Huss Future Festival 2010
First annual Huss Future Festival to feature rummage sale, tours and art
THREE RIVERS -- After four years as a vacant space, the historic Huss School in Three Rivers is coming back to life. While youth and adult mentors have been cultivating Triple Ripple Community Gardens on the back acreage this summer, others have been hard at work planning the first annual Huss Future Festival for July 24, 2010.
"We decided to name the event the Future Festival because we're doing many different kinds of activities, but they all relate to the future dreams for the Huss School property," said festival chairperson Julie Keefer. "We hope to create a successful, profitable and fun event that we can build on in future years."
Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma is co-director of *culture is not optional (*cino), the organization that purchased Huss School in 2009. He explained what some of those future possibilities might look like. "The first floor will host various non-profit organizations and activities for youth and families in a cooperative community center," said Vander Giessen-Reitsma. Plans for the community center include a commercial kitchen, gymnasium, classrooms, office space, dance studio and woodshop that all have flexibility for multiple uses.
The second floor of the building is slated to become residential space for an off-campus program for college students who would volunteer in the local community while studying and living together at the school. "We learn so much from each other just by doing life together," Vander Giessen-Reitsma said. "We hope participants in our residential educational programs will benefit greatly from such an experiential model--and that the local community will benefit as well from students' energy, creativity and service hours."
Vander Giessen-Reitsma, along with his wife Kirstin, have already hosted a college spring break trip in Three Rivers and started a summer internship program that is currently operating out of the rectory of Trinity Episcopal Church. "We hope the space at Huss School will allow us to continue and expand these programs, which have so far proven really successful at engaging college and post-college participants in community development," he said. The *cino board and staff are preparing for a multi-million dollar renovation in order to get to that point. "A feasibility study with a Michigan architect will help set the stage for fundraising and a green renovation that honors the history of the school and makes it come alive again," said Vander Giessen-Reitsma. "We're not sure where the financial resources are going to come from, so we're stepping out in faith and dreaming big. The Future Festival will be a good addition to that process."
An array of activities from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 24 will all concern the future of the school property in various ways. A giant rummage sale will help move some extra items out of the building and raise money for things like a feasibility study, which is the next critical step for planning and renovating. Vendors hosting their own rummage and art sales will donate 10% of their sales to the school project. A bake sale will serve as another fund raiser, but will also be the backdrop for a room that will demonstrate the spirit *cino hopes to cultivate in the space, with free fair trade coffee and tea, plenty of seating to stop and sit a while and live music. The second floor will feature a variety of artistic and participatory displays that will help visitors imagine the future possibilities for the space. Volunteers from Triple Ripple Community Gardens will be on hand to show this year's project and talk about the garden project for coming years.
Those who are interested in supporting the Huss Future Festival 2010 can participate by:
- Donating items to the rummage sale or to the bake sale
- Signing up to be one of the individual art or rummage vendors who donate a percentage of their sales
- Serving on the core planning team to help organize the event
- Volunteering on one of the open work days (June 26 and July 17, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.) or on the day of the event
- Performing music in the Festival coffeehouse
- Attending in person and bringing friends
"I'm very excited about the positive affect [the renovation of Huss] will have in our community and beyond," said Keefer. Interested participants can contact us.
Links for more information:
