Loose Leaf Notes

The following first appeared in the July 3rd issue of The Floyd Press

The Old Church Gallery really knows how to throw a party. Their June 24th Musical Chairs House Party kept the fun in fundraising and provided the gallery with an opportunity to double their fundraising efforts through the Community Foundation of the New River Valley, a philanthropic organization dedicated to investing in the NRV community through charitable giving.

The party, which coincided with the CFNRV’s Give Local Giving Day, included live music, a silent auction of donated items, refreshments and musical chair games. It cast a spotlight on the gallery’s latest exhibit: “Memories Sit Here — Stools, Chairs, Benches, and Their Makers” and gave visitors a chance to enjoy the gallery’s cultural arts museum.

Spread out on the lawn under canopy tents, individuals and families enjoyed the music of Vic and Jane Zitta, The Floyd String Band All-Stars, and Willard Gayheart and Ricky Cox.

Watching friends and neighbors play Musical Chairs was a high point of entertainment, and winners of the childhood game won homemade cake or pie.

Donning a NRV Give Local T-shirt, OCG board president Alice Slusher spoke about the support the CFNRV gives to non-profit organizations and Giving Day events. “And we just like to have a party once in a while,” she said, adding, “We never had rain and we’ve never had heat like this either.” Paper fans were spread out for the taking and bottled water was plentiful.

“We have twice the non-profits in Floyd than other Southwest Virginia counties,” Slusher said. She estimated that eight of the top ten non-profits fundraising for Giving Day are from Floyd, listing Springhouse Community School, Floyd Center for the Arts, Plenty and the Handmade Music School. “We’re the smallest,” she said, noting that that last year OCG won a $15 hundred incentive grant for the most unique donors.

According to OCG co-founder and long-time art educator Catherine Pauley, the gallery was founded in 1978 as a community orientated gallery to host contemporary art exhibits and exhibits that preserve and showcase Floyd County’s heritage art, oral histories and mountain culture. The Gallery’s current permanent collection includes an early soapstone sundial, a spring bowl, woven coverlets, painted baskets and prehistoric stone tools.

 

The day after the Musical Chairs House Party, the OCG announced on social media, “We reached our matching $3,500 gift. Current total $7,663. Later this post was added: “We are so grateful to our many friends and supporters, with big thanks to the Community Foundation of the New River Valley, you all helped us win the “most donors” prize for Give Local NRV! Thank you!” -Colleen Redman