Meeting Participants: Willa, David, Pauline, Edwin, Edwin, Dan, Lauren, Omar, Fatimah, Richard, Les
WELCOME/REVIEW OF AGENDA & MTG NOTES
- 7 years ago today, the Anderson School meetings began in March 2010. The October 2009 Madison County School Board mtg. minutes includes a discussion on the Anderson School. Willa requested copies of emails from Richard and a summary on how the project came about to include in the planning committee minutes.
ALUMNI RELATIONS
Fatimah drafted a letter to send to Alumni. It includes names, emails, and mailing addresses gathered from the 2016 homecoming. The purpose of the letter is to get more alumni excited in the project and to increase their participation. Fatimah also updated a list of alumni, family, and supporters that includes 92 names. Lauren will work with Fatimah to convert info to an excel spreadsheet to use as a database. List needs to be sorted/alphabetized.
The next Alumni meeting is scheduled for March 24 at 3pm at the Lee Stephens Center.
BUDGET REVIEW
The committee reviewed the expense/income sheet. The committee received a $15k grant from the Madison TDA; its total contribution has been $38k.
CONSTRUCTION
- Dan indicated that volunteer work is on hold; the only thing that can be done is backfill around the addition and do some landscaping work. The backfill work needs to be done soon, and it would be best if this were done on a Saturday. All other workdays will remain in Thursdays.
- David and Dan met with Scott. They discussed getting a rough-in for plumbing and electrical. Dan has collected doors; we may need more including (1) 36” door for backdoor. We don’t know if we have enough siding for the addition.
- Dan spoke with Daryl Boone about the water hook up
- Dan or David will call Steve Wallin to evaluate the condition of the flooring. Steve has taken a new job and sold his equipment. Dan is trying to get a hold of the company that purchased Steve’s equipment.
FUNDRAISING
- Les told some visitors from Chicago (Jerry & Judy) about the Anderson School; they visited and have been casually meeting with Willa and David. Willa received an email from Jerry and Judy; they are working on making a connection with a fundraiser from Chicago. Fatimah mentioned that the next time potential benefactors are in town, that the committee let alumni know so that they can provide a face in showing the project’s impact.
- Les mentioned that the Rural Heritage Museum gets a lot of school groups, and they are usually looking for other places to visit.
- SECU: David spoke with the representative of the credit union’s fund. The fund has approved grants for affordable teacher housing in Buncombe Co. The SECU fund representative mentioned that they have been approached before by other Rosenwald schools; SECU needs a guarantee that the project will proceed to completion. David mentioned that the school is owned by the Madison Co. School system. This appeared to give the fund representative some ease.
GRANTS
- Sara Nichols is now the county planner and grants writer. Willa spoke with her about how to include the Anderson School in tourism grants for the county. It can be both a tourism draw and way to get grants for historic preservation for National Register eligible buildings.
- Sara recommended having a grant writing day; she is researching grants that would be applicable to the project. Grants have to be connected to economic development and tourism for her to be able to assist.
- Grants to consider: $10k from Lowes, Wells Fargo, Covington, Blue Ridge Heritage
- Les mentioned that we could hold the grants writing session at the Mars Hill Medical Center board room
HISTORY
- Dan had a question about flooring. 3/4 of it is in bad shape. The group agreed to try to keep as much of it as practical. Dan will reach out to Brad Franklin regarding additional old flooring that could be used in the addition. There is 4” flooring in the Huff House that could be used in the addition or to make the stage. The main room of the school has 3¼” flooring.
- Madison County is selling the old Rock School Building/property. Willa and David will get a hold of Sara, the county planner, to see if there’s any interior furniture that could be used at the Anderson School prior to the sale. Richard noted that we need to be careful because the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The future buyer may want to apply for federal/state grants to restore it. Its value is in what remains in the building. Dan mentioned that we could visit the Rock School Building and make a wish list of items that would could put in the school such as wood table(s), pencil sharpener, etc.
- Dan mentioned that we need to move the bead board to do electrical work. Charity will follow up with Manual/Donna Briscoe to see if it could be stored in Manual’s barn.
- Fatimah updated the group’s facebook page and posted photos of the school from 1989 and some recent photos showing progress on the rehab.
- Willa did a general google search on Black Education in Transylvania County NC. Came across a blog that discussed the Brevard School (nchistoryroom.blogspot.com/2015/02/rosenwald and nchistoryroom.blogspot.com/2014/09/early-african-american-education).
- It looks like there was a historically black community in Transylvania County that was named after Rosenwald. The site documents the different names of the schools in this community with Glade Creek School being the longest running black school at that time (1928-1954). It had an enrollment of 28-54 students. In 1946, a new Rosenwald (community) School opened in Brevard that was called Shady Grove School.
- The latter webpage on early African American education in Transylvania County spoke of a school built in 1910 that was expanded in 1920 using multiple funding sources, including Rosenwald funds. The school burned down in 1941. From 1941 to 1948, there was not a black elementary school in the area; they used the basement of churches to provide schooling facilities. In 1948, a new Rosenwald School (in name only) was built. It may have used Rosenwald building plans, but was built without Rosenwald funds.
GENERAL
- The committee needs to make decisions about the design of the window plaques, including how they will look with the window facings. They are ready to print when we notify the printer.
- A group of seminary students recently visited the school; the sign-in sheet will be attached to the meeting notes.
- Germain Media came out last weekend to take pictures. Steve Tweed took a picture of the internal workings of the piano. The media group also interviewed Dorothy and Charity. This is a good way to help market the school. The company has a popular Facebook page and does a regular “Tuesdays with Tweed” segment. Soon the school will be highlighted.
- Upcoming dates/events:
- Madison Expo: March 11
- National Trust for Historic Preservation visit – should have dates confirmed before next committee mtg.
- Board development training: April 28
- The committee can get a van from the Mars Hill Baptist Church for committee members interested in attending. Event will be at Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte. Registration is $100 for the group with no limit on participants. Room rate is $75/night if we want to leave on Thursday. If leaving on Friday, must depart by 6 AM.
- Blue Ridge Community College
- OLLI at UNCA… series title is Appalachian Sampler; topics are framed within the concept of preservation; Barbara Willard is the coordinator for this program
- They are requesting that group does (2) 50-minute sessions that include music. It was proposed that Charity/Oralene could do one session and Fatimah/Omar do another session.