Duncan
Memorial Chapel popular
Historic
chapel adds
interesting element to wedding ceremonies
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
FLOYDSBURG, Ky. (March 2005) Mike Zalampas
has officiated at weddings for more than 4,500 couples. But its
all in a days work for this soft-spoken Florida native.
Zalampas is entering his 31st year as wedding officiator at Duncan Memorial
Chapel in Floydsburg, Ky., located next to Crestwood. He has seen the
number of weddings per year steadily increase in the three decades he
has been with the chapel. They average to about five a week, he said,
depending upon the time of year.
|
Photo
by Helen E. McKinney
For
nearly 70 years, couples have
been choosing the Duncan Memorial
Chapel for their wedding ceremony.
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Right now is a slow time of the year for weddings at the
chapel, said Zalampas. But soon things will really pick up.
In the summer months, he may conduct as many as six weddings on any
given Saturday.
Weddings are very happy times, and the people are very nice,
said Zalampas. He married a Kentucky woman and moved to the area in
winter 1974. His wife, Sherree, who has a doctorate in music, has played
the organ for probably 4,000 of the weddings he has performed.
A former superintendent at the chapel had remarked to Zalampas that
many couples were having trouble finding someone to marry them. One
major reason for this was that some religious denominations would not
recognize divorced individuals and agree to let them remarry in a church.
Everyone has a past and hopefully a future, said Zalampas.
He had no qualms over performing a ceremony for a couple that truly
wanted to be married. Duncan Memorial Chapel is non-sectarian and seats
100 guests.
Many couples find the chapel romantic, said Zalampas, who is of Greek
ancestry. Couples are fascinated with the chapels history and
the fact that their wedding is conducted over a tomb.
The chapel was built in 1936 by Alexander Duncan as a memorial to his
wife, Flora Ross Duncan. Duncan and his wife are entombed in the chancel
of the chapel. The couple had lived in Floydsburg for three years.
Duncan enlarged and landscaped the existing Floydsburg Cemetery as a
Memorial Cemetery. It encompassed 16 acres, which were landscaped by
Mary Louise Speed in 1936-37. Duncan purchased several pieces of adjoining
property and donated them to the Floydsburg Cemetery Co., the foundation
that oversees the upkeep of the chapel and cemetery.
|
Photo
by Helen E. McKinney
Mike
Zalampas is the chapel officiant at Duncan Memorial.
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In 1799, William Boulware had set aside about three-quarters
of an acre of ground for the final resting place for his family and
friends, thus establishing Floydsburg Cemetery. Nineteen years later,
Boulware and his wife, Charity, deeded an acre to the Trustees of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in Floydsburg. Around 1900, the Duncan family
acquired the land on which the Floydsburg School and church had once
stood and began to upkeep the grounds. Before his death in 1972, Duncan
established the Duncan Memorial Trust for future upkeep of the chapel
and grounds.
The chapel was designed by Louisville architect Fred H. Elswick. Abbott-McMillan
Co. constructed the early English Gothic style chapel.
The interior is lined with cut Indiana limestone, and the roof and floor
are made of slate. The pulpit, benches, porches, rafters and arches
are made of sandblasted white oak. A carving of The Last Supper is to
be found on the altar, crafted by woodcarver F. Pescosta.
The stained glass windows were designed and created by Henry Lee Willet
of Philadelphia. Before installation, one of the windows was selected
for exhibition at the 1937 Paris Exposition as an outstanding example
of stained glass artwork in America.
Its one of a kind, said Helen Bryant. She and her
husband, Wilson, have been the superintendents of chapel for almost
27 years. Their phone rings constantly with couples from all over the
world seeking to be married at the chapel.
Couples have come from England, Germany, Iceland, Iran, Australia and
Scotland, said Bryant. One couple from Scotland actually brought their
own minister and a bagpipe player.
Couples can use their own wedding officiator, as long as the person
is a licensed, ordained minister, said Bryant. Zalampas and clergy from
local churches preside over most of the marriages at the chapel.
She said that when she and her husband first came to the chapel, Alexander
Duncans daughter, Elizabeth Yaggy, was still living. We
used to send her pictures every year, said Bryant. One year Bryant
forgot to mail the pictures, and Yaggy called and reminded her that
she hadnt received any pictures that year.
The first wedding was performed at the chapel on Nov. 11, 1937, between
Mr. and Mrs. W.R. Wakefield. Mr. Wakefield was a first cousin to Alexander
Duncan. Mrs. Wakefield is still living in the area and is a board member
of the Floydsburg Cemetery Co.
Milton Stoess is president of this company, which dates to 1894. He
has been chairman since 1941. There is a certain unique quality to the
chapel but no full-time staff at the chapel, said Stoess.
Zalampas has performed many memorable weddings at the chapel. He recalled
one in which a bride walked down the aisle with her dog. When it was
over, the dog, bride and groom all went out together, said Zalampas.
The pooch even put his paw print on the marriage license.
The oldest couple was probably an 87-year-old groom and an 85-year-old
bride. They had met at an assisted living home and decided to marry
for companionship. The groom cried throughout the entire ceremony, Zalampas
recalled.
The only double wedding Zalampas ever performed was for a mother and
daughter. The father had passed away while the daughter was still young.
The mother told her daughter, I wont remarry until you do.
And she didnt, said Zalampas.
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