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408 Old County Home Road (Next to Exxon) 505-4144 Business Owners


Have you advertised with your hometown paper lately?


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newspaper! We want to keep you informed about what’s going on in your neighborhood! We can only do it with the help of business owners like you!


Call about an ad today! 712-6117 The Leicester Community Center has a long history in the area.


By Greg Brookshire Te grounds at the Leicester


Community Center have a story to tell. Te 21 acres now including the community center, Lawter Court and Camp Forrest were donated to the Methodist church by James Gudger on March 22, 1827. Tis brought the birth of the Turkey Creek Campground. Tere was a large arbor with


benches, a pulpit, and an altar where many people knelt and came up shouting. Tere were separate meetings held for men and women. Around the large arbor were plank tents consisting of four rooms each. Te beds were straw covered floors and blankets. Te reception room had long benches and the kitchen had a fireplace for food preparation. Each year for about a week to 10 days in August, people would come from all over to worship. Tey came in wagons, on horse-


back and later in buggies and car- riages. Te Holston Methodism Volume 4 mentions meetings in the fall of 1851 where preaching was by Rev William Hicks and over 100 people were converted in a 20-hour period. By 1893 the property was in


poor condition and interest in the meetings had fallen. Te event that would end the camp meetings hap- pened that year. Two men inflamed by a quarrel got into a fistfight. Te smaller of the two was taking a beat- ing so he pulled a knife and stabbed the other man to death. Soon after that incident the meetings stopped altogether. Te property, still owned by the


church, was converted into two par- sonages, one for the Sandy Mush Charge and one for the Leicester


18 THE TRIBUNE/LEADER - December 16 - December 22, 2010 www.weavervilletribune.com


Charge. On May 1, 1957 the Leic- ester Charge requested that the land be split between the two charges. After this split took place, the Le- icester Charge met at Dix Creek Methodist Church on Nov. 10, 1957, and adopted a resolution to give the parsonage and property to the Leicester Youth Center. At the time the parsonage trustees


were Hal Wells, Donald Austin, and J. Fred Hall. Te initial Board of Di- rectors were Claude H. Rogers, Kate S. Reeves and J. Millard Shook. Te men and women listed as the origi- nal incorporators were Donald C. McKenzie, Kate S. Reeves, Claude H. Rogers, J. Millard Shook, John G. Kerr and N.A. Randall. Te activities during this time


included many for the youth of the community. To occupy their time they could participate in Lit- tle League and Babe Ruth League baseball team play, scouting for all ages, both for boys and girls, a ju- nior rifle club which was affiliated with the National Rifle Association, home economics, 4-H and Future Farmers of America clubs, football and basketball games, a dramatic


club and a host of other wholesome activities. Dr. John G. Kerr, for whom


the Erwin High football field was named, was president of the Leices- ter Youth Center for many of those early years. Te center at this time had a well-equipped kitchen, a din- ing and meeting hall, a library, and two bathrooms. Outside was a bas- ketball court, baseball field, a rifle range, a picnic area with a large bar- becue pit and a ring for horseback riding. Te center flourished as the Leic-


ester Youth Center for over 25 years when another change came. On May 24, 1985, the official name was changed from the Leicester Youth Center to the Leicester Community Center. However many still refer to it as the Youth Center. Te president at this time was J.B. Snelson and the secretary was Joann Swilling. Tis change came due to the center be- ing used more as a community cen- ter than a youth center. However, to this day, the focus


is on the youth as a baseball field, basketball court and playground are still maintained.


Leicester


Community center’s path traces back nearly 200 years


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