Mack’s Memories is a series of articles written by Folger McKinsey (Mack) Ridout, Sr. (September 19, 1925 — April 11, 2011) appearing from 1995 — 1996 in St. Margaret’s print newsletter THE SPIRE.
They were his memories and the articles included . . .
- Mason Locke Weems, Rector of St. Margaret’s 1791-1792, October/November 1995
- Organists, Organs and Choirs – A Recollection, February/March 1996
- Glebes, Salaries and Rectories, April/May 1996
- Jousting Tournaments at St. Margaret’s, June/July 1996
- Horse Shows at St. Margaret’s, August/September 1996
- Driving Down St. Margaret’s Road, October/November 1996
Mack wrote everything long-hand, Ruth McDaniel entered his writings into WordPerfect, downloaded them onto 5/14” floppy discs for Elizabeth (Izzy) Winn who transferred Ruth’s work and formatted Mack’s articles into PageMaker for St. Margaret’s every-other-month printed newsletter The Spire.
Mack’s articles were among initial items placed onto St. Margaret’s first web site when the site went live in 1996. St. Margaret’s was the first parish website in the Diocese of Maryland and St. Margaret’s was recognized at the 1996 annual diocesan convention for being the first parish in the diocese to launch a website.
Mack was born into St. Margaret’s, lived his life on land that was once part of White Hall (Whitehall) Plantation. St. Margaret’s and the Broadneck Peninsula were his home. In 1994, Mack and Barbara Ridout returned to St. Margaret’s, having been away nearly 25 years from Mack’s ancestral parish. Soon he was elected to the vestry, surveyed and organized the churchyard, began work on the columbarium, served as a Eucharistic minister and Eucharistic visitor, completed the four-year EFM program, and was Senior Warden under the Rev. Mary Glasspool from 1996 until 2003.
Mack’s article Jousting Tournaments at St. Margaret’s led to renewing jousting tournaments at St. Margaret’s. His article Driving Down St. Margaret’s Road resulted in a series of historical tours throughout the Broadneck Peninsula and encouraged present-day history and archival efforts at St. Margaret’s. He had an archives room (later taken from archives for office space) constructed in the administration building when the parish converted the former rectory into offices.
Mack never stopped writing. Mack never stopped loving St. Margaret’s.