Harrington News

Sunday, March 16, the Harrington Church of the Nazarene honored Gene and Elaine Cronrath by presenting them with the Distinguished Service Award in the Sunday morning worship service with many of the family present, including Joel and Wendy Cronrath, Mark and Kathi Cronrath and Ruth and Dan Fromm, and nieces Julie Zellmer Miller, Brent and family and Joy Zellmer Jarrell, Dave and family.

Gene Cronrath was born April 10, 1924, the fifth child of Ernest Cronrath and Frieda Buhl Cronrath, who had married June 16, 1910 in Ritzville. The couple farmed near Roxboro, west of Lind, for a number of years and then moved to a farm east of Ritzville until 1929, when they moved to the E. C. Scott farm near Harrington. Gene's folks took him to church at the Zion Rocklyn Methodist Church until 1938 when the Harrington Church of the Nazarene was organized. Gene, 14, and his sister Ruth, 11, were the youngest charter members; today, Gene is the sole living charter member of the church. Since 1938 this has been Gene's home church. Many a summer, Gene would spend time at the Nazarene church camp, Pinelow, which is where he became a Christian.

"Nazarene District Buys Camp Site. The Northwest Nazarene district, Friday, completed a deal whereby they purchased a camp site on Deer Lake, to be used primarily for youth camps. The site includes 40 acres on the lakeside; the area is parked, has many trees about the grounds, and is equipped with electricity. There are 18 cabins and a caretaker's house. Three drilled wells furnish the water, and although water is not piped into the cabins, there are several standpipes about the grounds. Included in the deal are 35 can't sink-'em boats. Rev. and Mrs. George Eplin and Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Cronrath of Harrington drove up to the camp last week Thursday to inspect the grounds before the papers were signed. The camp is 40 miles north of Davenport, and about 68 miles north east of Harrington." (Citizen: 9-27-1946)

Gene observed his father serving the church in various activities, such as the gathering of ice for the ice house at the church camp and was later employed to help build the dining hall, cabins and tabernacle. The youth of the district volunteered to clean up the camp grounds and rake leaves in 1947 in preparation for the district to have its first use of Pinelow following the purchase.

Some years back Gene wrote a few biographical statements for a Focus on the Family program, in which he wrote: "We had close neighbors to the north-Schultzs and then Teels on the Star Barn road and Morses just ¾ mile east of Teels on the Star Barn Road. The Teels were our close neighbors only one mile away. Steve Teel and I played with each other often. We would make crystal sets we could listen to by earphones. I can remember farming on my own. I never had horse power like my Dad did. My first tractor was a crawler. It was a TD14. I had one International pull machine which I control run to the tractor to run the header. Later I had a self-propel. One year I grew peas in the flat north of the home. Elaine and I were married September 20, 1952. We raised all our kids on the Scott Place. When my folks moved to the Scott Place there wasn't any electricity out that way and later on we put in a Delco system and had 32 volt electricity with 16 glass jar batteries, two volts each until Washington Water Power put a line out our way from the Star Barn."

Eugene Wesley Cronrath is a quiet, unassuming man. Many have teased them over the years that Elaine must have talked Gene into marriage since Gene is a man of so few words. Frances Elaine Zellmer was born Sept. 25, 1933, first child of Walter and Frances Zellmer, also charter members of the Harrington church. Gene attended his 12 years of school in the old Harrington schools while Elaine was educated primarily in Davenport. When they married, they remained in the Harrington Church of the Nazarene. They were the parents of three sons and one daughter, each raised and nurtured in the church. Their eldest son, Jared Cronrath, was unable to attend this service. In addition to their own children, Gene and Elaine took in foster children over the years. Gene was a farmer, and enjoyed the busyness during the summer season, and faithfully recorded the weather for Harrington. Gene drove school bus during the 1970 through 1997 years. Elaine worked in the home health care industry in later years.

Gene and Elaine served the Harrington Church of the Nazarene in a variety of positions. Elaine loved working with the younger children and frequently taught their Sunday School class or worked in the nursery. She also served as mission president and served on the church board. At various times through the years, Gene and Elaine hosted a Bible Study in their home. One year Elaine went with a Work and Witness team to Guatemala to help build dorm rooms at a Bible School and help in whatever capacity needed. Elaine spent years training to be a deaconess within the Nazarene church. Although Elaine sometimes played the piano for services, she preferred to sing of the Glory of God. Although she did not like the attention of performing, she was always willing to use her talents in the service of her Lord. Gene fulfilled roles just as necessary but less conspicuous, as a faithful Sunday School secretary, keeping the statistics and updating the programs for the individual classes. He served as a trustee and board member, doing tasks that are so essential to the proper functioning of a church and its parsonage. Although they receive this service award, the real reward will be to hear the Master say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant". At the conclusion of the service, guests were invited to share coffee and cinnamon rolls in the social room.

Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band

Friday evening's introduction was given by President Mark Stedman after a brief summary of the recent projects at the opera house. The event at the Harrington Opera House brought out about 100 people to enjoy the music and humor of the performance "Foggy Dew Western Review", featuring the trio, Jennifer Epps, Lauralee Northcutt and Judy Coder, with Dave McClure, cowboy, poet, pianist and witty author. "Seeing is believing", or so they say, but that is well the truth with this performance. Dave created this show around the theme of it being performed for the fictional KMOO radio station, and involved the audience in dialogue and cheers for the "radio audience" which by the end of the performance was so convincing that one needed to be pinched back into reality; this is 2014. As advertised, the humor and wit were fit for consumption by a family audience; and the audience responded well and quickly to his jokes and puns. The Western Music Association recognized the Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band to be the best trio of the year, but within the last several weeks before the performance, Judy Coder from Kansas was added to replace a former singer in the group. Although they had known each other in previous years and had sent recordings back and forth prior, these three women had only been together as a trio for less than ten days. Those in the audience that did not have this information would find it difficult to believe that they could bring such harmonizing together in such a short time span. They seemed as natural together as any traveling group that has made an appearance. Judy, a former music teacher, most recently had been singing opera, yet she is a champion yodeler. Many in the audience were delighted with the amount of yodeling by the trio. The diverse program offered something for everyone. Jennifer Epps played the harmonica for many of the numbers, truly excelled with her yodeling and also played the recorder and percussion snare drum. Lauralee and Judy played guitars, one as fast as the other. Lauralee Northcutt is a bass player with over 20 years of experience, having a BA in music with emphasis in folk music. Among her other talents, she is an accomplished writer, educator and songwriter.

The Horse Crazy Cowgirls invited Linda Wagner to the stage, and once she arrived they broke out in "Happy Birthday". A portion of McClure's humor included his role as Dr. Dee, the Wizard of Western Wellness. He offered Birthday Control Pills, warning that you don't want to stop birthdays, as that can be fatal. Dave McClure made mention several times during the evening that he had been in college with Robert Mielke. The music and evening was so enjoyable, the audience could only hope for more. Many of their songs were originals, while others were well-known: The Weaver, Gonna Paint the Town, New Day, Cowgirl Blues, Home on the Range and Take Me to San Antone. Interspersed among the great musical talent were the "news" and "advertisements" for KMOO Radio Station.

Following the performance, CDs were available for purchase, some from the former trio, and many recordings by Judy Coder prior to her joining this group. Some of the songs brought laughter, such as "I Didn't Know The Gun Was Loaded". If the audience truly wanted more, the group was to perform in Ritzville on Saturday night. When CDs become available by this new trio, they will be posted on their website: http://www.HorseCrazyCowgirlBand.com .