In the key of history
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on March 23, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Jimmy Aycock, musician and retired choral director with Wayne County Public Schools, was among students at Fremont Graded School in 1954 who collected pecans and held other fundraisers to buy a Steinway upright studio piano for the school. He is still comfortable sitting at the keyboard and playing at his alma mater, which is now Fremont STARS Elementary School.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Sheila Wolfe, Fremont STARS Elementary School principal, exclaims as she discovers a handwritten entry in one of the school's ledgers, circa April 1954, referencing efforts to raise money for a Steinway upright studio piano.
Imagine picking up pecans and selling enough to buy a Steinway piano.
Musician and retired educator Jimmy Aycock can.
Back around 1954, students at Fremont Graded School were spurred on by community support to purchase a studio upright piano for the school.
"I was in elementary school. We had high school there then," the 72-year-old Aycock said. "As I recall, it was along there in sixth, seventh grade. Miss Ivor Aycock Darden was the music teacher then. She had the chorus and she taught piano in her home right down the street."
Aycock, who says he could sing before he could say "mama" and "daddy" and had a passion for music from the time he was born, started taking lessons from Miss Darden at age 9.
When the opportunity arose to buy a Steinway for the school, students got creative in finding ways to raise money for the purchase. Aycock said he did not recall how much it cost, "but it was certainly a lot less than it would be now."
"We'd collect pecans. We would sell the pecans. I don't know if they used it for all the money but we had a big drive, over a period of weeks and months," he said. "We enjoyed it. It was a simple time and we enjoyed it. I did anyway.
"I got some pecans somewhere. People had pecan trees. We may have had one at the farm then, I don't know. But (the piano) was paid for."
Sheila Wolfe, principal at what is now Fremont STARS Elementary School, produced ledgers found in a vault at the school that recorded the campaign to buy the piano.
"I was looking for documentation on the discussion," she said Friday, as she gingerly turned the weathered pages and then gasped as her efforts produced results.
"'The Junior Women's Club benefit for the piano fund netted $41.40,'" she read. The date on the handwritten entry was April 8, 1954.
Another entry from that May featured the recommendation for PTA members to consider each making a 25-cent donation to the cause.
The Cadillac of pianos was definitely an impressive addition for the school, and also a memorable one.
"I remember one of the Steinway family came down for the dedication, Charles Steinway, I believe his name was," Aycock said.
The piano has never stopped being used over the years, Mrs. Wolfe said.
"We have been using it for everything," she said. "But it finally got to the point where we were going to replace it or do some refurbishing. It's such a historical piece for the school and with our musical productions. But it doesn't stay tuned."
The tight knit community raised its voice about preserving the piece of history from a bygone era.
"They didn't want it to go out," Mrs. Wolfe said.
There are, in fact, two of the "heirlooms" in Wayne County Public Schools.
After the Fremont purchase around 1954, Goldsboro High School bought a 1964 model.
Board of Education member Rick Pridgen, and a graduate of GHS, said the piano has been widely used for school and community drama and choral productions.
"The Paramount Theatre was not a theater then," he said. "It was a movie theater. Any drama productions were done at GHS.
"The biggest problem with it is that over the years it has constantly been moved from the floor to the stage. Every time you move it, you damage it. It was constantly having to be tuned and things like that."
The significance of both instruments was too valuable to let them go by the wayside, prompting the school board's finance committee to consider possible restorations.
At its March meeting, the board approved a $36,027 bid from Ruggero Piano Service in Raleigh, which included a 5 percent discount, using local instructional funds for the expense.
"It is total rebuilding from the ground up," explained Pridgen, adding that the value of the instruments will actually increase as a result.
"The one at GHS is worth $17,000. When finished, it will be worth $75,000," he said.
Pridgen said that considering the "rich history" of the two pianos, he felt it would be a worthwhile investment to restore them.
"I think that community (Fremont) will be very excited to know it can be made new again," he said. "Collectively, they have always pitched in and done everything they could for that school."
As an avid history buff, Aycock was ecstatic about the restoration project.
"I'm a great believer in remodeling and refurbishing and not wasting anything," he said. "Rick told me they were refurbishing and I was glad to hear it.
"I'm glad that when they did consolidation 20 or 30 years ago, they kept this building. I graduated in 1960 and my parents graduated 32 years before, and my grandparents also went there. I believe more than anything in the world, we've got to preserve history."