By Steve Steiner

Managing editor

ssteiner@elkintribune.com

It was only 3:20 p.m., a good 40 minutes before the ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony was slated to begin, but already there were eight people gathered at the newly-constructed Clingman Community Center.

The eight — seven men and one woman — were members of the Ronda Volunteer Fire Department.

Inside,board members of the Clingman Community Center were doing last-minute touches before officially opening the facility to the community. Outside, new arrivals peered through the plate glass doors, to get a glimpse.

A tall, lean, white-haired man, Edward Green, thanked the people and told them the ceremony would soon begin. He then gently asked if they could wait in the parking lot, beyond the red ribbon that was tied from one pillar to the next. The people gladly obliged.

Green was all smiles, from ear to ear, and with good reason.

“Ninety-seven years ago, my grandfather, father and four uncles started building the school,” he said.

Many years later, the old Clingman School, as it came to be known, was converted into the community center after the Wilkes County Board of Education decertified it. “It was three years ago to the day it burned down,” Green said.

It cut at the heart of the community.

“It was a big shock when it burned down,” said community center board president Tommy Calloway. “It took awhile for us to understand what it was going to take to rebuild.”

But rebuild it the community did. With numerous fundraisers, a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development division, and assistance from unexpected sources (for instance, the contractor, Kearey Builders came in with a bid $75,000 lower than the nearest competitor; and architect Keith Hubbard of ArcVision gave more of his time and talents than usual), the new community center was completed and without any debt.

Green admitted there were still some things needed, such as a table and chair for the conference room, plus tables and chairs for anytime there are functions such as wedding receptions. He said that a major corporation had promised a donation of tables and chairs that would total about 200 pieces, and that it was just a matter of the company’s community committee ratifying the donation.

“We tried to do the important things first — for the children,” Green said. “This (the new community center) fits the needs of the community, and that’s all we need. It’s a nice size for us.”

One of the guests on hand was Stephen Pennington, president and CEO of Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital, which has a satellite facility next to the community center.

“We’ve had about a two-year partnership with the Clingman medical board, which is separate from the community center, but we always work together,” he said.

The medical center is not the only neighboring building.

“I think it’s pretty impressive to have the community center, medical center and fire station,” Pennington said. “It’s something for the community to be proud of.”

Following the ribbon cutting, the more than 100 people who turned out headed inside for a formal presentation.

One of the speakers, Dale Green, one of Edward and Eleanor Green’s sons, and a board member, gave the opening remarks, and spoke of the fire that destroyed the original building.

“It was so intense — if memory serves me — it took 11 fire departments to get it under control,” Dale Green said.

With that, he paused. It would be one of several pauses, as he struggled to not give way to his emotions.

Sandra B. Lawrence, the area specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development division, was one of several guest speakers, and her remarks brought some levity. She spoke of the first meeting she had with the-then board members.

“I told them I was from the government and I’m here to help,” she said. “They laughed.”

So did the audience.

Lawrence extolled the community for all their contributions, telling them the building did not happen because of just one person.

“Dreams really do come true and I’m really proud to have had a part in it,” she said.

Special presentations were made to Cammie Smith and Claude Shew Sr.

Smith accepted a presentation on behalf of her late father, Mitchell Smith. Shew accepted a presentation in honor of his late wife, Sue, who had once been a teacher at the school.

She commissioned Smith, a local artist, to paint a picture of the old Clingman School. Following the fire, the Shew family gave the right to reproduce prints from the painting, to serve as a fundraiser; more so, to allow more people to enjoy the memory of the old school, said Edward Green as he and Don Redding made the presentations.

However, it was not only the community board members making presentations. On behalf of Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital, president and CEO Stephen Pennington presented the board with a framed portrait taken the day ground was broken for the new community center.

When all speeches were given and all who made the dream a reality were thanked, the community partook of a buffet meal, but not before one of the last comments were made, this coming from John Kearey, the contractor of the project.

“Take good care of this building,” he said.

But his was not a somber admonition.

“You know what happened to the last building,” he quipped.

The room broke out in laughter, followed by applause.