and yet in many ways much remains the same. We are still a

congregation that gathers each week to praise God and give thanks for this com-

munity and share our concerns with one another.

Generous hearts and generous lives make up the congregation of Oak Island

UMC. Just last week, I was standing outside the entrance admiring simultaneously

the artwork of the stained glass window designed by Betsy Kliewer and the mas-

terful work of Dean Kliewer in the design and placement of the Methodist symbol,

the cross and flame, outside the door. One family, two generous hearts, that have

left a permanent mark on the Oak Island church. And I was reading about Chloe Ste-

vens, African American slave who nursed the wounded of both sides during the Battle

of San Jacinto. What a remarkable woman of great courage and loyalty. And then

after emancipation, “Aunt” Chloe stayed with those she had cared for and was a

founding member of the Oak Island Church. And each week, someone gives or does or

provides in this place. Just in the last couple of months, we have had Vacation Bible

School, filled with hard workers and enthused children and also diligent work from the

150th celebration committee and the history and archives committee as we begin to

put the final details in place for the celebration.

What a remarkable legacy we have here at Oak Island. In these lazy, hazy, crazy days

of summer let us give thanks for those who have given so much to make Oak Island all

it is today. Thanks to the many who keep this place going, past and future. 1-4 Listen, dear friends, to God’s truth,

bend your ears to what I tell you.

I’m chewing on the morsel of a proverb;

I’ll let you in on the sweet old truths,

Stories we heard from our fathers,

counsel we learned at our mother’s knee.

We’re not keeping this to ourselves,

we’re passing it along to the next generation—

God’s fame and fortune,

the marvelous things God has done. –Psalm 78:1-4 (The Message)

Peace,

Pam

Pastor Pamela Everhart and Hus-band Todd Everhart

IMPORTANT DATES:

9/23 150th Celebration

9/11 Missions 6:30

8/21 & 9/18 History & Archives

8/21 & 9/18 150 Planning

9/16 Mens Breakfast

9/21 Meeting Alamo Grange

Every Wednesday– Kids Night Out Beginning 9/26

Every Thursday– Women’s Bible Study– 6:30 Beginning Sept

Every Monday– Bible Study 10am-Beginnning Sept 10

Journey Through time in Wor-ship service 9/9

SERMON SERIES

August Sermon Series: “Now Hiring Disciples”

August 5: Now Hiring: Must be Humble and a Team Player John 6: 24-29; Ephesians 4:1-16

August 12: Now Hiring: Must be Patient, Honest, and Kind

Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25-5:2

August 19: Now Hiring: Must Make Good Deci-sions, Sing Joyously

Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15-20

August 26: Now Hiring: Birdwatchers, Doorkeep-ers, Lifesavers

Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20

AUGUStUSHERS

5– June Johnson

Pete Mendoza

Jacob Hurtado

Eloisa Hurtado

12– Buddy Overstreet

Karen Overstreet

Cheri Forsberg

Sandra Fuentes

19– Jerry Jones

Tammie Jones

Buddy Overstreet

Karen Overstreet

26– Pam Kosler

Becky Deremer

Smokey Martin

Penny Martin

aUGUST Liturgist

4– Janie Deans

11– Cindy Mangum

18– Eloisa Hurtado

25– Lynda Barton

SEND YOUR NEWS TO

Samantha Wilkins

Phone:

210:838-7892

Email: sanitawx4@gmail.com

BAPTISMS

Luke Andrew Nieto

was baptized and sister

Jasmine Lizette Martinez

celebrated the remembrance of her baptism

With front of their friends, family, and Oak Island family

They are the children of Luke and Mari Nieto

August 23 at 1:00 PM

Bill Millers Bar B Que

Hwy 16 South and 1604

Always Remember:

4th Thursday 1:00PM

COMMUNITY LUNCHEON

As each Sunday rolls around we miss those who are such an important part of our church family and are una-ble to come and worship with us. The following names are a few of our church family that is ill, folks that have recently been hospitalized, those that are now unable to drive and some that are undergo-ing medical tests and treat-ments. We love them all and want them to know they’re missed and we are praying for them.

Willie Mae Wheaton

David Glenn

Margie & Gil Mulholland Lucy Mendoza

Peggy Beck

Mary Lou Clegg

Lillian English

Christi Rudewick

Earl Bly

Marian McOsker

Peggy Oppelt

Tom Forsberg

Genevieve Guerra

Mary and Johnny Guerra

Sylvia Henley

Lovelle Nord

Mary Lou Gil

Joey Glowka

Stewart Johnson

Beverly Hoadley

Adrianna Yelton

Stewart Allen

Bud Knight

Epi Alvarado

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU FROM OAK ISLAND!

8-10 Karryn Overstreet

8-10 Melissa Dodson Segovia

8-12 Ernest Cervantes

8-13 Pete Mendoza Sr.

8-14 Norma Overstreet

8-16 Mary Fair

8-18 Jacob Hurtado

8-18 Norman Slaughter

8-19 Mary Lou Clegg

8-20 Christi Slaughter

8-22 Dean Kliewer

8-23 Alex Carter

8-23 Jim Oppelt

8-23 Jason Talbert

8-25 Kenneth Gayle

8-25 Leroy Rankin

8-28 Adele Neill

8-28 Kathryn Honesto

8-29 Richard Kurz

8-30 Mike Stuart

8-30 Will Fair

8-31 Rozlynn Dominguez

8-31 Claude Aaron

8-31 Conner Lee Turk

8-31 Daniel Wilkins

PRAYERS AND CONCERNS

August

8-1 Amber Wright

8-2 Vanessa Hutnyak

8-2 Ann Stone

8-3 Lois Merl (Peggy) Beck

8-3 Cathie McLaughlin

8-4 Russell Munoz

8-4 Chance English

8-5 Kacey Seifert

8-8Jeni Marie Macias

8-8 Sylvia Henley

8-8 Zachary Wilkins

8-9 Alex Carter

UMW Commemorative Plate Sale

As we prepare for the 150th celebration of Oak Island the UMW will be selling Commemorative

Plates . These beautiful plates will display a picture of both sanctuaries on Oak Islands

Campus along with noting the 150th celebration and dates

See The Bible Come Alive

Bible study will begin on September 10th at 10 AM, meeting at OIUMC in the bride’s room every

Monday. This study will be led by Phyllis Allen with help from Stewart managing the audiovisual

DVD. We will start the year continuing with the Ray Vander Laan series, “That the World May Know”.

This excellent series illuminates the historical, geographical and cultural context of the sacred Scrip-

tures. Filmed on location in the Middle East, the faith lessons transform our understanding of God

and challenges us to be true followers of Christ.

Each week, we begin with prayer, a short introduction to the DVD, watch the DVD, discuss the lesson

and end with prayer concerns and an ending prayer. We end between 11:30 and noon, you are en-

couraged not to miss a lesson because you are “running late”, just come! If you have to leave early,

we understand that scenario, too. You can borrow any DVD lesson you miss, if you wish. Phyllis and

Stewart have taught this series in other churches they’ve belonged to in their travels and it is a very

well-liked Bible study. Newly retired? Start a new, beneficial-to your-spiritual- life- habit! Call (210)

626 1780 if you have any questions. Bring a friend and talk to the others who have been coming, we

get so much from this DVD series and our discussions.

PLATES will be $20

Order yours TODAY

Orders can be placed on

the sign up sheet in the

narthex or bought at the

150 celebration on

September 23.

At this time we will not

be shipping orders but if

you are out of town and

interested please send

Administrative Board Minutes– June 14, 2018 6:30 PM

RECORDING SECRETARY: Eloisa Hurtado

Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER. (Mark Oppelt): Tom Forsberg called the meeting to or-der and opened with a prayer as Chairman Mark Oppelt was running a little late due to an event at his office. Administrative Board meets on a quarterly basis (22Mar/14Jun/13Sep/13Dec) with called meetings in between if necessary. 2. PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES (Eloisa Hurtado): Eloisa passed out a copy of the last Administrative Board minutes from March 22, 2018. Everyone took a few minutes to read and review meeting minutes. There were no corrections to the minutes and Irene made a motioned to accept meeting minutes approved as written. Oscar se-conded the motion. All voted by saying “aye”. Motion passed. 3. TREASURER REPORT (Pam Kosler): Pam passed out a copy of the Oak Island UMC Budget Report Year to Date thru June 10, 2018, and explained the financial transac-tions such as building maintenance on the septic lines, fire extinguishers, exit lights and miscellaneous expenses for the Nursery. John made a motion that we accept/approve Treasurer’s Report. Sandra seconded. All voted by saying “aye”. Motion passed. 4. MEMBERSHIP REPORT (Pam Kosler): Merlee has resigned as Membership Chair-man. Pam Kosler will pick up the duties as Interim Membership Chairman. She will de-cide if it is a job that she can continue to do. If not, this position will be filled by the Nominations Committee for the term starting in January 2019. 5. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION REPORT (Ellen Russell/Vicki Chumbley): Samantha report-ed that Janey Deans will be the VBS Director and the theme will be Shipwrecked at Oak Island. VBS dates are scheduled from 24-28 June 2018. Janey has been meeting on a weekly basis with the VBS crew to plan and prepare for this great event!

6. MISSIONS REPORT (Sandra Fuentes): Sandra reported that the Committee has de-cided to accept only enough food for the Food Pantry to prepare two family boxes of mostly dry goods. Committee requests that aluminum cans continue to be donated as this provides cash for families in need of gas money. The Committee has scheduled a church workday on July 21 starting at 8:00 a.m. Sandra reported that they have com-pleted 6 children’s backpacks and will be delivered tomorrow. They will continue to work on filling up more backpacks. 7. OUTREACH REPORT (Margaret Hubbard): No report. 8. UMW REPORT (Eloisa Hurtado): Eloisa reported that the UMW is working with the

Brackenridge Print Shop to High School printers to print the porcelain plates for our Sesquicentennial Celebration. The UMW honored the Oak Island High Seniors in May. They were given an inspirational book by Rick Warren (author of “The Purpose Driven Life”) entitled “What On Earth Am I Here For? The UMW sponsored four camperships to Wesley for their Summer Youth Program. The UMW is sponsoring the Oak Island VBS food items. Next UMW meeting will be in August.

9. UMM REPORT (Tom Forsberg): Tom reported that the Men are still meeting every 3rd Sunday for Breakfast and are involved in projects at the church. 10. WORSHIP REPORT (Doris Gayle): Doris reported that the Worship Committee has met and taken care of some of their housekeeping duties. One of their main concerns is starting Worship on time at 10:00 a.m. Doris has started the first Journey thru Time in June in preparation for the 150th Celebration. The Journey thru Time will continue in July, August and September. 11. HISTORY REPORT (William Scott): William reported that the History Committee has about 5 or 6 people who are dedicated to helping with the Sesquicentennial Celebration however, more help is needed. He would like to see more Church Committees get involved in preparing displays and help in the logistics of planning and executing all the details such as parking, rental tents, security, porta pottys, etc., etc. that are required for such an event. The History Committee will display poster boards of Weddings at the Chapel, Ceme-tery Association events, and old school photos. William reported that the Cemetery Associ-ation will be taking care of the food expense, therefore, the plate lunches will be free. The next Sesquicentennial Committee meeting will be Tuesday, June 19th at 6:00 p.m. Please attend as many hands are needed. 12. UMYF REPORT (Samantha Wilkins/Ryan Munoz): Samantha reported that the youth had participated in a 30 Hour Famine in April. They have gone roller skating, water skating, and attended the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. Samantha is helping the High School graduates filling out forms and preparing them for college. 13. CHILD CARE REPORT (Cindy McOsker): Cindy reported that the flatscreen TV needs to be put up in the Nursery. The Men will be taking care of that in the near future. Cindy tear-fully reported that she will be retiring the end of June. However, she will continue to help with First Aid and CPR classes. Thanks to Cindy who has been a faithful and devoted Child Care Director. Colton has been approved to help in the Nursery. 14. KID’S NIGHT OUT REPORT (Irene Nieto): Irene reported that Kids Night Out is taking a break for the Summer. However, she is planning a Kid’s Day Camp sometime this summer so that they can enjoy a fun-filled day with hot dogs, watermelon and other treats. 15. PASTOR PARISH REPORT (Todd Rudewick): Pastor Pam reported that Kathy Marbach is working with the Pastor Parish Committee and is currently researching the Staff Position Descriptions. 16. BOARD OF TRUSTEES REPORT (Frank Munoz/Irene Nieto): Irene reported that the projects in work right now are: Guy will be doing the waxing of the floors. John is working outside doing yardwork. Mike has donated and installed two floodlights outside. He will also take a look at the light in the front parking lot. The Beyer Boys are coming out on June 19th to work on the unit outside. Irene will get some caps for the plugs. Irene has had the

fire extinguishers inspected. Tiles in Fellowship Hall and some classrooms have been re-placed. More need to be replaced in some classrooms. A donation of ten birdhouses for the barn swallows have been donated which will help with the mosquito population. These will be put up on the Church Workday, July 21st. Tom and Mark will take the projector to see if it can be fixed. If not, a new one will be purchased. Irene will be reviewing the bids for the new air conditioner and selecting the company that can install before our Vacation Bible School starts. Irene made a motion to have signs made for inside the Fellowship Hall that read No Smoking/No e-Cigarettes/No Alcohol and to add a No Smoking/No e-Cigarettes/No Alcohol Policy to the Fellowship Hall rental agreement. Discussion followed. It is the con-sensus of the group that the Smoking areas outside on church grounds be relocated away from the door entrances. Smoking benches will be moved to the new designated smoking areas. Mike seconded the motion. All voted by saying “aye”. Motion passed. Irene will fol-low-up with these actions. 17. COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE REPORT (Samantha Wilkins): Samantha reported that she is looking for a new place to print the newsletter as the price is going up at Brackenridge High School. Currently 250 newsletters are printed for distribution. Samantha is looking at different options such as digital newsletters for members who prefer that option. The church website is oakislandchurch.org which has features for the church directory, com-mittee reports, newsletters, etc. Some features are password protected. It is still a work in progress. The next newsletter will come in late July/early August. More information to fol-low from the Communication Committee. 18. PASTOR’S REPORT (Pam Everhart): Pastor Pam reported that she had a good and up-lifting Conference in Colorado. She said that Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone conferences will be merging and is happy to hear from John and Sarah who attended the Rio Texas An-nual Conference in Corpus that she is assigned as Pastor to Oak Island! We are happy about that!!!!

BACKPACK BLESSING

JOIN US FOR SERVICE ON AUGUST 26

And bring your backpacks

All students/ teachers etc bring our backpack as we do a congregational blessing over the upcom-

ing school year.

It is important to remember our teachers, admin-istrators, and students this time of year as they make the transition into a new year full of new

and exciting things.

Please Remember to keep

the students in your pray-

ers as they begin the next

school year.

We bid a very fond farewell to

Crist and Becky Espenshade as they begin their life in Oklaho-ma. They have not only be-come members in our church but very dear friends.

We will miss you.

Come to see us when you can.

Congratulations to Bob Barton

as he ,family , church family and

friends rejoice in the 20th year

that Bob has been blessed with his

transplanted heart . May God

continue to bless him for many

more years.

WELCOME BABY

Marianna Lurdes Mendoza

Born August 1, 2018

at 9:29am

7lbs 3ozs, 20 inches long

Marianna is the daughter of Anna Mendoza and Great Grand

Daughter to Pete Mendoza

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER

Everyone around the church has been busy as bees getting ready for our big celebration on September

23rd. We are so proud to be hosting everyone as we celebrate our church’s 150th birthday. We sure do

hope you are able to join us. It should be a day we will all enjoy.

Some of our dear members have been pretty sick the last few months. Ed Groenke, has had a really

tough time with his health for a while now but soon he will be well enough to come back to

church . We have all been missing him but Vicki Chumbley, his wife, says he is anxious to get back to

worship and see all his church family again.

Late spring started off with Bud Kight and his problems with his health. Through good care and pray-

ers, he seems to be doing great now. So good to have his smiling face back at church on Sunday morn-

ings.

As with all families, our church family hurts when one of its members becomes ill or hurt. Stewart Al-

len has been having ongoing health problems for a few months now. He did not feel well enough to

come to church for several weeks and was in and out of the hospital a couple of times. Now, we are

happy to report he has been able to come to church for several Sundays and seems to be feeling much

better but is still on the doctor treadmill, go to doctor, go for tests, go to doctor, go for tests.

And our dear Sylvia Henley is still on the list of those recovering from health problems. On the week-

end of Father’s day, Sylvia had a bad stroke. With the help of good doctors and all the prayers, she was

able to come home after almost a month in the hospital for treatment and therapy. She is making pro-

gress and she is being prayed for to soon be well enough to get back to church. We all miss her and

love her very much.

Ron Flesher had back surgery a few weeks ago and is still in the recovery mode. Take care Ron and

don’t rush back into strenuous activities too soon. Remember-whatever-it can wait.

I guess the last one that has had illness or surgery is Mary Lou Clegg. She is now recovering from

shoulder surgery and is back at the nursing home and doing well. Mary Lou is such a good trooper and

comes through surgeries so well she surprises us all. Keep it up Mary Lou . You are loved by your

church family. Words cannot explain how sad we are to see the Espenshades move to Oklahoma. They

came into our lives, stole our hearts and now they must leave. Good luck in your new home Becky and

Crist. We will really miss you. Now let me tell you about Kathy Marbach and her summer vaca-

tion. Her son, P.J., as we know him, took his mom to Greece the first part of the summer. Oh the

beautiful pictures and the glories of Greece as we saw them through Kathy’s eyes. Other than that,

Kathy has been flying all over the U.S. for pleasure visiting her family and enjoying every minute of

it. Pastor Pam and husband Todd flew to New York City to visit their son for a week or so and really

had a super time. We all had a chance to meet their son when he was home to visit his parents a few

months ago. What a nice young man! But who would expect anything different with the parents he was

blessed with? Your newsletter editor, Samantha Wilkins, has been gone a lot this summer filling her du-

ties as National Jr. Grange Director. She has been from one end of the nation to the other end and

spends a lot of time in the air. Our prayers are with her as she continues to do a wonderful job.

Another one of our church family that has been doing a lot of traveling is William (Bill) Scott.

He also has been from one corner of our country to the other, traveling with his job and for vacations.

He and wife Julia, along with little daughter Lilly, are expecting a new little girl to become part of the

family. Little Cora Mae will be joining the fun toward the end of August. Nothing like a new little arrival

to keep things hopping. Especially with Lilly as a big sister. We are certainly looking forward to our big

birthday party on the 23rd of September. Sure do hope you will be able to join us as we prayerfully

acknowledge the grace of God to allow us to exist and grow for 150 years. Who would have dreamed

150 years ago that the little picket church, which was organized by John Wesley DeVilbiss with only 8

members, would still be around after all this time. Please come and help us celebrate. If you are read-

ing this, you are part of our present and we will all be glad to see you.

Until next month. Joey Glowka

Remember When? No not many of us-even the oldest– were around when our little church was started back so many years

ago. One hundred and fifty years ago ,to be exact. Thousand of feet have trod into and thru our little rock

church since that day its doors were first opened by circuit rider John Wesley DeVilbiss. But do not let us get

ahead of ourselves.

The land where our church now sits was not the first place our roots were planted. Near the Medina River

someplace off Jett Road , near the curve, John Wesley DeVilbiss and men of the neighborhood constructed a

little church made of logs and mud and a roof of boards and sod. There were only eight people that formed

this first little church which we now know as Oak Island. It was known as The Oak Island Methodist Episcopal

Church South. Many have asked thru the years, “Why Oak Island”? Well, the answer passed down thru a

century, was that when the little picket church was first organized it was built under a group of oak trees.

Well where does the Island part come in? That’s easy too. When it rained ,water surrounded the little struc-

ture and it sat on a little island. This was the very beginning of our little church.

Not long after, Mr. Jesse Applewhite saw the need for a new church, a school and a cemetery. So he gener-

ously provided and donated the land. This land is where our church is now located . In its beginning it was

on a little road named Rockport Road. (And as a surveyor, John Wesley DeVilbiss ’ yes our John Wesley DeV-

ilbiss’) surveyed a good part of the road As times alway does, changes came about and then it was known

as Highway 1518 and now it is 1604.

Now back to the roots of our story. After the land was donated, the little rock church , now known as our

DeVilbiss Chapel, was constructed by the men of the community and a group of friendly Indians, who also

lived in the area, and were friendly to the whites. The rock and the clay were provided from the land in the

area and brought to the site by slides and oxen.

First, the church was built and school was held in the little church for a while until a school could be built

across the road . Later (date unknown) it was decided the old school needed to be replaced and a new 3

room school took its place. It was then a Bexar County School and under the finances of the county. There

are a few of us in the area that are still here to tell its story. It educated children first thru 8th grade, and I

believe possibly thru the 10th grade long ago. When they graduated they attended high schools first Somer-

set, then to Poteet and some went to Brackenridge and South San in San Antonio.

In 1950 it was voted on by the community and we were consolidated with Somerset. All but a few of the

students, in lower grades went to Somerset, and they later also were moved to Somerset. Somerset Trus-

tees returned the care of the building and the house, which had been provided for the teachers, to our

church. Our church kept it for a while, continuing to use it, as before, when it was the school, Sunday

School, Bible School and community activities were all held in the old school. You must remember the only

building at our church, at that time, was the little rock church known as Oak Island.

As time passed by the little school needed so many repairs our little church could not afford its upkeep and

sadly it had to be torn down. The teacherage was rented for a while but soon it could not be afforded and it

was sold and moved away. These are sad memories for the end of an era that will never be forgotten. But

time marches on and changes must become a necessity. The only thing left are the memories and the little

concrete drinking fountain. The little drinking fountain that also quenched the thirst and filled the canteens of

soldiers as they made their long physical training hikes from the San Antonio bases down Rockport Road and

back up Applewhite Road to their base. The excitement was out of bounds for the kids attending school that

day. Just to see the troops fill their canteens and lie under the trees on the school grounds to rest was so

special to all the young children that knew all about the war.

This all took place before the advantage of TV and all the visual accounts offered by TV. Their view of the

war was watching the anxiety of parents and grandparents huddled around the battery

radio and noticeably upset. Or when the pursuit planes practiced their dog fights above their home diving

toward each other above their heads as they played outside.. Or the horrors of a pursuit plane crashing in

the neighborhood right down Applewhite Road in a pasture just south of Rockport Road and killing the pilot

or pilots. Dear sons in the neighborhood families were killed or made captives by the enemy. This is why the

young men that marched along the road and drank at our fountain were so marveled at and caused such ex-

citement. Not Superman or any of the other comic strip heroes. Of course they were our heroes too but

the real heroes were these young men that were marching and resting on our school grounds getting

ready to go to battle to save our country and our freedom.

As all the chaos in the world swirled around in the heads of the children, they all did what little they

could do to help the war effort. Not much in the way of help and I wonder if it was really a help or just to

get the children involved. Everything was rationed and we had rationing books with the amount of

stamps each person was allowed. One of the things that was so scarce was chewing gum. That was sent

first to the service men and the left overs were sold to the citizens. We were taught to peel the little

metal wrapper off each piece and save it. We would take our little wrapper insides to school where we

would roll it into a ball altogether and save it for the war effort. Some schools taught their boys and

girls to knit and knitted blanket squares to be combined and make blankets for the service men and

women.

Oh what a different world we are living in from the days a century ago. No place on the internet or in

the history books will you find the uniqueness of life in Oak Island during the early days of this past cen-

tury. And yet here it all happened in the Oak Island neighborhood. Can you imagine wild donkeys run-

ning around the school and the older boys catching them and trying to ride them? Or hot air balloons

floating overhead with their pilots yelling from above to the people below and shouting for them to catch

the rope and pull them down. Or what about an army plane landing near a big melon patch, loading a

bunch of melons from the field and not being able to get off the ground because their load was too

heavy. Damaging the plane to boot. Carefully unloading the plane and putting the melons back to hide

the evidence before calling to have the plane hauled in for repair.

This terrible world War 11 came to an abrupt end with the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. This was a

terrible thing to do, but at that time, it was felt it was a fair retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor de-

stroying many of our naval fleet and killing so many of our good American sailors.

Now you are wondering what this has to do with our church and school history, As you know, the atom-

ic bomb was developed as “The Manhattan Project” by brilliant scientists, mostly in a lab in New Mexi-

co. One of the scientists (Judson Swearengen) that helped develop it, was a man of many talents and

one of his talents was that he was a brilliant scientist. He was born and raised in our community. I don’t

know if he attended school at Oak Island School or not ,but wherever he got his education , he must

have been a brilliant scholar. Just don’t know if he attended our little Oak Island Church but most at

that time, knew him as a friend and neighbor when he was growing up. Coming to our Cemetery Associ-

ation bar-b-Q’s made him well known to a lot of the people in our local group. During his last years he

traveled with his wife from Dallas to attend those days when possible. He had chosen our little cemetery

as his final resting place and you will find his black headstone near the back of the DeVilbiss Chapel.

Now to finish up this story, we explained how the Island in our name came to pass and the oaks and

little picket church near the river were surrounded by water , but what about our present location?

There were only mesquites on the land right where our church is located. In the early 1990’s it was de-

cided we needed to plant a few oak trees. The word was sent out that we would be asking for anyone

that wanted to donate an oak tree in memory of someone to please join in the project. Oak trees were

donated by the dozens and we had more oak trees than you can imagine. That folks, is the spirit and

love in which our church has always been blessed. From oak trees to a new sanctuary, our friends are

always there to keep the little brown church in the wildwood alive and thriving. As witnessed by the fact

that the congregation moved into a new sanctuary , completely debt free, right down to the last hym-

nal. By Joey Glowka

August 2018 ISSUE

OAK ISLAND UMC 2970 DeVilbiss Ln San Antonio, TX 78264 210-624-2401 Rev. Pamela Everhart

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage

Paid

Von Ormy, TX

Permit #8

150th Celebration September 23 10am

HAPPY

150th

BIRTHDAY

OAK ISLAND