|
|
|
|
UPDATE - New Community Building construction has begun! Thanks for your support! (Donations are desperately needed; the Silk Hope Ruritan Club has taken on major long-term debt to finance the building, and we must have Community support to pay off the loan! Please read our web site to learn how to help! The new Community Fire Department Building has been built. The Silk Hope Community no longer has a large meeting facility for large meetings and other events. Our new Silk Hope Community Building is underway—Watch it GROW
Building Community In Silk Hope, NC
The mission of the Silk Hope Ruritan Club is, basically, to Build Community by bringing and keeping the people of Silk Hope together. As one of our major past Community-Building activities, the Club was the major contributor to building the Silk Hope Community Firehouse and Community Building in the late 1960s. Since that time, the Community Building (also called the Community Center) has been used for many activities, from Scouts meetings (and headquarters), to wedding receptions, to Red Cross Blood Drives, to educational meetings for Seniors and others, as well as many other activities. It has evolved into a major Community-Building focus for the Silk Hope Community! Farm Heritage Center Status The Farm Heritage Center is an outstanding collection of antique farm equipment, old farm buildings, and steam-related equipment brought to the Farm Heritage Center over the last 30 years by the Silk Hope Ruritan Club. These items have been discovered, in many cases weathering away to rust and dust, in the surrounding region. They were carefully disassembled, moved to the Farm Heritage Center, and re-assembled and refurbished as functioning pieces of our Farm Heritage Center showcase. This work was carried out by volunteers -- primarily Ruritan Club members, but also by many Friends with the proper expertise, along with lots of enthusiasm! The Farm Heritage Center continues to grow as a premier Showcase of Old Fashioned Farming buildings, equipment, technology, and lifestyle. We have recently added a Tobacco Homestead and a Blacksmith Shop. But there is a major problem! The Community Building is GONE! It was demolished late in 2009 to make way for the new Silk Hope Fire House. The new Fire House does not have suitable facilities (kitchen, etc.) or room to serve as our Community Building, leaving the Silk Hope Community with no suitable meeting and activity center for large groups. The Silk Hope Ruritan Club has decided to devote a large part of our Community-Building effort to financing, building, and operating a brand-new Silk Hope Community Building on land owned by the Club. The new Silk Hope Community Building is being built diagonally across the intersection from the new Fire House. WATCH IT GROW! (And help the Silk Hope Ruritans pay for it—read more for ways to help!)
Tourist Attraction & Educational Tours The Silk Hope Community Center and its new Centerpiece, the Silk Hope Community Building, will continue to develop Silk Hope and the surrounding area as a major tourist attraction. Our extensive and growing display of Old Fashioned Farming buildings, operating Antique Farm Equipment, and Old-Time Technology cannot be rivaled anywhere! We already attract tourists from all over North Carolina and many other states, who bring friends to see the spectacle. Many of these people become customers of surrounding businesses, benefiting the area economy. They also become our Ambassadors to the World, spreading the word about the many attractions of our site. The new Community Building, located on site, gives us even more opportunity to enhance our appeal by providing a place for more delicate Antique Displays, as well as lectures on subjects like Old Fashioned Farm Technology and Practices. These same assets form the basis for Educational Tours and lectures for groups as diverse as local school children, senior citizens, the Agricultural Extension Service, and people from outside the state and country. A number of groups have taken advantage of this outstanding educational opportunity, and more are signing up as the word gets out about the treasures we have saved from our Farm Heritage! Besides our annual celebrations, including Old Fashioned Farmers Days (held throughout the Labor Day weekend) and Farm Heritage Day (held in the Spring), we also provide an attractive venue for groups like Antique Car Clubs, Livestock Breeders, and others who enjoy using our magnificent setting and facilities as the background to their central interests, all the while educating the public to the way Farm Life once was (and may be again!). Our Mission The Silk Hope Ruritan Club is dedicated to improving our Community and to building a better America through promoting Fellowship, Goodwill, and Community Service. Our Current Community-Building Challenge Creation of the new Silk Hope Fire Station has resulted in the destruction of the old Silk Hope Community Building. Since the late 1960s this facility has served the Silk Hope Community well, providing a Community meeting center for the Scouts, wedding receptions, senior citizen groups, graduation celebrations, and many other Community-Building activities. It is critical to the health and growth of the Silk Hope Community that this facility be replaced as soon as possible! In order to accomplish this major Community-Building project, the Silk Hope Ruritan Club has taken on the Herculean task of planning, financing, building, and operating a brand-new Silk Hope Community Building, located on Club-owned property diagonally across the intersection from the Fire House. The Silk Hope Ruritan Club is contributing the land, purchased for $349,000, and over $100,000 already pledged by Club members, toward creation of this new Community Building. We are also contributing endless hours toward securing financial aid to realize this dream, as well as much physical labor and other resources to finish and decorate the building. We need the help of every member of the Silk Hope Community, as well as our many other friends throughout the area and the state, to complete the financing and building of this major asset for the Community. If you would like to help, we offer several unique options: Giving Levels Founder $ 10,000 + Pioneer 5,000-9,999 Rancher 1,000-4,999 Homesteader 500-999 Old Cowhand 101-499 Buy a Brick 100
Naming Rights The following opportunities are available to name the building or a room after you or your family, or in honor or memory of a loved one.
Building $ 125,000 Main Meeting Room 75,000 Community Room 40,000 Boardroom 25,000 Kitchen 25,000 TAKEN Museum/Foyer 25,000
Donate a Memory Brick You can design a Memory Brick Paver (or a group of Bricks) to honor family members or other loved ones, while helping to fund the new Community Building! You pick the message (up to three lines of up to 18 characters per line) for a 4-inch by 8-inch Brick, which will be prominently displayed near the entrance to the new Community Building. The cost is only $100. For a larger message (or a larger family group), you may donate an 8-inch by 8-inch Brick with up to six lines of 18 characters per line, at a cost of only $250! Click here for an order form. For More Details Contact Harold Rogers, 919.742.4406 or Tom Smith 919.663.4541
Silk Hope Ruritan Club 394 Hope Hills Drive, Siler City, NC 27344
Download A Pledge Form Here View pictures of the Community Building Plans
|
|
Send mail to webmaster@silkhoperuritans.com with questions or comments about this web site.
|
