I know it's been a hot minute since we last shared news with all of you! It has been some very busy few months, not just for me personally, but also for the Gibson City Restoration Association. So, we wanted to give you a quick update on where we are from a fundraising perspective.
Last we talked, we had just finished up our walking tours of the Opera House and serving walking tacos during the Gibson City Harvest Fest. Both of those fundraisers went well. The Walking Tours were not just a fundraiser but were also meant to help us share the history and architecture of the building, which is part of the mission of our organization.
We have also been having frequent sales as the Burwell Building to help us clear out all the items left from the days when The Store occupied the first floor. I don't know how many of you know this, but we purchased the building with all of the contents included (see the photo to the left for a 'before' picture). So, before we could begin restoration, we had to clear out the clutter. We appreciate all of you who have come out to help us. Many of you dedicated your time to digging through the back room that was literally packed to the ceiling with items, to offering up dumpsters for our use, to hauling away all the metal for recycling. We could not have done this without you!
And, I 'm happy to report that through our 'garage sales', we have almost made enough money to pay for the cost of the building. Wow!! That's awesome.
Due to the overwhelming response we received from the walking tours, we decided to offer the Opera House up for photo shoot rentals. We immediately had several local photographers reach out to us to take us up on our offer. Timing is everything, and one photographer, in particular, wanted to do a spooky, haunted Halloween vibe to her photo shoot. Karissa Marshall did a great job of using the architecture of this building to her advantage. I love the way her photos turned out. The following photo has been shared with her permission. See more of her Opera House photos at Karissa Marshall Photography.
The Opera House is still available for rental if you are interested in getting family photos done for your Christmas cards! Keep in mind that we have no heat or electricity. But, the price is reflective of that. $30 per hour or $100 for the day. And again, it's for a good cause as all money raised will go towards our restoration efforts.
Our biggest fundraiser of the year is our Annual Ca$h Ba$h. We held our Ca$h Ba$h at Mark's on First this year on Saturday, November 6th. We had a great time!! Tickets were $50 each and provided 2 people with a meal, 4 drinks and the chance to win $1,000. We had some awesome silent auction baskets and a wine pull that sold out within the first 30 minutes!
Alyce Hafer was the lucky one to go home with the $1,000. She had her winning ball pulled out of the tumbler. Pictured below is Alyce with her 'winning' spot on the Ca$h Ba$h board. We had many other guests go home with other cash winnings, free t-shirts, and wine pull freebies. Please consider joining us next year! We promise you will have a great time!!
Speaking of t-shirts - we also have a t-shirt fundraiser going on. These custom designed t-shirts of the Burwell Buidling are selling for $20 each. We have adult sizes S-3XL available. Show your support for our efforts to restore this historical building by purchasing your t-shirt today! We have them available for sale every Wednesday night during our Queen of Hearts drawing at Mark's on First from 4-7 pm. Or contact Dawn Klintworth, at 309-825-5081 or Sharon Heavilin at 217-249-8103.
In early August, we contracted with a grant writer. Jon Thomas Consulting was hired to assist us with our grant writing and fundraising activities. We've been working closely with them over the past months to seek out and apply for grants that we feel we qualify for. We expect our grant application activity to increase substantially after the first of year, as new budgets and new legislative activities gear up!
We also have many other exciting things on the horizon. We can't speak about those events right now because they are still in the works and plans are being solidified. But, know that we will post about them as soon as we can!!
In the meantime, we wish everyone a safe and Happy Holiday season! Be sure to watch for us serving hotdogs during the day on Saturday, Nov 19th (before the lighted Christmas Parade) and watch for our holiday decorations at the Burwell Building. This might be the first time in nearly 20 years that the Burwell Building has been decorated for the holidays. How cool is that?
Don't forget to follow our latest activities on social media. That is where you will find the most recent up to date information.
Instagram: @TheBurwellBuilding
TikTok: @TheBurwellBuilding
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