It all started in the summer of 2006 with a gift from Dorothy Taylor (d.2008) of 100 white wedding chairs and 17 round tables to the Pomerene Center. The Taylor gift leveraged a donation from the SABA Family Trust to build a 30ft.x30ft. stone terrace. The SABA gift in turn leveraged a successful 2008 fundraising effort led by Pomerene Board Member Dixie Fishbaugh to purchase a tent for the terrace. No small matter in the current economic climate.

The Pomerene Center staff and board of directors have been dreaming for years about owning a beautiful white tent. The reasoning goes like this: with a tent erected on the grounds offering shelter from sun, wind and rain; the facility becomes an ideal spot for private events–weddings, receptions, business meetings etc.

It’s all about power of community! Pomerene Board Treasurer Roger Eastman talked with Steve Spaulding former owner of Shaffer Tent. Steve Spaulding talked with the current owners of the company and was able to secure a used but pristine 30ft.x30ft.tent for a fraction of the price a new tent of lesser quality would have cost.

Meanwhile Edwin Mulligan, Marion Sutton, Robert and Juanita Simpson, Jeanne Falk and Don & Molly Hutchins generously joined Dixie Fishbaugh in giving for the purchase of the tent and the installation of piers to support it. The tent is scheduled to go up April 30th in time for Dogwood Festival 2009, May 1-9.

We are extremely grateful at Pomerene Center for this stream of gifts over time that has positioned us to generate a revenue stream to cover the cost of preserving the historic house and grounds.

The Pomerene Center for the Arts encourages the community to use and enjoy the historic Johnson-Humrickhouse Home and grounds for private events. This, after all, is in accordance with our mission of promoting community involvement in the arts.

A final word on generosity: adults who grew up in the neighborhood recount stories of being invited as children into the house for tea, about the bag of goodies and the $10 bill given to each child at Halloween, about the cookies and playing in the yard… Warner and Lora Pomerene hoped upon leaving their home to the community, that it would be well used by the community.

Questions about booking an event? e-mail acornell@pomerenearts.org or call 740.622.0326

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