GRAFTON — A mother’s love lasts forever, but the shrine to mothers everywhere will not without an infusion of funds.
The International Mother’s Day Shrine at Grafton was built in 1873 as Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1907, through the efforts of parishioner Anna Jarvis, the second Sunday in May began to be observed as Mother’s Day. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson officially declared the holiday. And on May 15, 1962, the church was declared as the International Mother’s Day Shrine.
The last regular church service was held here Jan. 1, 1967, but it is still used regularly by the community and is open to tours from April to September.
Inside, the original woodwork on the pews and walls gleam from the light streaming through 27 stained glass windows. Those windows are in dire need of repair, said Virginia Wolfe, a member of the shrine board of trustees.
The lead is failing. Some windows are bowed, and a closer look shows the glass pulling away from some of the lead.
Restoration costs are estimated at $500,000-$550,000. So far $54,000 has been raised, and the board has authorized the repair of one window by Williams Stained Glass Studio of Pittsburgh.
“This is an amount neither the Board of Trustees or the community of Grafton can afford on its own,” she wrote in a funding request. But the board is dedicated to the work, no matter how long it takes.
The community has been supportive. The alumni of Grafton High School and town have given, for example.
The windows on the main floor are 14 feet tall. Those downstairs, which include windows depicting Jarvis and her mother, are 7 feet. The largest, at the back of the church, is 19 feet.
Board treasurer Larry Richman can recite the history of every inch of the church, from why a section of stairway can be unlatched to make room for caskets to enter the sanctuary to when the metal ceiling was installed – about 1900.
He doesn’t want to have to add to the history that a window fell out.
“We’ve just got to save these windows,” Wolfe said.
Contributions to the Mother’s Day Shrine Glass Window Fund can be sent to P.O. Box 513, Grafton, WV 26354, on GoFundMe at restore-the-mothers-day-shrine or at the shrine website, www.International Mother’s Day Shrine.org.
