Haley Baptist Church

    The Haley Baptist Church was organized in 1907, with 13 Swedish Baptists that had come from the East.  Another  report states that the church was organized on August 19, 1909,  in a mission tent but that meetings were held in the home of Edwin Stone.  Another account by missionary August Olson, states, "The church at Powell Valley (Haley) was organized August 9, 1909 with 13 members."  In 1912, the church building was dedicated.  It is the same that is used today with additions build later.  In October 1944, the church became a member of the Willamette Baptist Association, which at that time cooperated with the Oregon Baptist Convention, thereby severing the ties with the Columbia Conference.  There were few Conference members left in the church at that time.  In 1950, the church became a member of the Conservative Baptist Association of Oregon.
    John Johnson was the first pastor serving from 1910 to 1920.  Andrew Johnson then took up the work and was with the church until 1925 or 1926.  At one time we find: A. N. Lindholm, vice chairman; Mrs. J.H. Lindgren, SS Superintendent; Mrs. A. Johnson, president of women's work, and Abe Satterstrom, Young Peoples' president.
    Pastors of the church were: John Johnson, 1970-20; Andrew Johnson, 1920-26; John Nordell, 1926-29; Merrill Skaug, 1932; Walter Mugford, 1835-38; Ivan Tozer, 1938; Russell Warren, 1941; David Morton, 1942; Horace Moore, 1944-48; Harold Backlund; Henry C. Quiring, 1953-59; David J. Wiens, 1959-60; Ray Trope, 1960; Waldo Petter, 1962-63; David Witting, 1964-.

The account and photo above were taken from Rev. Gordon Carlson's book, "Seventy-Five Years." Pages 15-17-19 

Panoramic View of Congregation and Friends at Haley Baptist Church Early 1920's
Mr. A.T. Stenberg house in background

    The following is an account written by Miles Aubin, and provided by Mr. Dave Meier.

    My most memorable Fourth of July was in 1923, when the Haley Swedish Baptist Church hosted a joint picnic with Temple Baptist Church of Portland.  The picnic was well attended by both churches.
    The picnic was held in Tim Larson's woods on Haley Road just west of what was later the "Marx Gardens."  On several days before the Fourth, Reverend Andrew Johnson and male members of his flock cleared a space for tables and benches, and deeper in the woods established primitive comfort stations which were not comfortable.
    One of the features of the picnic was a baseball game between Portland and Haley.  For several days prior to the picnic, the three available teen-aged boys, Harry Bjur, Kenny Horberg, and Willard Eaton, a perennial summer visitor, worked with great zeal on their game plan.  Their strategy was that they would wear short pants -- knickerbockers -- which had more leg room allowing them to run faster.
    Following the sumptuous potluck dinner which of course included strawberry shortcake and loads of Swedish pastry, there were supposed to be races, but there was no suitable place to run.  However, some one had brought a rope, and there were several tugs of war.  Much to everyone's surprise, the adult farmers lost to the men from the city.
    When the picnicking was over, the group moved up the road to A. T. Stenberg's farm just west of the church were Stenberg's barn was the backstop for the featured event of the day, hardball baseball. 
    The captain of the Haley team was Herbert Olson who had brought bats, balls, the catching gear, and tools of ignorance.  Once he convinced an innocent bystander he was a catcher, the rest of the lineup was easy to pick.  The three aforementioned boys were the best of the local lot.
    The game was played in a stubble field with a short left and right field.  Centerfield was over the fence on the adjacent Chris Nodin farm, and the center fielder handled all balls over the fence.
    One look at the Portland team by any nine year old boy was enough to determine that the outcome of the game was not in doubt.  The boys from the city scored so many runs in the first inning that it was finally ruled that a ball hit over the fence was out.  Haley was then able to retire the side in order.  This also gave relief to an exhausted centerfielder and some tired base-runners.
    There was another feature of the day.  Some one from Portland had an automobile with a radio and a loud speaker, and the folks had the pleasure of listening to President Harding's speech and to hear a blow by blow description of the Dempsey - Gibbons heavyweight championship fight.  The Dempsey - Gibbons fight took place in Shelby, Montana.  It's the greatest heavyweight boxing story of all time.
    There were no more fourth of July picnics in Larson's woods.  In later years we met at the church in the evening for "bring your own fireworks."  Arthur Carlson, the "Swede Printer" from Portland, would arrive in a limo with his family and friends, and we played indoor baseball in the churchyard, which was not considered sinful unless it were Sunday.  Soon after dark there were fireworks most of which were furnished by the Carlson's.
    Later, Tom Larson sold his place and moved to Gresham where he lived and died.  His daughter Doris married Arnold Hinkley, a prominent young citizen of Gresham.  Larson sold his place to the Elmer Ecklund family which produced an entrepreneur who parlayed the name "Heidi" into the one of the prominent names of the area.
    What is called softball today originated around the turn of the century as an indoor sport played in the largest available buildings.  Hot until he 1930's, was the term softball generally applied.
                                                                                                                           Miles Aubin