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       A tenth of a century at Dillon Chapel has been very important to me and those of my family.
       My first wife Cecelia and I became dissatisfied with our church life at Barboursville First Methodist Church. So, when Laddie Meadows invited me to a work party, I met the Dillon Chapel Family while constructing the add-on Sunday School classes. Chuck Pullen was the minister and a transfer of membership was next.
       I felt the nearness of my Lord that I had missed before. It was at this time I painted Christ as I visualized our savior.
       The loss of my father and my first wife within a year of each other gave me little hope that my mother would survive her serious illness, after 81 days in intensive care and the doctor said only a miracle could save her. She didn't know the power of prayer of the Dillon Chapel Family.
       During this period of time the Bell Tower was built and David Groves rebaptized me by emersion at Mt. Union... followed by the meeting of my loving wife, Cherry. Wedding Bells were next in the Dillon Chapel with the blessing of the Church Family.
       Our 7th Anniversary is tomorrow. Thank you God!

       Chuck Pullins served as pastor to Dillon Chapel from 1974-1978.
       During the early part of his ministry our Sunday School Program grew rapidly. Church felt that we needed more Sunday School rooms without using the Fellowhsip Hall or the stage. We kicked around the idea of buying a trailer and turning it into classrooms at one of our Board Meetings. Then we decided to add on to the basement. This seemed to be the right way to go for several reasons, for one, the children would not have to go out in inclement weather to get to their classrooms. We then established a Building Fund. A Building Committee was established as follows: Laddie Meadows, Chairman; Orville Sizemore, Treasurer; Gene Gillespie; Jack Jeffrey; Linda Cooke; Charlie Cooke; Ben Edens; Rufus Hensley; and Teresa Nash. To start our Building Program many members of the congregation donated money.
       We had our first barbecue in June 1977 and it was successful in making $1,287.77 for our Building Program, and the proceeds from our 1976 and 1977 applebutter makin' project was put into the Building Fund.
       The Methodist Men and Methodist Women also held fund raising projects to help add to the Building Fund.
       In July of 1977, we dug the basement. Elliott Adkins operated the dozer and charged $150.00 for his service.
       July 21st we poured the footers for our new classrooms and we were on the way. The cost of the footer was $258.00. For the next few weeks members, friends and neighbors laid the block for the walls and also moved the well inside of the church. We placed our sewers, pipes, wire and plastic over top of level sand at the cost of $1,563.78. We left part of the blocks out at the end toward the street so that a concrete floor could be poured for the addition.
       September 21, 1977, concrete floors were poured for our new classrooms at the cost of $476.25, plus a cash payment of $100.00 to Mr. Cox for leveling and finishing of the concrete floors.
       For the next few months we put up the interior walls and placed termite shield, plates, sills, subfloor, tar paper, shingles, electric, and plumbed the new addition at the cost of $2,461.76.
       That Brings us to December of 1977, and cold weather and lots of snow and another story later.

       During the early part of 1978, we had several very hard winter storms. At times we had 31 inches of snow on the ground and 24 degrees below zero weather.
       We worked on Saturdays and week days to finish our classrooms. In the David Grove's Victory Classroom we used an electric heater to lay brick for the fireplace. The bricks were brought in to thaw so we could lay them up.
       It was toward the last of February when we had a few warm days in a row and our Pastor (Chuck- Pullins) was in the upstairs bathroom shaving one morning when he heard a loud pop. He looked out the window and was amazed that the snow, which was several feet deep on the church roof, had slid off on the new classrooms roof and collasped the roof.
       The United Mehtodist Men were called and we crawled in under the roof and jacked it up. With a few braces and blocks a little patching here and there, we were back in shape again.

CENTENNIAL MINUTES
"The Exalters" as part of Dillon Chapel

July 23, 1989 - Henrietta Hileman

       In June 1979, Dillon Chapel was getting a new minister, John Smith. For his first Sunday in the pulpit at Dillon, it was suggested that we have "Special Singing". Therefore, Peggy Jeffrey, Henrietta Hileman, Gene Gillespie, and Orville Sizemore decided to try singing as a quartet. They asked Mike Dillon to play the piano, and Tommy Ferguson played the drums. Everyone said they enjoyed the singing and encouraged them to continue.
       The group started practicing regularly with Mike Dillon as lead singer and pianist. They discussed the reason they were singing as being "to exalt the Lord." Therefore, Orville Sizemore suggested the quartet be named "The Exalters". (A few years later Earl Bostic sang bass for the quartet.)
       God sent the "Exalters" to many different churches. From Dillon Chapel to many others in WV, OH, KY, and even Henderson, North Carolina for a homecoming at a church Chuck Pullins, a former Pastor of Dillon Chapel, was serving. They sang for Civic Organizations such as the Veteran's Home at Barboursville and a Nursing Home at Catlettsburg, KY to name a few.
       The quartet witnessed many souls saved and was joyously blessed in God's Ministry.
       Many, many people of the churches that were visited expressed their thanks to Dillon Chapel for sharing The Exalter Quartet with them.
       The group continued to sing for 7 1/2 years and the Lord continued to bless.
       When they decided to stop singing, they considered the fact that they needed to spend more time with their families. However, they still sing sometimes at their home church -- Dillon Chapel!

       One of the first things that I remember about this church is that we used to have two separate Sunday School openings.
       The adults had their Sunday School opening upstairs and the kids had their own special opening downstairs. We were fortunate to have a piano player for each one. Jean Zimmerman was the Sunday School Superintendant of the children's department. The little kids would carry the little chairs that we still have in the preschool classes out in front of the pews to sit in. The oldest kids would sit in the back and see what they could get away with. Jean had a little bell like you press for service in some businesses and she would ring it to restore order. We enjoyed having our own Sunday School openings.
       A word about the pews that were in the basement. When I joined the Boy Scouts, those pews were still in the basement. Each Monday night the first scouts to arrive had to move all of those old pews against the wall so that we would have room to hold our meeting and play games.
       I still remember Sunday School Teachers who taught me. Mrs. Beulah Paugh taught the Primary grades. She was so dedicated. I don't know how long she had been teaching, but she said whe would teach until the end and she did until her health failed. Every Sunday she would end the class by having us all gather close enough to put our hands on her bible and we would sing "The B-I-B-L-E, Yes that's the book for me. I stand alone on the word of God. The B-I-B-L-E".
       My next teacher was Gladys Dunford. The love she had for God and all of us stuck with me. Each Sunday she would have us all say a Bible verse. For a long time, the only one I knew was "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." Psalm 122;1. I never could remember the reference and I had to look it up in a concordance to write it today. Gladys encouraged me to learn other verses and so during this time I memorized Psalm 23.
       Junior High students were taught by Mrs. Linkfield. She also was filled with God's love. I think she sponsored the 4H club here at the church called the Melissa Go Getters. When I joined the MYF, Mrs. Linkfield was also sponsoring that group.
       Not long after I was promoted to Mrs. Linkdield's class, Mother gave our Sunday School offering to my sister, Ruthann, to split with me. I don't know how much she had but I wanted half to put in my class. I went into Mrs. Dunford's room to get my part of the offering and it didn't appear that Ruthann was giving me half. I hit my sister serveral times, well I guess you might say I beat her up. Mrs. Dunford was appalled that a boy would do that but she didn't say anything. Mrs. Dunford never mentioned it to me and she must have kept it to herself. I was amazed that Ruthann didn't tell it. Finally, I must have been 30 years old before I told Mother about it. Mother asked Gladys and she still remembered that incident.
       Well back to Mrs. Linkfield. She taught our class for about a year. I think she had an illness and had to slow down. For whatever reason we had a few substitutes and then a permanent replacement was found. Charles Barbour was Sunday School Superintendant of all ages by that time and he was one of our substitutes. Eddie Harbour, Gene Hileman, and Eva Barbour also taught our class from time to time. In the end Eva Barbour became our permanent teacher. I would like to have been one of Mrs. Barbour's students in school. She did such a good job of explaining our Sunday School lessons and I am sure she was that kind of teacher in school also. All of our subs had been good but God in his wisdom blessed us with Eva Barbour as our permanent teacher.
       All of my Sunday School Teachers were different, but they were all successful because they had faith in God and were doing his will. Sharing your testimony and your Christian life is one of the most effective parts of teaching. Because God spoke to me through these great people and others, I accepted Christ and remain Christian. Every seven years, the Scriptures for Sunday School Lessons repeat, but the lessons are always new because we have a new set of commentators; moreover, God keeps (*Note: In the original Centennial Minutes book this paragraph stops abruptly at this point.)