Bob Piper's Corner - Introduction

“BOB PIPER’S CORNER”

(an introduction - items from the Chariton Herald-Patriot)

It took me well over a year after his death to enter the sanctuary on Sunday mornings without expecting to see Bob Piper at the front door. His faithful job as head usher brought a sense of presence for me to the Lord’s Day. He was there. He was there more than I was. I would go on vacation, but Bob never did. I would go each Sunday to the pulpit Bible where he would leave highly-illegible scribbled messages noting birthdays, illnesses, special thoughts, and in the spring and summer, notes on the kinds of flowers he had helped George Dunshee pick for the morning worship. It was only as I moved to the back of the sanctuary during the final hymn that I would receive a copy of the weekly church newsletter. That was my official decision. If the newsletters had been distributed before the service began, there was no sense pretending people would listen to the sermon. They were as anxious as I to get to the newest installment of “Bob Piper’s Corner.”

Our church newsletter had no official status in those years. It had grown out of the enthusiasms of Hortense Guernsey Becker, a much-loved former high school teacher. Hortense had called me one day and asked what I thought of her starting a church newsletter. As the unofficial church secretary, I thought it fine, especially when she informed me that I would neither have to type the stencils nor run the mimeograph. It was Hortense’s idea to ask different church members to contribute to the newsletter. Various people did, but when she asked Bob Piper to write a few of his church memories, we found a surprising wealth of information. Soon people wanted to know more about the people and events Bob remembered.

After Hortense’s death, Bob took on the responsibility of the newsletter’s copy. He would scribble out his thoughts and Dannice Cox would assemble the newsletter. Oh, I would occasionally sneak in a promotional piece, but the most important material consisted of Bob’s writings. There would be a summary of the previous week’s worship, including what my sermon had been about --a good checking point for me. Then Bob presented his “corner” recollections. This was followed by his observations of the local flora and fauna he observed during his weekly Sunday afternoon ride with George Dunshee and Charles Prior.

Every couple of weeks Bob and George would mail off the newsletters to absent members and friends. The two found out that four pages, or two-weeks’ worth of newsletters, could be mailed for one first-class stamp. This was what set the mail schedule. The mailing list, however, was as eclectic as I could imagine. Bob had already started the church’s habit of sending birthday, get-well and other greeting cards to members and friends. This, along with the newsletter, were both self-sustaining projects. People would drop off either money or stamps in order to stay in touch.

The popularity of Bob’s writings had several reactions. Thanks to Yvonne Taylor, John Baldridge of the Chariton Newspapers discovered Bob’s writings. What we Presbyterians read on Sunday was available to everyone the next Thursday. People started writing to Bob with questions about their family’s history. Frequently visitors would drop into his store and ask him where to find old family homes or information on someone from the past. Occasionally a reader would inform us that a certain event didn’t really happen the way Bob had told it. I concluded that the truth probably lay somewhere between the two accounts. The real truth was that Bob Piper could tell a good story.

Along with the three “Piper Girls”, I am thankful to the Chariton Public Library staff, especially the Head Librarian, Rosemary Evens, and to Roberts Reynolds and Kristin Tyree, who have taken the time to re-copy Bob’s writings. Personally I never save the newsletters. I suppose I secretly hoped they would simply go on forever. I did finally guess that we were onto something special the Sunday morning I discovered that Bob had titled his piece, “Dead People I Have Seen at the Depot.” I had to say the Benediction just after reading that title and found myself more than a little tongue-tied.

Oh, the stories Bob told--both in the newsletter and in person! He loved to tell them and thankfully our church newsletter became a path in sharing. We in the church know the importance of a good storyteller. Anyone who is looking for accurate historical accounts probably shouldn’t read Bob’s writings. But those who want to feel the times now past will relish Bob’s accounts of life and living, over and over again.

Sara Speer Palmer, Pastor

First United Presbyterian Church

Chariton, Iowa - December 1990