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Foothills Sentry 50th anniversary


Tuesday, October 6, 2015


Salem Lutheran Church celebrates anniv


By Leann Luchinger The Salem story began in the


late 1950s. Arnold Kluender, a poultry rancher in Orange Park Acres, and his friends Ernie and Bernice Elchlepp sought permis- sion from the synod to start a local Lutheran church. By 1964 Pastor Myron Hartwig joined them. This formidable group started knocking on their neigh- bors’ doors and gathered the first members. So it was that 50 years ago, on


Orange State Farm Insurance agent


Orange State Farm Insurance agent Adam Guss (right) presented a $25,000 Good Neighbor grant to the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Orange County at a ceremony for 250 graduates of a debt termination program. The donation will prepare future homeowners for long-term housing stability, as well as assist existing ones in keep- ing up with their mortgages. The graduation was held at Argyros Forum at Chapman University, Sept. 16. Guss is joined by Assembly- man Donald Wagner (R-68th) and Cheryl Borden, president and CEO of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Orange County.


Guss (right) presented a Fabulous


Finds auction slated


The Woman’s Club of Orange


will host its Fabulous Finds auc- tion/luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 29. This event is open to the pub- lic, and will be held at the club- house at 121 So. Center Street. Start browsing at 11 a.m.; lunch is at 11:45 a.m., and the auction be- gins at 12:30 p.m. The cost is $10. The Woman’s Club invites you to bring your friends and neighbors. Questions? Call (714) 633-4835.


Doti to


step down After nearly 25 years of lead-


ing Chapman University’s growth into a comprehensive univer- sity with a rising reputation for academic excellence and faculty research, President Jim Doti an- nounced, Sept. 28, that he will step down from the presidency at the end of August 2016. Chancel- lor Daniele Struppa, named presi- dential designate by the board of trustees in March 2014, will suc- ceed Doti.


Sept. 26, 1965, Salem Lutheran Church held its first worship service – not on the beautiful property where we worship to- day – but close by, at Villa Park Elementary School. One hundred thirteen people attended. The church broke ground at


the corner of Orange Park Blvd. and Santiago Canyon Road on Aug. 4, 1968. On March 2, 1969, two worship services were held so that 700 people could attend the dedication ceremony. Church buildings included the sanctuary and some office and classroom spaces. These classroom spaces would become a dedicated pre- school by 1976. It didn’t take long for Salem’s popular pre-school to field in- creasing demand for a next step – a kindergarten. By September 1983, the kindergarten classroom doors had opened. Salem was bursting at the seams, so early


Salem Lutheran Church celebrated its 50th anniversary with a bar- beque and fellowship, Sept. 27.


in 1984 the vision for another building, with classrooms and a fellowship hall, began to take shape. By the fall of the 1984-85 school year, the first classrooms were ready. Charlotte Meyer was hired as school principal and soon after, in 1988, Reverend Doctor Paul Meyer, her husband, was called as senior pastor for the church. Charlotte and Paul were a formidable team, and they set our church vision in stone: family, community, school, wor- ship and Jesus. In 1999, Salem added its third building, which included school classrooms, church and school offices, and a large multi-purpose space. In the early days, it was no surprise to find a chicken wan-


dering in during services. Today, we see horses mosey by. We hear the roar of motorcycles on their way into the canyon, and on some Sundays, the din of cattle and equestrian competitions in the arena just below. And, for de- cades, on the Fourth of July we have been proud to offer a stag- ing ground for the Orange Park Acres community parade. A wise man once observed that,


very simply, Salem Lutheran is a small town church at the corner of Orange Park Blvd. and Santiago Road. A small town church, per- haps, but located in a big-hearted community of people. Leann Luchinger and husband


Walt have been Salem members since 1996. They live in Villa Park.


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