NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 3, 2013
Contact: Carol Kinney (555) 555-5555
Email:
Herkimer Reformed Church Collecting Recipes in 2014 The Deborah Circle, the Herkimer Reformed Church’s women’s group, will be collecting recipes from the community from January 1 to August 31, 2014. Members of the group will compile a cookbook that will go on sale October 2015. Marge Anderson, chairperson of the group and the cookbook project says, “Our group has wanted to do a community cookbook for a few years and now seems like the perfect time.” The year 2015 marks the church’s planned kick-off celebration of the historical and spiritual impact that it has had on the community in Herkimer. The church is planning many small community events between 2015 and 2023 that will conclude on July 4, 2023. That is the day the church has decided to celebrate its 300th anniversary as a continuous worshiping Christian congregation. “The church has been a big part of this community for so long and nearly everyone has a story about it. The cookbook is a great way to celebrate the church as a community” says Anderson. She also says that “the cookbook will feature historical facts about the church.” Herkimer Reformed Church building, sits on the corner of Main and Church Streets in the village of Herkimer, otherwise known as the Historic Four Corners. The church building that exists today is not original; three others have stood in its place. The original church building was destroyed by fire in 1757 during the French and Indian War. The second building was also destroyed during the Revolutionary War, although the exact date is unknown. The church burned for a third time in 1834, after which the current building was erected out of stone instead of wood, as the previous three building were constructed. Despite being destroyed three times, the Herkimer Reformed Church has never stopped worshiping God in the Dutch Reformed tradition on the site in nearly 300 years. It is currently a member of the Reformed Church in America, a Protestant denomination of Christianity. Herkimer Reformed Church has been on the National Historic Registry since 1972, and a few of the women from the church’s Deborah Circle were involved in that process.
The women of HRC are urging current and past members of the community to join in celebrating the Reformed Church by submitting recipes for the cookbook. Anderson suggests submitting recipes via email to herkimerreformedcookbook@gmail.com. Typed recipes can also be mailed to: Herkimer Reformed Church 102 Church Street Herkimer, NY 13350 No handwritten recipes will be accepted. All recipes must be submitted by August 31, 2014 for consideration and must contain the sender’s name, address and phone number. All printed recipes will include the name of the person and the current town in which they reside. No other personal information will be included. In the event that more than one submission for the same recipe is received, the recipe will be printed once with credit to everyone who sent it. All recipes will be considered for publication. For pictures of the church and more information about the church and the upcoming Tercentennial Celebration visit churches.rca.org/Herkimer.