St. Timothy's celebrates the season, McKinney's legacy

When Lucie McKinney and neighbors devised a plan more than 40 years ago to take a parcel of her Greenfield Hill land to establish a church, she may not have imagined that it would one day bring such joy to people of faith and serve as a lasting tribute to her late husband, Stewart, a veteran congressman from the state's 4th District.

St. Timothy's Episcopal Church on Saturday celebrated its 2nd annual FallFest at its Congress Street home, a plot of land the McKinneys donated in 1968 with the intent of establishing a house of worship. The plot has since expanded to include a multi-purpose open space and trail that abuts and connects to the Connecticut Audubon Society property.

At midday, the Rev. Matthew Calkins, rector of St. Timothy's, was ladling out servings of his own sirloin tip chili from a big steaming pot for festival visitors. The concoction was bookended by Amie Guyette Hall's lentil dahl and a pumpkin soup. "My chili is part of my checkered past," he joked. "I won a golden spoon at a chili cook-off a number of years ago."

Calkins said the event is the church's biggest fundraiser of the year, conceived as a new-style country fair. It kicked off Friday night with a party and auction to benefit the congregation's outreach efforts. "We support a church in Haiti, Operation Hope, the Family Center of St. John's and our own youth ministry," he said. "Today, we're just trying to open up our beautiful 9-acre campus to the community, welcome kids and have some fun."

The "fun" Calkins spoke of included a mums sale, pony rides, face painting, Halloween crafts, a petting zoo, music, cooking demonstrations, an inflatable obstacle course and the Southport Volunteer Fire Department with an engine on site.

The rector also proudly showed off the congregation's new log chapel in an open space called Eagle Grove. He and several Eagle Scouts cleared the land, which was once a tangled mess of brush and trees, to establish it as a sanctuary for meditation and connection with nature, according to Amy Borruso, St. Timothy's director of children's programming. "The elements have come together over several years and the logs for the chapel came from trees chopped down on this site," she said.

The chapel, which is simple and breathtaking at the same time, features a stained-glass window created by artist Mike Skrtic, which was commissioned by Lucie McKinney in honor of her late husband, who served nine terms in Congress. Their son is state Sen. John McKinney, R-Fairfield.

Calkins explained how the project evolved. "Six or seven years ago, this space was all overgrown and tangled with vines, and there was only a small playground," he said. "We first expanded the playground, then six Eagle Scout projects followed. We began with postings of meditations and scripture along a pathway, then a gravel and brick labyrinth, community garden, pergola and planting of a small grove of pear trees. Finally, with logs cleared, peeled and prepared, we began work on the chapel."

Lucie McKinney picked up the story: "Stewart and I were married in 1954 and moved into a little house on Brett Road, where we had our son Stewart. Family relatives had a 30-acre property on Congress Street, right up to Brett Road, which included wetlands and a stream, which we came to own. At that time, our family and neighbors went to church in Dwight School, in the gym. We finally all got together and said we need to build a church. We took 10 acres of our property to establish St. Tim's. My boys were acolytes and daughter Lucie was married here."

The McKinneys "relocated to Greens Farms some years later, but retain a great fondness and memories here," she said. "It's my home. The log chapel was half built when I came to see it and I looked and said, pointing up, `That space needs a stained glass window.' Father Calkins agreed and it was commissioned."

A plaque will be affixed to the chapel bearing an inscription from Psalm 41: "Happy is the one who helps the poor and needy."