2024 in The Rear View Mirror
Highlights, Stats, and a Glance Over the Dashboard
‘Twas a Dickens of a Year!
Thank you for reading permeability in the past year! My format has been to recount recent events, reflect on one contour of the faith/culture dynamic, and then to dangle the carrot of upcoming events in front of your nose.
As my launching pad I’ll use the small talk I gave to the 50 or so who enjoyed seasonal drinks, food, and merriment at our Dickens-of-a-Party at Nooks Books & Gallery in downtown Lancaster last Friday.
It was fun and warm and sweet to be with friends for warm apple cider and a few readings from Dickens. We even had some costumed folk and a brief scene from A Christmas Carol.
Row House Past
We sure had some amazing Forums in the fall:
RV life with the Geissingers
Dr. Justin Hawkins on human dignity
Me on automobiles (decently amazing)
Stefanie Peters on preserving America’s great literature
Our collaboration with Nooks and the Smuckers has been fun and will hopefully lead to more mixing over books, beauty, and community. Thanks for having us!
I’m grateful that all of you have made The Row House possible. I recently read about Joyce Heberlein, a town proprietor I somehow relate to very well.
After forty years as director of Lancaster Galleries just down Water Street from we stand at Nooks, she is retiring. She’s helped launch the artistic endeavors of hundreds of folks through the years, and they’re sad to see her shop close. I am too.
Think about it: She was curating art in downtown before the existence of Gallery Row on Prince Street and First Fridays. That is, when Lancity was at its lowest ebb commercially (and some would say culturally), she was pedaling regional fine art in an alley behind the Firestone store’s neon sign.
In a recent LNP article she says this:
Maybe my gallery won’t help pay for my retirement, but I sleep well at night.
Why is that? Joyce treated artists with great care and won their affection. Also, she had found her calling as a curator and stuck to it. Daily, she drank in the beauty of art.
I want you all to know that I sleep well too.
Not only because I believe I’ve found a suitable lane for myself as a work-from-home curator, communicator, and connector, but because of you: You’re a Member or Sponsor, and in a way you are some of the artists I’ve been honored to show off.
The speakers, the collaborators, and a host of people in town or online trust us to traffic in deep ideas as well as mundane pursuits in the name of Christ.
If I were a musician I’d be a producer by now, reveling in bringing out the best in artists. If I had pursued film (as I had a notion to in high school), I’d be a director by now. You guys are in the movie. You’re on the record. You’re in this small and strangely significant gallery called The Row House.
It’s true, I sleep very well! Thank you for this gift.
Row House Present
It was a great year, but what am I excited about at the moment?
For one, this event: When Kelsey Kreyche was considering joining our board she mentioned how she loves envisioning and executing events.
She asked me, “Would that be helpful?” And I was like Billie Eilish:
DUH!
What you see tonight is her baby: The food, the volunteers, and the the coordination with the Bauers on decor and entertainment.
I’m also enthused by the unique and needed contributions of my board:
Becky is my partner in life, best friend, and insightful critic (always careful and gentle). She’s been a big help the past few years with our events, and I always enjoy seeing her smiles and hearing her laughter with people who attend our events.
Joe serves as our engineer of finances, keeping us legal for less.
Kim is an intelligent cheerleader, always willing to pitch in with goodies.
Dan is an indispensable professional consultant to us and our lone employee (me).
Samuel is a dear friend and intentional board President with almost as many ideas as I have (!).
And Ned continues to contribute awesome graphic design to make us look great.
Here are some “state of the union” stats for you:
* Current Sponsors (corporate and household): 10
* Current Active Members: 63
* MailChimp newsletter list: 851
* Permeability Substack recipients: 814
* Average attendance to our last eight forums: 57
* Annual budget: $64,200
* Pledged donations: $45,560 (memberships and sponsorships)
* New pledges desired by June 30, 2025: $12,000
Row House Future
What am I most excited about in the coming year? Well, glad you asked.
First, our Don Eberly event on Jan 10th in the Great Hall will be epic.
Like other speakers we’ve had who have a worldwide impact, we stand to make a lot of friends as we showcase his wisdom and his burden for the common good.
(As of this writing we’ve already received 65 reservations toward our 200 seat cap).
Second, our Sponsorship approach is coming into focus. For instance, for households who give $1,000 or more a year, we’ll be recognizing them as sponsors in the new year. By year’s end we hope to add two more of those and one more $2,000 corporate sponsor.
Ben Chapman is a sponsor himself who is assisting me in making calls to potential donors. Pray for us as we seek to close the gap between our budget and our pledges by the end of June.
Third, based on the Members surveys we got back, our board will be taking a closer look at how to increase opportunities for people to engage with me, our speakers, and each other. Our live Forums will always be our hub, but we’re hoping to add in more gatherings and to make better use of media.
If we can raise the money we’re shooting for by Dec. 31, we plan to contract with a local virtual assistant who will help us do the new things we long to do.
Row House Continuation…
So, that was my talk, and herein ends this month’s column.
As dear old Dad would say, “everybody and their brother” is asking for your money this time of year, but if you appreciate our mission, it won’t take much to end our year in the black. Please help today if you’re able.
We need another $6,000 above expected giving to by 12/31. If you help we will heap on you the benefit of free passes to our Forums.
Here’s what I’m working toward:
One more $2,000 corporate Sponsor
Two more $1,000 Sponsors (household or corporate)
$2,000 from six more new Memberships or one-time donations. Memberships start at as little as $15/month.
Cheers,
Tom Becker, Founder & Curator of The Row House Forum
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