Dear members:
I wanted to report on the latest news from the Buffalo Gap Historic Village, and give you an idea of where we are heading next.
The Haunted Village: Ghostly Frontier event was a satisfying success, and has proven, for the third year in a row, to be our most reliable fundraiser. I appreciate all of you who came out—or sent someone—and by our estimate nearly 1 out of every 100 residents of this area (Clyde to Merkel, Anson to Winters) came by to spend $10 waiting for an hour in line to have the wits scared out of them by simply reenacting ghost stories from this region! And, as always, we remain a 100% occult and movie monster free zone!
I always figured history could be fun and entertaining. These Haunted Village visitors—falling overwhelmingly into the 12 to 25 aged brackets—seemed to be suitably amused, spooked, and entertained.
Of course, we couldn’t have pulled it off without the unflagging support of our hard-working site manager, Amy Prather, our controller, Amy Smith, and our director, Joy Pace. This all-star, all woman team corralled some fifty performers— a little more than half from McMurry, a little less than half from Frater Sodalis men’s social club at ACU—and brought about a financially successful and safe event. Chief volunteer Rudy Pace, a retired Methodist preacher, also did yeoman duty all four nights by serving as the “old timer” who set up each tour with tales of the “good old days” where the dark side of life tended to stalk along next to the sunny side.
A haunted house is a tough event to put on . . . but there seems to be a market.
I have to relate a couple of anecdotes related to the Haunted Frontier. In one instance, a group of teenagers in line asked each other, “How long has this place been here, I’ve never heard of it.” Around a corner, one of our staff, in their spookiest voice, groaned out “Fifty Years next summer . . ..”
As we pulsed our guests through the gift shop on their wait to tour the Haunted Village, another teenager said, “I bet it would be fun to volunteer out here.” Another said, “yeah, it does look fun, but I’d only volunteer if the pay was good.” I am sure the irony was lost on her.
Let us also not forget that the Buffalo Gap Historic Village also hosted a free event on Sunday afternoon that drew an additional 125 families to the site for an “Old Fashioned Halloween” festival including bobbing for apples and other vintage, simple, and family oriented pleasures.
If you read the local paper, you may have noticed several great stories about things going well at the village. I have appended them to the end of this letter in case you didn’t see them.
I am happy to announce that we are just days away from unveiling a new meeting space. By making more efficient use of one of our buildings, the Gallery, we can now host events of up to 80 or more people in climate controlled, indoor comfort. As I like to put it, our 26 x 36 room “feeds 80, teaches 40.” We are in the very early stages of investigating “distance learning” capabilities for the room as well so that we can export educational content from our facility to the world. We will also display our collection of art and maps in this room, adding to the ambience of this now multifunctional space.
Across the street, we are planning on stabilizing and beginning the restoration of the Boone House, perhaps the oldest home in Taylor County. Below are historical pictures of the house and what we hope to do with it in the near future (depending on funding):
As you can see, the old house needs some help. When it is completed, however, it will be the first of three anticipated overnight “farm stay” style accommodation facilities related to the Buffalo Gap Historic Village. The other two are the Greene House (a 1923 cottage) and the Hill House, the oldest home in Abilene, but now standing at Buffalo Gap Historic Village. We predict that some of our city-dweller visitors might find it charming to awaken to the sounds of roosters crowing!
Here’s why we are heading this direction (as you can imagine, we get asked this a lot). We are one of the area’s principal attractions with 16,000 annual visitors. Of these, 3,000 come from Abilene and the region, 7,000 come from the region Fort Worth to Lubbock, 4,000 from the rest of Texas, and 2,000 from the rest of the U.S. and the World. The lion’s share of our visitors spend the night in the area. In addition, we also do a fair amount of promoting for Abilene as a great destination for school tours and affinity groups. Right now, we are not netting much income for all of these community-minded endeavors, but the local hotels and restaurants certainly get a boost. We simply need to increase our revenue streams while keeping costs down. As we ramp up our educational programming, interest more schools in making field trips to the region, and bring our meeting space on-line, we anticipate a growing interest in people staying near the facility. This additional revenue can then be applied to operating costs at the village as we all work toward preserving this cultural jewel.
Also, please be aware that you remain our biggest ambassador corps for the site.
Fully 25%, that’s 1 in 4, of our visitors responding claimed to have learned of the village from family members, compared to 16% from all of our billboards, 7% from the state travel guide, 5% from our webpage, and 3% each from the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Frontier Texas visitors center.
So, keep up the good work!
That’s all for now. Please remember that two things we need most right now are volunteers, more members, and donations. The volunteers help us stretch our employee coverage; memberships and donations will help us close our $50,000 funding gap next year. Please remember us as you craft your end of year tax deductible giving plan. To make it even easier, just go to this link from the www.buffalogap.com <http://www.buffalogap.com> webpage:
www.justgive.org/giving/donate.jsp?charityId=18309&
Thanks for letting me into you e-mail in box. If you get tired of these occasional letters, just let me know by replying to this message. I’ll take you off the list.
Don Frazier
President and CEO
The McWhiney Foundation
P.S.: Here are the Abilene Reporter News articles:
Boost of Support
Volunteers, donation keep Buffalo Gap Historic Village going
By Melissa Borden / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 27, 2005
A year ago, the Buffalo Gap Historic Village was in ''ICU,'' its director declared. Today, a transfusion of funds and ideas may breathe new life into one of the area's oldest tourist attractions.
The venue recently secured funding to stay open through next year, said Don Frazier, executive director of the McWhiney Foundation, which owns the village. Frazier said the donor who contributed the funds wishes to remain anonymous. But, Frazier hopes there will be a long-term solution soon, he said.
''We're working on securing a long-term viability by creating an endowment,'' Frazier said. ''We were a long way from waving the white flag. But the events that happened last year were certainly a body blow.''
That blow came when the village lost a $3 million challenge grant last year from the Dodge Jones Foundation after raising only $400,000 in matching funds. If the entire $6 million had been raised, $3.75 million would have gone into the endowment, and earnings from it would have been used for operating expenses.
The remaining $2.25 million would have been used for repairs.
Since then, the village and its supporters have been brainstorming ways to keep it open. Frazier cut the staff from three to one full-time worker and trimmed the annual operating budget from about $500,000 to $200,000.
Dodge Jones Foundation Grants Administrator Larry Gill said he admires the tough decisions that the village had to make. With any business, Gill said, the marketplace will determine demand.
Buffalo Gap Mayor David Perry said the community support has been admirable. Many of the town's 500 or so citizens volunteered at the site to keep costs down.
Amy Prather, who began as a summer volunteer last year, is now the only staff member. She oversees four acres, 20 historic buildings and 9,000 artifacts indigenous to this region. She is assisted by about 15 regular volunteers.
''It's been a total roller coaster ride. There've been funding issues. Are we going to close? Are we going to stay open?'' Prather said. ''It's been really interesting to find creative ways to find funding. And then it's been really gratifying to get the support from people calling saying, 'You can't close the village.' So that's been really wonderful.''
Over the last year, the village drew in a few small grants to maintain and upgrade some of the artifacts and buildings. The group also used a local graduate student to survey 500 area residents on what they found most attractive about the tourist attraction.
Frazier said those surveyed wanted a more hands-on experience.
The village plans to use hand wands with recorded information to offer self-guided tours of the grounds. Four tour choices will be aimed at different learning levels, from fourth grade to retirement age. The new system would allow visitors to tour the facility at their own pace, pausing at points of interest.
Prather said she wants to focus on education at the village.
''This is my big outdoor classroom,'' she said. ''I really want to delve into that and seek funding for educational opportunities.''
Leveraging these historical resources are important for any cultural heritage attraction, said Nanci Liles, executive director for the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau.
''I think that they've been very creative in developing programs for the region to promote the cultural heritage tourism aspect,'' she said. ''That has definitely helped us in promoting the area for cultural heritage education.''
A lack of ideas isn't the problem, Frazier said.
''When I go out there to this facility - I see such vast potential,'' Frazier said. ''It's frustrating to not be able to realize those visions instantly. But we're getting back.''
The village will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, Frazier said, and he hopes it will celebrate another 50 years. The village surrounds the original Taylor County Courthouse in Buffalo Gap. The former courthouse was turned into a museum in 1956 by Earnest Walter Wilson, according to Abilene Reporter-News files. Abilene physician R. Lee Rode and his wife, Ann, bought the property in 1977 and moved a number of historic buildings from around the area onto the site.
By the numbers
1999 attendance: 7,000*
2004: 16,000
2005 projected attendance: 16,000
Approximate annual operating budget in 2004: $500,000
Approximate annual operating budget in 2005: $200,000
Number of acres: 4
Number of historic buildings: 20
Number of artifacts: 9,000
* The McWhiney Foundation took ownership of the Buffalo Gap Historic Village in 1999.
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Ghosts roaming in Buffalo Gap
Less-scary Sunday event attracts youngsters
By Jerry Daniel Reed / Reporter-News Staff Writer
October 31, 2005
BUFFALO GAP - Devon Grenfell didn't quite measure up to the size required for admission to the Ghostly Frontier, but he made do with the Buffalo Gap Historic Village's fall festival Sunday afternoon.
''The graveyard,'' the Abilene 6-year-old replied to a query about his favorite attraction at the festival.
What about the graveyard?
''Seeing the skeleton,'' he replied.
The cemetery decorates what serves as a diamond for vintage baseball teams during warmer months. A hanging human figure also provided some Halloween atmosphere for the historic village grounds.
The fall festival for younger kids was a G-rated event preceding the village's Ghostly Frontier Sunday night and tonight.
A dozen vignettes, all deserving the adjective macabre, comprise a 15- to 20-minute guided lantern light tour, said site manager Amy Prather of the Ghostly Frontier.
Each vignette represents a local legend, real or not, Prather said. The Ghostly Village is recommended for teenagers.
Sunday afternoon's carnival for the youngsters drew good crowds, more than the staff could count on the run, said employee Jeff Wright.
''They started coming in so fast we didn't try to keep counting,'' Wright said.
About 125 kids and almost twice that many parents probably attended, Prather said.
The kids, who got in free for arriving in Halloween costumes, collected a variety of candies at several stops on the village grounds. They also took part in bobbing for apples in basins and trying to bite powdered doughnuts hanging from a tree, or watching their parents do so.
Jeff Grenfell, Devon's dad, got wet bobbing for apples, but came up with his prize. But he didn't get full enjoyment of it.
''She ate it,'' he said, pointing to his wife, Brittany.
If you go ...
What: Buffalo Gap Historic Village's Ghostly Frontier
When: 7-10 p.m. tonight
Where: Buffalo Gap Historic Village, 133 N. Williams St., Buffalo Gap
Admission: $10
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Ghouls, Goblins & Goodies
Abilene haunted with frightfully good times during Halloween
By Jerry Daniel Reed / Reporter-News Staff Writer
November 1, 2005
Abilene youngsters chose from a wide variety of Halloween experiences Monday, ranging from nice and mild to decidedly wild.
On the wild side was Play Faire Park's ''Fright Zone,'' where people waiting outside for their tours heard mighty realistic screams from inside the walls - they couldn't determine if they were canned or in earnest. Once inside, there was no doubt: they were real.
At the G.V. Daniels Center, the playbill featured an array of activities for children, including an air castle and cakewalks that provided goodies for some lucky boys and girls.
The Fright Zone lived up to its name so well that 15-year-old Brittany McCrary dashed through the exit to the refuge of the family pickup, after being chased by a variety of hideous creatures - including one wielding a realistic sounding chainsaw.
Her father, Bryan McCrary, said that behavior was unusual for Brittany.
''We can watch scary movies at home, and she just laughs,'' he said.
Bryan McCrary compared the Fright Zone to the Buffalo Gap Historic Village's haunted village, ''The Ghostly Frontier'' that the Hawley family visited earlier. His wife, Teena, was badly spooked by a scene of a woman's scalping, he said.
''If I hadn't had hold of her arm, she'd have been in Louisiana by now!'' he said.
At the Daniels Center, 9-year-old Michael White was one of 350 to 400 kids who enjoyed a full, though not frightful, evening of activities - several kinds of sports plus Halloween games and party games.
''Doing double back flips in the air castle'' highlighted his evening, though the Jackson Elementary School student was also thrilled to win a box of doughnuts in a cakewalk.
''We do it to keep everyone safe in the community,'' said adult volunteer Tonya Brown.
Businesses such as H-E-B and United Supermarkets donated goodies to give away.
Several other Halloween events, ranging from church parties to other haunted houses to a special screening of ''The Changeling'' at the Paramount Theatre were offered.
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Abilene Organic Pioneers Day
November 4, 2005
What: Abilene Organic Pioneers Day
When: Saturday, registration, coffee and muffins, 7:30 a.m.; seminars 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Where: Buffalo Gap Historic Village
Cost: $30, which includes organic foods luncheon
What's included: Seminars on organic agriculture, recipes and cooking tips, local markets for local farmers, landscaping with native plants, and more.
For more information: Call Eric Alexander, 806-787-5608 or visit Web site www.tofga.org