by Bea Peterson
This Saturday evening, July 26, Hoosac School is hosting a concert to benefit the restoration of the Wood Block’s historic third floor. The program of Opera Arias and Show Tunes will be performed by Oren Gradus and Mariona Pallach accompanied by gifted pianist, opera coach and accomplished conductor Jennifer Peterson. Gradus has performed in many of the world’s greatest opera houses. Pallach, an award winning vocalist and voice instructor, is from Catalonia, Spain.
[private]In celebration of Hoosac School’s 125th anniversary the event will begin with a reception, including hors d’oeuvres, at 7 pm on the East Lawn of the Tibbits Mansion. The concert will be in the Hoosac School auditorium at 8. After the performance everyone will have an opportunity to meet the artists over coffee and dessert.
Tickets for the event cost $20. Call 518-686-4258 for reservations or visit hoosac.org or email civicure@gmail.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the reception.
CiviCure’s Treasurer Barbara Sussman and the entire CiviCure Board is excited about this event. “Saturday night’s performance is a precursor of what can happen in the Wood Block in the future,” she said.
CiviCure On the Rise
On the third floor of the Wood Block Building at 5 Main Street are two performance halls where, for years, traveling and local artists once entertained. The rooms have been empty for over 40 years. The fantastic acoustics in the main room with two stages are outstanding and can still be appreciated, though the falling plaster from ceiling and walls do not a pretty picture make.
Visions of restoring these rooms to their former grandeur have been talked about and pursued more than once. The last effort was in 2003/2004 when volunteers cleaned years of dust, dirt, pigeon poop, falling plaster and the like out of those rooms to make them presentable. The late Mark Revet applied for a huge grant that never came to fruition. Singer Steve Marking started a musical not-for-profit called “You Gotta Hear This” to promote the need for a place to showcase the area’s musical talent. For one event the public was invited to enjoy the music and tour the third floor. All the efforts to restore that space, to date, have failed. Grants have been received by CiviCure for several community projects but none to renovate that third floor. Now CiviCure is trying again. The non-profit’s mission, as envisioned by the late Rolf Sternberg back as far as 1978, was and is “community revitalization through active stewardship of Hoosick’s rich heritage and rural environs and the art inspired by them.”
“Rather than focus on big plans for the community as a whole, Sussman said, “We’re going to start with this one project.” CiviCure has a couple of grants lined up, and some private donations, she said. But that totals only a fraction of what they will need. “We’ve done a smart thing,” she said. “We hired Jayne Stokes as a paid administrator to oversee the efforts of the volunteers, and we’ve hired Richard Tillberg as a consultant and facilitator to help us reach our goal.” She added that their first task will be to acquire the Wood Block Building, followed by the restoration of the third floor.
Members of the CiviCure Board are Ed Gorman, President, Barbara Sussman, Treasurer, Ric DiDonato, Ari Gradus, Diana Gradus, Gary Sussman and Anna Fried.
Community Efforts
Sussman feels the time is right for this project. “Our community is working as a team,” she said. “Between HAYC3, Hoosick Rising, HooRWA and the other groups we are associated with, the momentum is here, and we can accomplish many things.”
Short term goals for the Wood Block are a kiosk outside that describes area attractions and historic sites and a Tourist Center where maps of the area would be available.
Remember When
CiviCure wants to put together an accurate history of past performances. “We’re hoping that anyone who attended an event in the Wood Block years ago will contact us and tell us about what they saw and heard,” she said. “We’ve heard rumors about certain well known performers, but we don’t know for sure if they did perform here,” she concluded. They have also been working closely with the Town of Hoosick Historical Society to document the performance room’s history.
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