Preservation Day

Figs

Does making fruit preserves make one a "preservationist"? A friend gave me some figs (he even removed the stems after picking them) and that's the part that takes so long. I cooked them the way my daddy used to cook them. He would layer the figs with sugar and let them sit overnight. The next morning the juice from the figs will have melted the sugar and the figs could be cooked to make thick preserves. I brought them to a boil and lowered the heat and they cooked for several hours. I put them in pint jars and sealed them. I can't wait to open a jar in the morning and try them out with some toast and butter. I'll save some for my sisters.

While the preserves were cooking, I strained the juice from the concord grapes which I had heated and crushed with a potato masher. I had 25 cups of juice (5 cups in each of 5 freezer bags). Later in the year I can take a bag from the freezer and make 4 or 5 pints of delicious grape jelly, the low sugar kind.

This was not a big deal doing all of this "preservation" and I feel so proud of the work I did.

Now for preservation of a different kind. Recently I nominated a building downtown for a Revitalization Award by the Ala. Preservation Trust, part of the Ala. Historical Commission.

The building once housed the Claire Theater in the 1950s on the north side of the town square. After the theater closed, several retail stores were located in the building until 1990 when the town was flooded. It was then boarded up and never cleaned out.

A couple of years ago, an individual bought the old building and through a grant, a group started working to clean out the building and remodel the interior to use as a coffee house. Many, many volunteers have worked for almost two years to get the coffee house ready for use. The application accompanied by many photos of various steps of the restoration was completed in 2 days and sent express overnight to reach the preservation group by the deadline.

Monday I had a telephone call from the selection committee that selected this building as the state winner for the Rehabilitation Award for 2008. The person who called asked if I would notify the persons submitting the application since I had nominated them. She said she knew that I had been working to restore the old home of former Alabama Governor Jim Folsom, and that I was a great "preservationist". I thanked her and hung up so I could call Charlotte to let her know Just Folk Coffee House had been named the state winner. They were all so excited. Now they will go to Fairhope in October to receive the award. I suggested that since they will only have 2 complimentary luncheon tickets, that they take all the folks who worked on the building to the luncheon (I would be in that group) and we would all pay for our luncheon meals. That way everybody who was a part of this project could be honored.

I started looking around our little town and immediately I found some other buildings that are being rehabilitated and I can nominate one each year. One very interesting one is a town house inside a large bank on a corner of the square. I haven't been inside but I hear it is beautiful. They retained the look of the old building on the outside.

Another good example of using an old building is the new coffee roasting business that will be located inside the old Church of Christ. Work on this building has stopped until the owners earn some more money to complete the roasting part of the business. After the flood of 1990, an old warehouse was turned into 3 nice apartments one block off the square. They stay filled with short-term and long-term guests. Lately couples have been living there after selling their homes and building new homes.

I probably have enough entries for the next 10 years!

I now have a new title, "Preservationist".