It Happened in Crawford County: New Washington church makes good use of a special gift
Ivan and Bertha Langjahr had a vision for the half-acre green space they owned adjacent to St. John’s Lutheran Church parking lot in New Washington. That vision started to come to fruition as their estate was being settled. On Jan. 31, 2016, St. John’s accepted the property as a gift to the congregation.
Ivan had passed away Jan. 22, 2015, leaving three daughters — Roxann Cramer, Janell Benner and Angela Schiefer. His wife Bertha C. (Schwaderer) Langjahr had passed away Nov. 16, 2012, at the age of 96. The couple were lifelong and active members of St. John’s Lutheran Church. During her lifetime, Bertha compiled an amazing history of the church that was published some years ago.
St. John’s Lutheran New Washington had a rich and early history with a little group of people meeting in the home of Adam High in 1834. Early members were Adam High, George Donnenwirth, Philipp Gangluff, John and George Shaffer, Martin Winter, Adam Kahler, Jacob Lederer and others.
How the transformation of the half-acre lot came to be
In 2017, Janell Benner, as president of St. John’s Council, started the ball rolling by forming a task force. In addition to Janell, Emily Ehresman, Jim Gardner, Pastor Tom Pairan, Carl Rader, Danelle Schneider, Irene Springer and Barb VanOrsdall started to brainstorm ideas for uses of the half-acre green space.
One of those ideas was to construct a shelter house. That idea became reality when on May 27, 2018, St. John’s dedicated its new “Outdoor Worship and Activity Center.” The dedication was the culmination of many months of dreaming, brainstorming, planning, fund-raising and building, led by the “God’s work. Our half-acre. Task Force.”
Once again, Janell rallied the task force to brainstorm ideas for using the shelter house. Starting a farmers market was one of the ideas that became a reality. As a Community Outreach Program, St. John’s held its first market on June 6, 2019. What an awesome program it has been. It is now in its fifth year of operation. Ivan’s obituary said he loved to eat, particularly Bertha’s cooking and baking. The market certainly is fitting to that cause with all the wonderful food sold there.
The Dutchtown Farmers Market currently runs from the first Thursday in May through the last Thursday in September. Vendors offer a variety of items including flowers, plants, flavored popcorn, baked goods, violets, Avon products, honey and honey products, wind chimes, rugs, flower arrangements, homemade cards, wooden items and much more. Produce is offered at the shelter house. Food is served including soup, sandwiches, macaroni salad, potato salad, chips, pop, water, Rader’s vanilla ice cream and root beer floats.
In 2023 a special group of people were honored monthly including first responders, veterans, kids, teachers and farmers. Benefits were held to help those in need of medical assistance. Part of the funds raised from the farmers market benefit organizations in our communities, including the Bucyrus Backpack Program LLC, Buckeye Central Community Lions Club, New Washington Veterans Memorial park and the Dutchtown Hometown Christmas.
“God has blessed us to be able to go from my parents’ vision to be a blessing to others," said Janell.
Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: St. John's Lutheran Church uses a gift of land as a way to give back
