Press Release

Editors Note: Highlandlake is the correct, official spelling, in this instance. Photos of Highlandlake Church may be in your files, or may be obtained online at www.historiHighlandlake,org The 83rd Annual Highlandlake Community Gathering, formerly known as the Highlandlake Reunion, will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, June 13, on the grounds of the historic church, on Weld County Road 5, two and one-half miles north of Highway 66. The gathering, which has been held each year since 1921, is a get together for past members of the church, descendants of Highlandlake residents and anyone interested in the history and vitality of the Highlandlake community.

The day will begin with informal greetings at 11 a.m., followed by a potluck dinner at noon. Following the dinner, the program, at 1 p.m., will be presented by a representative of The Collaborative, Inc., the architectural preservationist firm that is supervising the structural renovation work on the historic church that was weakened in the last year’s March blizzard. Following the presentation, tours of the church will be available.

During the past year a total of $38,000 (note another $3,000 in matching funds will be here in a few days) has been raised from community organizations and individuals, and a total of $ 95,000 has been become available from the Colorado State Historical Fund, to finance the renovation. In addition to the grant money received so far, another $120,000 will be needed to complete the structural renovation. Another $22,000 in private funds must be raised to qualify for another $70,000 in grants that will be needed to complete the renovation project, plus an additional $28,000 for repairs to the front stained-glass windows, according to HHCI spokeswoman, Pauli Smith. Tax-exempt donations, payable to Historic Highlandlake Church, Inc., may be sent to: Carla Brossman, Treasurer, at 1794 CR 34, Mead, CO 80542.

Those who plan to attend the June 13 potluck dinner should bring their own table service and a main dish, salad or dessert to share. Water, coffee, lemonade and ice cream will be furnished by members of Historic Highland Church, Inc.

The Highlandlake Congregational Church was begin in 1881, in the home of Lorin Mead, the community’s founder and first settler. Later, the congregation met in the community’s one-room school.

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In 1895, Mary Bumstead, a Congregationalist from Boston, Mass., visited friends at Highlandlake and became so impressed with the vigor of the rural congregation that she returned to her home in Boston and raised $1,000 from Congregational Church members in the Boston area, to pay for the building of a church in Highlandlake. She returned to Highlandlake in 1896 to supervise construction of the church, and became its first pastor. The church was dedicated in April, 1897.

In 1906 the Colorado Great Western Railroad bypassed Highlandlake, in favor of a “beet dump” one mile southeast of the church, and the town of Mead was established at that site. Within a few years the population of Highlandlake and the membership of its church were greatly diminished, and by 1916 the congregation was so small that it could no longer afford to pay a pastor for regular services, so the church was closed. Since that time the church has been used for Christmas services and weddings. In 1991 the church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1921 a group of area residents who had been members of the church got together to renew acquaintances over a picnic dinner, and they had such a good time reminiscing that they decided to make it an annual affair. One of the oldest persons attending the reunion each year is Mary Mead Jensen, who was born in Highlandlake in 1915. She is the granddaughter of Highlandlake founder, Lorin Mead, and still lives in the house that he built on the edge of the lake.