When we first heard of the Letcher County Culture Hub, our community center was on a downhill slide. Our Carcassonne Community Chair and Council, who had kept the center going for the past several years were discouraged by the decline in the popularity of folk dancing, the difficulty of finding musicians and competent callers, and the constant need for repairs to our aging building. In addition, the Chairman was beginning to have health issues. He introduced us to the Culture Hub and guided us through our initial membership and subsequent meetings, then retired from the council when he felt we were ready to move forward.

With the original grant from the Culture Hub, we were able to begin a renovation of our kitchen area and repair some floor damage in the sewing room. We compiled a list of local square dance callers and set a pay scale for callers and musicians/bands. Even so, we sometimes lost money on our dances, and the dances are our primary source of funding for the center. The Culture Hub has also assisted us with two more projects. One grant enabled us to purchase a new master-board, and two headset microphones from a local merchant. These mics allow our caller and emcee to be heard above the music and random noise of a lively dance. A second grant helped us improve our security system through new entry doors and storm doors. These looked so good that we privately funded a brand new 12’X18’ porch which enables our guests to relax outside and watch the sun set behind our beautiful mountains. We also purchased a new outdoor gas griddle/grill and new kitchen range.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen Facelift

 

With renewed confidence in our sustainability, we began recruiting local businesses as sponsors of our dances. We secured sponsorships covering the past two seasons, which allowed us to always turn a profit while providing an advertising venue for these businesses and families. We always shop locally when possible. We focus on local sponsors because data shows that over 67% of money spent in the community stays in the community. That is more important than ever with the recent downturn in the coal economy as we move toward a sustainable diversified economy. Area medical facilities joined together to present a day-long medical fair at Carcassonne where visitors could visit stations to have their vital signs checked, enjoy a wholesome meal, shop local craft vendors, and finish with a square dance. While all of Carcassonne’s staff is 100% volunteer, we are providing income for local musicians and nurturing new enthusiasts in the art of calling square dances. We have also hosted several benefits for local residents with medical emergencies. Through these we have raised over ten thousand dollars to help with medical and transportation expenses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quilt made by our Sewing Group, raffled to benefit local cancer patient.

 

In addition to our building repairs, construction, and upgrades, we continue to serve as a bastion of traditional folk dance, history, education and community support. We provide pot-luck meals and activities for almost all major holidays, plus recreation nights every week and a hot dog night once each month for local children and families, on the Wednesday after square dances. We have Halloween “Trunk-or-Treat,” Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter social activities, and the largest Fourth-of-July fireworks display of any community of our size, as far as we can tell. We partner with Appalshop to provide a square dance each year during their Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival. We worked through the Hands Across the Hills group to entertain a delegation of guests from New England, and we have hosted musicians, researchers, film-makers, and academicians from around the world at our dances and other activities. In conjunction with Berea and Hindman Settlement School, we hosted a group of around 85 Danish gymnasts and chaperones. For the past two or three years, our August square dance has been shared by a group of international shape-note singers who schedule their visit to coincide with our dance. Locally, we hosted a photo session where anyone could bring an item they valued and share its story in photo form. We provide occasional youth dances and an annual sleepover with evening bonfire, storytelling and weenie/marshmallow roast, and a breakfast of pancakes and waffles the next morning. Our center is also a popular rental site for weddings, receptions, reunions and parties of all sorts. We are now approaching our goal of total self-reliance. Until the coronavirus shutdown, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carcassonne at Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musicians from Morocco

Culture Hub Dancers

Sleepover Bonfire and Chaperones

However, even in quarantine, we are able to function as a true community center. Working with CANE, Cowan Community Center and the Culture Hub, we currently are serving as a distribution point for the Student Feeding Summer Program. The first week we served seventeen families and fed 41 children; the second week we provided 83 children with nutritious meals for another week. We plan to continue this alliance for the duration of the pandemic if possible.

Christmas Treats

Fall Display

Carcassonne display at Appalachian International Festival at HCTC