Ken Christie has a high profile these days as project manager for the Meetinghouse Restoration Project. Anyone who drives through the center of Acworth is aware of the work that Ken and his crew of local carpenters have been doing to repair the lantern section of the steeple. The old steeple was dismantled earlier this summer and a new steeple has been gradually taking shape on the town common. Ken and his workers have salvaged whatever materials were reusable from the original steeple and have been replicating those parts that were not salvageable.

Ken knew that restoring the Meetinghouse would be a challenging project, which is the very reason he was interested in taking on such a formidable task. Ken said that his crew shares his attitude of squarely facing a challenge and getting the job done. Ken and his workers are proud of their involvement with this historic restoration project.

For Ken,  one of the most intriguing  things about  working on the Meetinghouse is to see the historic work of Acworth’s early carpenters exposed, to study their craftsmanship and figure out how to reproduce their work in the most authentic way possible.

Ken has his own history relating to Meetinghouse restoration work. In the late 1970's Ken and his father, Julius, worked with another father/son team, Roscoe and Kevin Clark, to repair the bell cradle by duplicating the original cradle and wheel in the bell tower.

In the mid-1950's Ken’s grandfather Christie replaced the aluminum steeple on the church in South Acworth. He reconstructed the steeple in his garage. The new steeple was then moved back atop the bell tower with a crane.

Ken’s wife, Linda, also has family history relating to Meetinghouse restoration. Linda’s grandfather, Hugh Clark, climbed to the top of the steeple (on the outside of the structure) took off the weathervane and poured concrete through the top of the steeple into a steel girdle that had been wrapped around the center beam which had cracked in the 1938 hurricane.

The eight-sided tapered beam in the center of the steeple was completely rotten by the time the steeple was removed in January 2006. Ken cut a new center beam on his portable Wood-Mizer saw mill from spruce timbers that were supplied by Linda’s grandmother, Mabel Rhoades and the family of Mable’s late husband, Ernest, from their land in Alstead. The new center beam was autographed by Acworth School students and teachers, as well as the crew of Meetinghouse restoration workers.

Ken said that carpentry seemed like a natural profession for him to pursue because he grew up on a farm in Acworth where things constantly needed to be fixed. In those days you just fixed whatever was broken rather than calling someone else to do the job. This self-reliant attitude remains part of Ken’s character to this day.

Ken and Linda continue to be dedicated members of the Acworth Meetinhouse Restoration Committee. They offer their time and energy to every aspect of the restoration project, from volunteering for fundraising and organizing events, to Ken's construction work on the steeple.