All Souls, Procter and All Saints, Longbeach were on either shore of the West Arm of Kootenay Lake. The Procter Church is now a private home and Jim the Chimney Sweep tore down the church at Longbeach and the lumber was taken across the lake and used to build a house.

The Longbeach Church had a graveyard with three graves, which are still there, but that story will have to wait for another day.

In my memory of the Procter church, very little remains. I do remember, however, that it was kept open by one faithful family, that of Hallam and Ruby MacKinnon. And that Outside the door of the church stood an oak tree, which had been planted to honour the royal visit of George V to Canada. One Sunday when I entered the church, I found that it had been vandalized. Pages were torn out of the lectern Bible and scattered about. Prayer books and hymnbooks had been tossed around, and the large cross from the altar was bent double. The brass was about a quarter of an inch thick, so it would have needed considerable strength for this particular desecration.

photo jonn lavinnder

SISTER CHURCH — Procter church is now a private home.

On the north shore of the arm, All Saints, Longbeach was a quietly elegant structure. It was nestled near the Upper Longbeach Road, which was the main highway in earlier days. One ornate fixture could be found there. That was the magnificent font, which now stands at St. Michael and All Angels, Balfour. Many of this congregation were adherents to the teachings of British Israelism.

One of the faithful included Commander Burrard Smith who lived to be 100 years old. He had served with the Royal Navy and had a napkin ring with the name of every ship on which he had served. The first one was the HMS Alacrity that had been under sail. A unique feature of the church could be found in the sacristy. There was an Electrolux vacuum cleaner. On Saturdays before Sunday worship, the Altar Guild used this piece of equipment to sweep the building. It was then placed back in its moorings and hooked up in a slightly different way on Sunday, as it powered the bellows of the organ.