High Country Magazine
December Issue
& Visitor Guide
Now Available Online!
Click On The Corresponding
Cover To View The Latest Issue
Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05
Aug 7, 2008 issue
Concert to Benefit Ashe Library September 5
Tickets on Sale Now
Story by Celeste von Mangan
Three popular musicians—Wayne Henderson, Steve Lewis and Jeff Little—are coming together in concert to help the Ashe County Public Library meet its fundraising goal of $500,000, an amount earmarked to pay for new equipment and furniture for the Ashe Library Expansion Project. Raising $500,000 for a good cause is no easy feat in the current economic climate, but the Ashe County Public Library is nearing the goal with $311,000 already raised. The musicians are slated to perform on Friday, September 5, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Ashe Civic Center. Tickets are on sale now for the general admission cost of $15 each.
“We are very pleased and excited,” said Sally Zwadyk, publicity coordinator for the event. “I think we are well on our way to reaching our goal and we’ve got just 40 percent to go. Most of our library equipment is 20 years old. With the new library expansion, we will be doubling the number of computers, the genealogy room is doubling in size and there will be a larger story time area for children. Everything is going to be bigger and better, and we have a special fund set up just for this campaign.”
Larger areas need additional furniture, and the money will also help fund new computers for the computer lab.
“A computer lab is something we have never had before,” said Zwadyk. “The computers will be used for classes and training workshops. We will have SmartBoard technology in our children’s area and we will have a lot of public computer access at our facility. We will be adding a meeting room to accommodate 20 people and a smaller meeting committee room for 8 to 10 people. Plus three study and tutoring rooms will be added; these will fit one to two people each. Our new business reference section will be something we have never had before, and all these sections require furnishings.”
The library expansion project is scheduled for completion in June 2009.
“We are going from 11,500 square feet to 27,687 square feet, and our shelf capacity alone will increase by 50 percent,” said Zwadyk.
As for the musicians donating their musical abilities to make the concert a success, their reputation and talent precede them.
“We are excited to have these gifted musicians performing,” said Molly Gambill, library trustee and event coordinator. “They have a huge following and we expect a full house. Our goal is to equip the library with quality materials second to none; our community expects and deserves no less. We are very fortunate to have the Miller Insurance Company underwriting this concert for us. Their support and sense of community have brought this project from conception to fruition.”
All three musicians are from this region. Henderson is from Rugby, Va., Lewis is from Todd and Little is from Boone. Henderson was born into a family of craftspeople and musicians, and he is not only a champion guitar player known for his speed and precision, but he is also considered one of the finest luthiers in the country. Lewis plays acoustic bluegrass and is a champion banjo and guitar player, having won almost every championship east of the Rockies for those instruments. Little is called the Piano Man from the Blue Ridge and has performed worldwide, as well as at the Smithsonian and on National Public Radio.
Purchase tickets by check or cash only at the Mast General Store in Boone, the Ashe County Public Library temporarily housed in Jefferson Station or Blue Moon Guitars and Music Store in West Jefferson. Drop off donations for the library expansion with Jim McQueen, Ashe County librarian, or mail checks to Friends of the Library, F and E Fund, P.O. Box 1004, West Jefferson, NC 28694.
Want To Go?
Date: Friday, September 5
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Ashe Civic Center
Cost: $15