LAKEPORT, Calif. – Father Grant S. Carey will be present when St. John’s Church parish hall is dedicated in his honor at 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 10, at 1190 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The public is encouraged to participate in this historic event, especially those who attended St. John’s during the time Father Carey served as pastor, 1957 to 1961.

Lakeport resident Rob Millberry is senior warden at St. John’s, but served as church acolyte 50 years ago when the parish hall was built. It was before Highway 29, when all traffic drove through Lakeport, down Lakeshore, and turned onto Main Street.

As a youth, Millberry lived on the corner of High Street and Lakeshore. All night, he heard trucks downshifting for the corner and saw headlights blaze onto his bedroom wall. He said he didn’t even have to use a flashlight to read comic books in bed.

A peculiar sight greeted drivers in Lakeport in 1960. They were confronted with a classic old English church sitting in one lane of North Forbes Street at Clearlake Avenue.

Built in 1898, the redwood shake church was St. John’s Episcopal.

“The entire church was lifted by giant cranes and moved into the street to allow for a proper foundation to be built,” Millberry said. “The church stayed in the street for three months.”

Moving the structure was the idea 50 years ago of Father Carey, St. John’s priest at the time, who wanted to “raise the roof” of his little church.

After the church was settled on its new foundation, Father Carey raised funds and led the congregation in building a new parish hall for the parishioners and community.

The Rev. Dr. Carey had a varied career after leaving St. John’s. He was a missionary in Puerto Rico, an educator and scholar, and now Canon at Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento.

For more information contact Rob Millberry at 707-533-0235.

Follow St. John’s on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stjohnslakeport and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lakeport-CA/St-Johns-Episcopal-Church-Lakeport-CA/223536852800?v=photos&ref=ts#!/pages/Lakeport-CA/St-Johns-Episcopal-Church-Lakeport-CA/223536852800.