6 minute read
Christian Women
In 1959, Brooklynite Lenny Lipton was a 19-year-old sophomore at New York’s Cornell University.
One spring night, the engineering major planned to meet for dinner with his friend Lenny Edelstein, a campus pal who roomed with a folk-music-playing student named Peter Yarrow.
To kill a little time that afternoon, poetry-loving Lenny wandered over to the library at the Cornell Student Union—and consequently changed his fortune.
There he selected a volume of poems by humorist Ogden Nash. (Lipton had always been drawn to Nash’s droll, playful works.)
One particular Nash creation caught Lipton’s eye. “The Tale of Custard the Dragon” was a 1936 tale that involved the end of childhood, something which had been on Lenny’s mind as of late.
He re-shelved the book and headed for his friend’s house in the Collegetown
area. As he strolled into town, Lenny created his own poem about a dragon, an imaginary and ageless creature named Puff, who lived for a while in the heart and mind of a young boy named Jackie Paper.
By the time Lipton reached the Edelstein-Yarrow house, his verses were fully formed, and he wanted to write them down before they faded from his mind. Nobody was home, but the door was unlocked, so Lenny let himself in, rolled a sheet of paper into Peter’s type-
writer, and typed furiously for three minutes to create “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Lipton then left his poem in Yarrow’s machine and promptly forgot about it.
Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
In a land called Hana Lee
When Yarrow saw the work later, it struck him that Lipton’s words could easily become a catchy folk ditty.
Yarrow wrote it as “Puff (the Magic Dragon)” and, once he became a part of the supergroup Peter, Paul and Mary, he began including the fantasy yarn in the fastrising trio’s act.
In early 1963, Yarrow made sure that Lenny received writer’s credit when the melancholy tune became the first million-selling single for the trio.
Strangely, Lipton had forgotten all about his offthe-cuff creation about what would, in time, become the world’s most beloved dragon.
Lipton later blamed some Puff problems on gossipy New York journalist Dorothy Kilgallen, who in 1964 charged that Lenny’s ode contributed to the growing drug culture.
Eventually rumors spread that Jackie Paper referred to rolling papers for marijuana cigarettes and that Puff meant taking a “puff” on a joint.
When asked about the real meaning, Lipton scoffed. “The Puff story is really just a lot like Peter Pan. [It’s about the] loss of innocence and having to face an adult world…I find the fact that people interpret it as a drug song annoying.
It would be insidious to propagandize about drugs in a song for little kids.”
In Peter, Paul and Mary concerts, as Peter Yarrow picked the opening guitar notes of “Puff,” he would sometimes smile and explain, “This is a song about a dragon… It’s not about anything else…Just a dragon…”
Lubbock Christian Women’s Connection Luncheon, “It’s a Turkey Trot,” is set for Nov. 8 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Lubbock Country Club, 3400 Mesa Drive.
Men are also invited to the event.
The program will be Bill Fuller speaking on “My Pilgrimage to Freedom.”
A special feature will be Leslie Glenn with Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers.
RSVP by noon, Nov. 4 to lubbockCWC@gmail.com or to Sharen at 806-392-0264.
Cost for the luncheon, program and door prizes is $20.
Celebracion 2022 features a retrospective of works from artists which will be on display at the Buddy Holly Center, 1801 Crickets, through Nov. 13.
Celebracion is an annual invitational exhibition of artwork that explores the history and meaning behind Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
An ancient way to celebrate the souls of the departed, it is observed each year in Mexico around All Souls Day, Nov. 2.
Page 4 • November 2022 • Golden Gazette St. John’s United Methodist Church awarded Texas Historical Marker
Representatives from the Lubbock County Historical Commission and St. John’s United Methodist Church announced that St. John’s has been awarded an official Texas Historical Marker.
A celebration of the occasion begins with a worship service at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 13 at the church, 1501 University Ave., followed by the unveiling around 11:30 a.m. and catered lunch in the church’s Garden Room.
The service also will stream on YouTube and Facebook.
An RSVP is required for the lunch by calling the church office at 806-7620123 or online at www. stjohnslubbock.org.
“I’m thrilled that St. John’s is being honored with a historical marker,” said Rev. Josh Stueve, senior
pastor at St. John’s. “As we reflect on our past, we are inspired to move forward, serving the community of Lubbock through the love of Christ.”
St. John’s history began at the 1939 Annual Conference, when Bishop Ivan Lee Holt announced that a new Methodist Church would be established near the campus of then Texas Technological College.
The 14-year-old college boasted a record enrollment of 3,896. Texas Tech students, faculty and staff were almost 15 percent of the Lubbock population of 31,853.
The need for a church to serve Texas Tech’s Methodist faculty and students was widely discussed.
Preston Smith, who would become a charter member of the new church, was approached about lending the
Tech Theater at College Avenue and 13th Street for services until a building could be built.
The Rev. R. Luther Kirk was appointed to “the church that was not,” and the first service was held at the theater on Dec. 10, 1939. About 65 people attended the service.
In January 1940, stewards and trustees set about the business of organizing and financing the new church. St. John’s continued to meet in the Tech Theater or occasionally in Seaman Hall, the Episcopal student center.
Construction began on a building in June, when the church took out a loan for $6,000. With contributions and additional financing, the final cost for the lots and building at 14th and Ave. X was $8,914.
W.L. Bradshaw, professor of architecture who had also designed Lubbock High School, designed the new church and supervised its construction.
Throughout World War II and the post-war years, St. John’s experienced tremendous growth and was in a constant crisis of inadequate facilities, at times drawing a congregation of 1,000 at a building designed for 250. Planning for a new, larger church began as early as 1944, when lots were purchased facing College Avenue at 15th Street.
Groundbreaking for the first phase of a new building was held on Sunday, July 15, 1951. Several ministers participated in the ceremony, while music was provided by the church organist playing from a flatbed truck.
James G. Allen, chair of the building committee, turned the first spade of dirt along with the presiding ministers.
The first service in the new building was on Sept. 2, 1952, held on folding chairs in the fellowship hall since the sanctuary was not included in the initial building phase.
As the congregation expanded, the physical pres-
ence of St. John’s was enlarged to include Sunday School rooms, a sanctuary enlarged multiple times, choir basement, green space enclosed as the Garden Room, all culminating in a major renovation of the sanctuary in 1991.
An excerpt from the church’s 75th anniversary celebration notes, “From the beginning, St. John’s has been a congregation with a tremendous sense of civic responsibility and deep concern for those in need in Lubbock and the world.
“In its 75 years, the church, through organized outreach efforts; groups such as United Methodist Women and United Methodist Men, youth groups, and the dedication of individual members with passion for a cause has helped countless individuals and groups.”
