He was right. It's a beautiful building, made ugly only by the years of disuse and misuse. The stained glass windows that once graced its facade were sold to a salvage company. Faded plywood filled the cavities. Pigeons -- thousands of 'em -- filled the bell tower. The inside bore the evidence of their presence. Landscaping was missing or overgrown.
A few weeks later we bought that church, taking the full purchase price from our savings. DH had a vision for a music lab of sorts, a place for kids to come for free music lessons, but more. Encouragement, self confidence, help with schoolwork, all these things. We named it Beacon Hall, with "beacon" obviously a metaphor for guidance, but also the name of the theatre in New York City where his favorite band, the Allman Brothers, performed every year.
The building has slowly but surely improved over the past two years. Hubby has resourcefully found windows in just the right sizes to replace the plywood. I marvel at the morning sun beaming in through the eastern windows --- sunshine the churchgoers never got to appreciate with stained glass impeding its beams. Better yet, he found the windows in a building about to be demolished and bargained with its owners to allow him to remove them and keep them for free.
Friends over the past 24 months have donated their time and skills to install the windows. Today the church has thirteen windows installed, fully functional with rope, where plywood once was.
We've developed a board, tasking 10 friends and acquaintances, each with a special skillset, to serve.
We (finally) acquired 501(c)(3) designation, after a long and arduous journey.
We've received our first grant, $1,000, to replace the doors on the church.
We're applying for more and beginning the first steps of a capital campaign to raise the money necessary to redevelop this building into the beauty she can be.
***
Late in November DH noticed on the Internet a blues artist, Scott Ainslie, who would be in our state in January. He had made a comment that he was looking for one more engagement to round out his trip to the state.
My shy, nervous husband reached out to him and shared the mission of Beacon Hall. Scott responded positively and they set a tentative date of January 25 for a concert and 26 for a Master Class in guitar.
Because our building is not (not nearly!) complete, we determined to see if we could hold the concert in the local high school auditorium, a plaster masterpiece from the 1930's that was recently renovated to the tune of $750,000.
The board rallied around and chipped in with tasks and errands. From placing posters to buying water, they all came through.
We hired a young promoter who worked on our website, used social media, designed posters, developed memes -- you name it, she did it. Her work reached into neighboring states and attracted visitors.
A local bed and breakfast agreed to allow the artist to stay "on them" as a gift to Beacon Hall.
One of our board members, incidentally my son, drove down from Washington DC only a day after flying in from a weeks-long stay in China. His wife and son came as well and helped in a million ways over the weekend.
Friends who helped in my political campaign offered to stand at the doors and greet concert-goers as they arrived. The principal of the high school ran the lights and sound, himself.
A local realtor (and friend) sponsored a scholarship so a college student could attend the Master Class.
The board had agreed this concert was for awareness of Beacon Hall and its mission only, and our goal was to provide the concert for free, with donations welcomed.
We set out (borrowed) glass jars and crossed our fingers, hoping to break even-- covering the artist's fee and the money we'd paid the promoter. .
The jars filled over and over. Our daughter in law loaned us her square and we took in hundreds with credit cards.
We're still adding things up but it appears we covered all our expenses and made a healthy extra as well.
Oh, the concert? Well. It blew our socks off. Scott wowed the audience. He shared the legends of blues and its beginnings and played on multiple instruments. People visibly nodded heads or tapped feet to the music. Many iPhones were held aloft to photograph or tape Scott. He gave, and gave and gave. He played and sang from 7:30 to 10, with just a 20 minute break.
Since then we've received calls, texts and emails thanking us for bringing him to town.
The master class the next morning was just as successful. He'd asked us to cap the class at 20 students, but they had some late arrivals and ended up with 24. One student was so impressed he wrote Beacon Hall a check for $100.
****
The weekend is over and all the houseguests have gone home. Sweet husband's car is overloaded with the detritus of the weekend -- folding chairs loaned from his workplace, tools, tables, etc.
We are exhausted and overjoyed with our initial success. I'm in the process of writing thank-you letters, but if you came or helped, or wished us well, THANK YOU.
#LoveMyLife
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