Big Creek Church- A Culmination of community

“The coil of the work is soon forgotten, but the memory of the accomplishment will live forever.””

Joan Cook

Sunday, Aug. 7th, the Former Big Creek United Methodist Church had their annual fundraiser, along with a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new restrooms. The church has a rich history in the Big Creek area, and is located on County Highway BC, northwest of Sparta.

The Former Big Creek United Methodist Church was built in 1874, with a majority of the community donating their time, skills, and labor to build it. Due to a declining membership, the congregation deeded the building to the Monroe County Historical Society in 2003. The church history and atmosphere serve as a historical reminder of a day gone by in rural America.

Jackie Everson, who helps organize and schedule events for the church, said they rent out the church for weddings and events. “We also have a horse barn gathering area for receptions and events,” Everson said.

Sunday’s event was highlighted by a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new restrooms. Larry Hutson, who is part of the group that takes care of the church, talked about how this community has always just come together and made it work for that building. “Everyone donates time, skills, and labor to get things done and upkeep the building, it has always been neighbors and friends working together to pull it off,” he said.

Thanks to a significant donation by Richard Willgrubs, they were able to purchase materials for new handicap accessible restrooms. Before that, there was just one old outhouse that has reached its capacity. The donation was enough to cover the materials, but who was going to find the time to make it happen?

Step in were The Five Shovelmen: Jerry Kast, Jim Cook, Reinhard Mueller, Al Jenkins, and Kerry Schumann. The Shovelmen have done various projects throughout the Sparta area, including building six bridges, Mueller Square in downtown Sparta, the Kriskindle market booths, and much more.

Mueller spoke about why this project fit right into their portfolio, stating that in 2006, Joan Cook, who had passed away in June of 2019, came to Reinhard with a project for the Bracket valley school. Through her he met Jim Cook (Joan’s husband) and that became the evolvement of the five shovel-men. Over the next few years they added Kast, Jenkins, and Schumann.

“In the background of all of these projects was Joan, who was always very inspiring,” Mueller said. Mueller emotionally recalled at one of the bridge dedications in Sparta, a few years ago, Joan spoke and said, “the coil of the work is soon forgotten, but the memory of the accomplishment will live forever.” Joan was very involved with the Big Creek Church and spearheaded bringing the church under the care of the Monroe County Historical Society. Mueller said, “It’s because of Joan that we did this project.”

The Shovelmen built the new restrooms over the past few months and they got to cut the ribbon at the ceremony on Sunday. Hutson joked, “We had thought about cutting toilet paper instead of ribbon, but we decided that may be a little over the top.” The new restrooms are now open for business.

The church rents out their facilities for weddings and other events, hosts their annual fundraiser, and has a church service there once a year around Christmas.

On the grounds at the church, they have the small church, the horse barn in back, and new handicapped accessible restrooms. For rental information, call Jackie Everson at 608-386-0677.