When this Sunday’s Tea Time Concert performer was held up by traffic, the Calvary Presbyterian Church had another musician ready in the pews. Jon Samos led the crowd in a sing-along of “Amazing Grace” while twenty or so locals waited patiently for this month’s feature act, Sam Alberts. He soon arrived and serenaded the wood-paneled church with his banged-up classical guitar and thoughtful original songs. Alberts, who recently moved to Bolinas, informally took a few questions from the enthusiastic audience and sheepishly accepted a 15-year-old’s excited praise. “I brought my own bowl for the chili,” Mary Barror whispered during a break in the music. “Sharon makes the best chili.”
Good music and Sharon Glasson’s famous chili are staples of the church’s third Sunday concerts, which have raised $3,000 for a new foundation for the church. Bill Quist, a local pianist, came up with the idea of one fundraising concert, and Mimi Calpestri, a church member, suggested a monthly event. Since November, nine local musical acts have performed. In coming months, the church will feature Jeff Manson and the Gospel Flatters, Beth Carusillo, Magi Barror, and Molly Maguire.
Former Reverend Bob Grove, now retired, poured a lot of energy and goodwill into the events. The church’s one or two-dozen members gladly accept donations for the foundation in a box behind the pews, but they are not required.
Yet replacing the entire foundation will cost far more than $3,000. A bid from 2009 came in at $52,000. Now, Gary “Pine Tree” Marseiles, a church member who makes small repairs and has spearheaded the project, presumes the cost will be substantially more because of inflation and ongoing deterioration. Local engineer Paul Krohn drew up plans for free, but the church still needs a new bid. Pine Tree has no idea when the money will come together, but has faith that it will. “When the community needs this church, they’re here,” he says. “How many other 144-year-old community buildings are there this beautiful around here?”
The church, built in 1871 on Gospel Flats, was rolled into town on redwood logs in 1898. Over a century later, those very same redwood logs are now rotting and need replacement. The front beam already collapsed once, though it has since been repaired. “You could feel yourself bouncing in there,” said one churchgoer on the state of the small kitchen and office above the beam. In the long run, the entire foundation will be replaced. Each floor joist will be attached via treated lumber beams to a retrofitted concrete foundation.
Ideally, the foundation would already have been replaced, but for now, the small church is working slowly and steadily towards its goal, and the monthly musical gatherings have drawn supportive local crowds, noted Signy Coleman, who grew up in Bolinas but only recently moved back. “There is an incredibly strong sense of people pulling together and looking out for each other,” she said.