By Staff
NILES – Good food and good bargains are forecasted for two upcoming activities related to the Old Rugged Cross Historic Site in Pokagon.
The first opportunity is the ninth annual Old Rugged Cross Rummage and Bake Sale, July 20 and 21, at the Michigan National Guard Armory, 700 W. Prairie Ronde in Dowagiac. With paved parking and indoor shopping, this is an all-weather event.
Sale hours are 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Friday, July 20, and 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 21. Sloppy Joe sandwiches, chips, coffee, bottled water and soft drinks will be available. And, back again by popular demand, is the event's usual outstanding selection of quality rummage and baked goods.
The event usually includes more than 40 large tables stacked with rummage, plus additional bargains displayed along the sides of the Armory's large arena. As one shopper said, upon seeing the sale's dozens of tables of merchandise, "Now this is a rummage sale."
In the second event, the Old Rugged Cross volunteers will again serve delicious home-style food daily from July 30 through Aug. 4 at the Cass County Fair in Cassopolis. The "ORC Restaurant" is in the "Grange" building across the midway from the grandstand. The menu includes daily specials as well as the traditional Sloppy Joe sandwiches and sausage gravy with biscuits.
Volunteers also will staff an Old Rugged Cross Historic Site information booth in the fair's Commercial Building, just west of the Grandstand.
The Original Old Rugged Cross Church is where the hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross" was sung publicly in its entirety for the first time in 1913. The church is a Registered Michigan Historic Site and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The facility is being restored as closely as possible to its 1913 appearance, to serve as a museum and community center for special, scheduled events such as weddings, funerals and community meetings.
The adjacent half-acre Old Rugged Cross Memorial Garden is available for weddings and other special, scheduled services, as well as for unscheduled meditation. The Old Rugged Cross Historic Site is located one block south of Pokagon Highway in Pokagon, Mich., just east of Highway M-51 between Niles and Dowagiac.
Event information is available from 269-683-4540.
Information about the Old Rugged Cross Historic Site, including scheduling group tours, also is available by writing to the Old Rugged Cross Foundation at P.O. Box 41, Niles, MI 49120, or by sending an e-mail inquiry to orcf@aol.com. The Foundation's telephone number is 269-683-4540. The Internet address is www.the-oldruggedcross.org.