The members of the SLO Adventist church in the 40s and 50s were a diverse collection of individuals who reflected the population of the town itself. They were satisfied to worship in a building that would never be confused with a European cathedral. There were no stained-glass windows, folding chairs took the place of pews, bare wooden floors, no PA, no raised speaker’s platform, no artwork, an old up-right piano that was somewhat in tune, no side rooms where the worship participants met prior to the service,
no bulletin, no church office or telephone. To visit the restrooms necessitating going outside, a walk to the appropriate door and a hope it was not raining. The “church” half of the building was on the West end, toward Broad Street. It was a rectangular room with one door on the Orcutt Rd side. The children’s classes met in the school room on the East end of the building.
The “sanctuary” served as multi-purpose room. On occasion someone would obtain a 16 mm movie. Tom Evens, who lived in Paso Robles with Ester, his wife, owned a camera store in Paso. It was he who brought the 16 mm sound projector and probably the movie. The only movie I recall seeing was produced by Shell Oil Company that demonstrated the safety of the trucks that transported gasoline. One scene was of the tanker turned over with fire burning round it to demonstrate that even in a crash the tanker would not
explode.
A popular church activity was the Singspiration. This event usually brought together people from surrounding congregations. The group rented what was then the Grange Hall, now Guild Hall, on Broad St. The Singspiration was what the name states—people came together Sabbath afternoon to end the Sabbath by singing hymns. After sundown, other activities began: games, a grand march, much talking and catching up on area news.
The event was opportunity for us kids to run around and get to know the kids from other churches. My right hand carriers a permanent reminder of one event: when we were outside running about someone decided it would be fun to pull one another through the grass. When it came my turn, a couple guys grabbed my feet and we began the ride. My right arm was flopping around when I felt a sharp pain. My hand hit a broken piece of glass. I ran to my parents who trundled me over to where Dr. Elvin Wical sat enjoying a conversation. He took a look and we headed to his office, located in the house on the NW corner of Buchon and Osos that served as his office and family home. A few ccs of novocaine, a row of stitches, and back to the Singspiration. I heard my dad complain to someone that the bill was $12.00.
It was a simpler time back then, not that the people were simple, they weren’t. In that time movie theaters were off limits. Television had not yet arrived to the Central Coast and San Luis was a sleepy, rustic community; a place where we kids could ride our bikes to school or to down-town without fear.
—Larry Downing