{"id":16858,"date":"2016-05-05T06:55:39","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T10:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/?p=16858"},"modified":"2016-05-05T07:44:53","modified_gmt":"2016-05-05T11:44:53","slug":"pickens-hall-when-the-whole-is-more-than-the-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2016\/05\/05\/pickens-hall-when-the-whole-is-more-than-the-parts\/","title":{"rendered":"Pickens Hall: when the whole is more than the parts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pickens<\/a>

Pickens Hall on Main Street, Heuvelton. Photo: Todd Moe<\/p><\/div>\n

Imagine this: no internet, no tv, no radio, no electricity. Put yourself in a small town, Heuvelton, about a decade before the Civil War.<\/p>\n

John Pickens has a big idea for his community: build a three-story stone building for a store and an opera hall.<\/p>\n

\"EPSNpickenspic\"<\/a>

A theatre poster from the early 1900s, pasted to an old door on the third floor of Pickens Hall. Photo: Todd Moe<\/p><\/div>\n

Fast forward to the late 19th\u00a0and turn of the 20th century. Fifty years after its construction, Pickens Hall hosted touring opera stars including John\u2019s granddaughters, the Abbott sisters, as well as itinerant vaudeville companies.<\/p>\n

With the passage of decades, the upper floors of the building fell into disuse and disrepair. It\u2019s a new age of radio, tv, and movies. A grocery and a shoe store are housed in the building. Then, just the grocery. And, finally, the building stands unused, on the verge of being torn down.<\/p>\n

A new native son, Dave Kingsley, notices and dreams, wild dreams of bringing Pickens Hall back to life.<\/p>\n

The dream becomes concrete. First, with a beautiful reworking of the first floor into a regional craft and food store, including Amish goods. Then, the second floor is refurbished into a small performance and museum space. An addition is built to house an elevator and new stairways.<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, I had the privilege of attending the opera hall opening: the culmination of fifteen years of sweat, prayer, community commitment, and a dream Dave Kingsley refused to let go.<\/p>\n

\"pickensbarbkingsley2\"<\/a>

Dave Kingsley talking with a friend as the hall filled up on Saturday evening. Photo: Ellen Rocco<\/p><\/div>\n

It was breathtaking, exciting: the power of people who come together, stick together, and dream together to make something transformative for their community, who demonstrate that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.<\/p>\n

If I sound enthusiastic about Pickens Hall, it\u2019s because I am. Blown away. Thrilled. And, I\u2019m so proud to tell you about what Heuvelton has accomplished: it gives me hope for towns across the North Country, and the power of community.<\/p>\n

Here are some moments from the gala opening on Saturday. But, first, the before picture:<\/p>\n

\"Heuvelton<\/a>

Heuvelton Historical Association Board members John Danis and Dave Kingsley discuss opera hall renovation, January 2015. Photo: Todd Moe<\/p><\/div>\n

And a little over a year later, on April 30, 2016:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The first night audience at Pickens Hall. Photo: Todd Moe<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Heuvelton<\/a>

Heuvelton Historical Association supporter and friend, Allan Newell.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Photo: Ellen Rocco<\/p><\/div>\n

\"NCPR's<\/a>

NCPR’s Todd Moe emceed the celebration. Photo: Ellen Rocco<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Barb<\/a>

Barb Heller, Carter Houk, and Don Woodcock warmed up the hall as people took their seats. Photo: Ellen Rocco<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Towards<\/a>

Towards the end of the evening, a great gathering of local musicians filled the stage. (That’s Dave Kingsley on guitar just left of podium!) Photo: Todd Moe<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The cake says it all. Congratulations to everyone in Heuvelton. Photo: Todd Moe<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Pickens<\/a>

Pickens Hall on Main Street, Heuvelton. Photo: Todd Moe<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine this: no internet, no tv, no radio, no electricity. Put yourself in a small […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16858"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16897,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16858\/revisions\/16897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}