Roadside chapel restoration

Published 9:21 pm Monday, December 31, 2007

SULTAN — The hard work is over. It’s time to celebrate.

Volunteers on Sunday plan to rededicate the Wayside Chapel, a tiny chapel that just received a face-lift.

Robert Forbes, a Monroe High School senior, spent about six months restoring the tiny chapel that had been damaged by vandals. Forbes, 17, said he completed his Eagle Scout project on Dec. 22 with help from others.

Locals consider the white building off U.S. 2 west of Sultan one of the smallest chapels in the country. The more time he spent in the chapel, the more he got to like it, Forbes said.

“Just how small it was, I thought it was interesting. I haven’t seen a chapel that small before,” he said.

New Hope Fellowship in Monroe owns the chapel and plans to pay $600 for the renovation. Volunteers in the community always have taken care of the chapel, which at most can hold about a dozen people, said Brad Patti, a church member. A dairy farmer dedicated the chapel on Oct. 12, 1962, the same day as the devastating Columbus Day windstorm.

“Just the fact that anybody pays attention to it and tries to make it look as good as possible is much appreciated,” Patti said.

Forbes originally thought he could finish the restoration within a few days. But it required much more effort and time. Vandals had busted apart the pews inside the chapel and scribbled graffiti all over.

“It was a lot more than I had expected,” Forbes said.

The project taught him how difficult it is to restore such as small chapel and how much it means to many people, Forbes said.

“I feel great,” he said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.

Gather at chapel

Robert Forbes of Monroe and others plan to rededicate the Wayside Chapel, which they recently renovated, on Sunday. The chapel is a few miles west of Sultan off U.S. 2. The event is open to the public.