History Highlight March 2022
Room Names - Part VII
Hardy Hall
This month, the “Room Names” series ends with Hardy (Parish) Hall. 
Hardy Hall
Hardy Hall (originally called Hardy Parish Hall) was dedicated in 1925 upon the completion of the construction of our current church building (the previous Meetinghouse having burned down in 1923). It is named in memory and honor of Phineas Hardy, one of the earliest settlers of Hollis (living in Hollis from 1751 until his death in 1813), who was an important early member of the church.

The March 2021 And the Rest is History provides a detailed and interesting history of Phineas Hardy and his descendants all the way through the current day with the Hardy family who owns and runs Brookdale Fruit Farm. For those who missed the March 2021 edition or would like a refresher, please go to https://hollischurch.org/and-the-rest-is-history-march-2021-edition/ to read it.
BOV Renovation Changes to Hardy Hall and the Kitchen:
Hardy Hall and the kitchen underwent some of the most major renovations as part of Building Our Vision (BOV). Those renovations included addressing safety issues, fixing some significant maintenance issues, upgrading the AV system, creating a commercial-grade kitchen, improving traffic flow, and more. 

Hardy Hall and the kitchen were both “gutted”. This involved asbestos abatement, replacing the 100-year-old grease trap and removing the unfinished vent in the kitchen, removing the stage platform and curtain, removing the hazardous east- and stage-staircase egresses, removing the large closets flanking the stage, removing the old windows, and moving walls/ceiling support to eliminate the narrow entry into Hardy Hall. 
Click on the images below to see photo albums of Hardy Hall
and the Kitchen before BOV.
Before BOV Hardy Hall Photo Album
Before BOV Kitchen Photo Album
Click on the images below to see photo albums of Hardy Hall
and the Kitchen "gutted" during BOV.
Gutted Hardy Hall Photo Album
Gutted Kitchen Photo Album
The new kitchen has almost everything new: appliances, cabinets, racks, sinks, cookware, etc., and is now commercial-grade allowing for an expanded role in supporting food ministries. Hardy Hall has been revitalized as a bright, large, and airy functional space suitable for a variety of uses.

Changes to Hardy Hall include:

  • New windows, doors, flooring, lighting, cabinets, artwork, and piano
  • Stairs directly from the Meetinghouse and a much wider entry from the hallway
  • New AV system providing assistive hearing improvements for hearing-challenged members. This includes a large TV/monitor for streaming, Zoom, and presentations.
  • The old stage area is now a flexible storage space/additional seating space with large rolling doors to hide stored tables and chairs (all on new roller carts for setup and teardown ease).
  • Opens directly to the new Squires Community Patio, creating an indoor/outdoor gathering space. The doors and windows looking out to the patio provide significantly more light in Hardy Hall as well as a fire safety approved exit for the lower level of the church without installing a sprinkler system.
Click on the images below to see photo albums of Hardy Hall
and the Kitchen after BOV.
After BOV Hardy Hall Photo Album
After BOV Kitchen Photo Album
If the Walls Could Talk (Hardy Hall Through the Years):
While Hardy Hall has been relatively quiet over the last two years due to COVID-19, during the years since its dedication in 1925, it has bustled with activity. Hardy Hall (combined with the kitchen) has been the home to so many church-related activities, filled with laughter and fellowship, sometimes debate and even tears, depending on the event. Take a trip down memory lane… Close your eyes and try to imagine Hardy Hall FILLED with people: hear the sounds of people talking, laughing, giving presentations, and debating; sounds of music – singing, piano, band instruments; sounds of dancing – a square dance caller and feet shuffling, sounds of kids high-pitched screams of joy and laughter during youth group games, smells of food cooking and/or being served, tastes of garlic bread and spaghetti, chili, warm apple crisp. I visualize the welcoming sights and feel the sensation of warmth, fellowship, happiness, and love…
Here is a list of some church-related Hardy Hall activities over the years
(I’m sure there are more):

  • Receptions: Confirmation Sunday, Ordination (Charity Jean Omartian), Farewell to leaving ministers, Welcome to incoming ministers
  • Mission Trip Work Camp: Info meetings, Spaghetti supper fundraisers, Yard sale fundraiser
  • Christmas Fair: Luncheon and entertainment/caroling, raffle baskets, shopping
  • Sunday School/Youth Group: Sunday School classrooms, Confirmation & Pre-Confirmation classes/meetings, Youth Groups (Pilgrim Fellowship, JYG, SYG), God Times Drive-Ins, Youth Group Lock-Ins, Youth Group Service and Lenten Projects, Cookie and Pie baking for food boxes and shut-ins, Ash Street Shelter dinner prep, Caterpillar/Monarch Butterfly lessons of rebirth, Children Sunday and Christmas Tableau rehearsals, Funky Winter Olympics, “Refresh the Creche” project, Bell choir practices, Youth Choir rehearsals
  • Vacation Bible School
  • Meetings: All-board meetings, Annual meeting, other church meetings (joining UCC, BOV)
  • Fellowship/Celebrations/Dinners/Breakfasts: After-worship fellowship, Travel slideshow presentations, Lenten soup suppers and video classes, Labyrinth, Advent celebrations/service projects, Chili suppers, Easter breakfasts (after sunrise service), Family Bingo nights, Mardi Gras celebrations/pancake breakfasts, Rally Day picnics (during inclement weather), the 1920s-1960s monthly potluck suppers (often followed by talent shows, singing, dancing, and skits)
  • Church band lessons: The Hollis Town Band actually was started as the Hollis Congregational Church School Band and lessons for brass and woodwinds would be held in Hardy Hall.
For a photographic trip down memory lane, of church-related Hardy Hall events, see the 25 photo albums at the end of this email.
In addition to countless church-related uses, there have been many other town organizations as well as town families that have used Hardy Hall for meetings, celebrations, and activities. 
Scouts and Hardy Hall: The Congregational Church of Hollis has been the sponsor of Hollis Boy Scout Troop 12 since the troop began in 1921. As such, other than church activities, they are the organization that has used Hardy Hall the longest, right from its opening in 1925. In addition to their regular meetings, over the past nearly 100 years, Boy Scout Troop 12 has held spaghetti suppers, ham and bean suppers, and Eagle Scout receptions. Hardy Hall was even the beneficiary of a scouting project: Gabe Lewis (Charles and Nora Lewis’ son) did his “Life Project” (the step before “Eagle Scout Project”) by repainting the Hardy Hall stage area. The local Cub Scouts and the Girl Scouts also have used Hardy Hall for their meetings, celebrations, bridging ceremonies, and fundraisers over the years. Late church member Thelma Pollard was extremely active in leading the Girl Scouts of Hollis, and if alive today, I’m sure could tell many-a-story about the Girl Scout activities in Hardy Hall.
Click on the images below to see photo albums of some of the Scouting events
held in Hardy Hall through the years...
Click image above to see album of Boy Scouts
1968-2021
Click image above to see album of Girl Scouts
1985-2014
Other Organizations and Individual Use of Hardy Hall: Hardy Hall has served the town well for its nearly 100-year existence, providing space for these many activities:
  • AA Meetings
  • Hollis Women's Club Mtgs
  • Apple Festivals
  • Funeral Receptions
  • Fashion Shows
  • Harold Hardy's 100th Birthday Party
  • Preschool and kindergartenten
  • Red Cross Blood Drives
  • Hollis Historical Society Mtgs
  • Strawberry Festivals
  • Veterans Day Receptions
  • Summer Plays
  • Hollis DAR Centennial Gala Celebration Luncheon
  • Luncheons, Socials, and Teas
  • Wedding Receptions – including Nancy Parkhurst Bell, Phyllis Simonds King, and Susan Spellman [daughter of Thelma Pollard]
  • Couples Club (the 1950s – 1970s?) – included square dancing, line dancing, and dinners in HH, plus activities outside the church. THE town social club!
Click on the images below to see photo albums of some of the events mentioned above
held in Hardy Hall through the years...
Click image above to see album of Special Celebrations in Hardy Hall: 100th Birthday Party, 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration, and Wedding Receptions
1952, 1967, 1968, 1987
Click image above to see album of Kindergarten Graduation and Pre-School in Hardy Hall
1983
Click image above to see album of Strawberry Festival Hardy Hall Activities
2012-2019
Click image above to see album of Memorial Service/Funeral Receptions
2015-2016
Hardy Hall As Remembered By Others:

I had the privilege of exchanging emails and speaking on the phone with several members of the church who shared some of their Hardy Hall memories. Here is a collection of some of those exchanges:
Nancy Bell: “Some memories from the early 1950s include Church Suppers and Easter Breakfast. At that time the kitchen was located under Emerson Chapel. I remember going to church suppers with my Grandparents, Hazel and Nelson Parkhurst. These were baked bean suppers. Plus, there were other kinds, like a potluck. My Grandfather liked to have apple cider vinegar on his beans, so he always carried a small bottle of vinegar in his suit coat inner pocket. Easter breakfast was always a big breakfast done by Charlie Dow and other men in the church. They arrived hours before sunrise to do the cooking. In the 1950s Hardy Hall was divided into 8 separate cubbies for Sunday School classes with movable partitions. The preschool kids had Sunday school class in the present Deacons Kitchen.”
Ann Siglin: “I remember it [Hardy Hall] was a very busy place. The stage was not used as storage but used for many musical programs and skits and the stage curtains were used. The floor was hardwood and there were curtains at the windows. The wall to the kitchen was wallpapered. During those years the Hollis Pre-school and Kindergarten were located in the church before they moved to their present location. They provided kindergarten before it became public in the public schools. My daughter attended pre-school and kindergarten there. We had more church dinners and many times a table was set up on the stage to give more seating. I think I remember that Thelma Pollard held daughter, Susan's wedding reception in Hardy. I used Hardy whenever I needed to have all three children's choirs meet together. The hardwood floor was covered with carpet, I believe, when the renovations to add the elevator were done. [There was a] stairway through the door, that came down from upstairs, which was the main way to get to Hardy. That [stairway] was removed when the elevator went in.”
Marilyn Wehrle: “My husband (deceased) headed the board of trustees at the time [when] it was decided to update Hardy Hall, replacing the old-fashioned hanging light fixtures and put in the recessed ceiling with fluorescent lighting, which remained until our BOV changes. The windows were improved, too, from basement-looking windows. My mom and I went to a big fabric store in Keene to purchase the velveteen drapery material to have a new stage curtain made. And wallpaper was chosen for the end wall (kitchen). The hardwood floors remained. Hardy Hall, as you know, was used regularly. It was the monthly meeting place for the Hollis Women’s Club. Many a tea party and luncheon took place there. A fashion show for which I played piano comes to mind. For many years, it was the all-purpose meeting or program space. The Anna Keyes Powers chapter DAR held their centennial gala celebration luncheon there.”
Carol Birch: “As a youth and teenager, I recall attending Girl Scout and Cadette meetings under the leadership of current church members Nancy Birch and Marilyn Wehrle (along with past members Marge Anderson and Jane Hall), and assisting with younger Brownie and Junior troops in HH. The stage was perfect for the step-up/bridging scout ceremonies, church skits, shows, and speakers. Our Junior High "P.F" (Pilgrim Fellowship now known as Youth Group) frequently met in HH. In the 1970s & '80s we also had many wonderful church Easter sunrise service full breakfasts and pancake breakfasts (with many cooked by men of the church) pot luck meals, and Boy Scout spaghetti suppers in Hardy Hall as well as Christmas Fairs that extended throughout the church building. I do recall participating in at least one square and line dance event in HH as a teen but can't remember the occasion. In more recent years there have been many other events. For example, Youth Groups gatherings including the extensive "Refresh the Creche" construction project and our Funky Winter Olympics, Youth (overnight) Lock-ins, Sunday School, labyrinths, F&H events such as Ordination celebration, Friday Night Socials ("The British are Here" to welcome the Rasmussens, a Mardi Gras dinner), Mardi Gras Pancake Breakfasts, Advent Celebrations, pot luck meals, talks & slideshows, musical performances, funeral receptions, church meetings, Mission Trip and Boy Scout Spaghetti Suppers, and just before the Covid pandemic, a 60th Anniversary Party for a couple from our church family.”
Thank you to all who helped me in my research by sharing their memories and photos (several more individuals than those quoted above), and to the generations before us who had the vision to build Hardy Parish Hall as part of the 1925 construction so the church and town may have a space to create so many wonderful memories!
Hardy Hall Photo Albums
Through the Years...

Click on the images below to see photo albums of the many church events, activities, and celebrations held in Hardy Hall through the years...
Click image above to see album of 5th Grade Lenten Project
2012
Click image above to see album of Advent Celebrations
1980s-2019
Click image above to see album of All-Boards and Annual Meetings
2017-2022
Click image above to see album of Building Our Vision Meetings
2018-2020
Click image above to see album of Chili Suppers
2017-2019
Click image above to see album of Chimes Choir
2018
Click image above to see album of Christmas Fairs
2010-2021
Click image above to see album of Confirmation/Pre-Confirmation
2011-2021
Click image above to see album of Easter Breakfasts and Packing Easter Baskets in Hardy Hall
2013-2020
Click image above to see album of Family Bingo Nights
2017-2019
Click image above to see album of Farwell Reception
2019
Click image above to see album of After-Worship Fellowship
2008-2021
Click image above to see album of God Times Drive In
2014-2017
Click image above to see album of Children's Tableau in Hardy Hall
2009-2019
Click image above to see album of Homecoming Sunday in Hardy Hall
2015
Click image above to see album of Youth Group Lock-Ins
2008-2016
Click image above to see album of Luncheons, Socials & Potluck Dinners
2013-2020
Click image above to see album of Mardi Gras Celebrations
2014-2019
Click image above to see album of Minister Welcome Reception
2015
Click image above to see album of Mission Trip Use of Hardy Hall
2011-2020
Click image above to see album of Open Mic Nights
2019
Click image above to see album of Ordination Reception
2014
Click image above to see album of Vacation Bible School Hardy Hall Activities
2016-2021
Click image above to see album of Sunday School Hardy Hall Activities
2014-2022
Click image above to see an album of
Junior and Senior Youth Group Hardy Hall Activities
(Service Projects, Game Nights, Funky Olympics,
Ash Street Shelter Cooking, and more...)
2009-2021