DRESDEN — David and Pamela Kenyon’s time with their children was much too brief, but it was enough to plant in the youngsters the seeds of imagination and creativity that would take root and blossom long after their parents’ death.
That passion bore more fruit Monday at Dresden Elementary School, where the refurbished Kenyon Center for Arts and Literacy was dedicated during a ceremony to celebrate its reopening.
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“This is really a special occasion,” said school Principal Mary Helen Williams. “Learners of all ages will celebrate arts and literacy.”
The David B. Kenyon Fund has sponsored a host of artistic and musical endeavors in town over the years, including the winter and summer festivals and holiday concerts, but perhaps its most dramatic undertaking to date has been rehabbing the 1990s vintage modular unit the school uses for its art class and library.
“We’ve transformed this building into much more functional space,” Williams said. “Kids really have a chance to use their imaginations and creativity.”
That transformation includes new flooring in the library to go with bookshelves and a reading nook custom-made by custodian Norman Bachelder. The arts class has been outfitted with new cabinets and drying racks and, for the first time, sinks with running water to clean up after class. That upgrade alone will put an end to the daily trips Bachelder made to carry buckets of water from the main school to the modular unit.
The upgrades cost about $44,000, including a $4,000 donation from Lowe’s Home Improvement.
“This just seemed perfect,” the Kenyons’ son, Nate Kenyon, said of the project.
The Kenyons moved from Seattle to Maine in the mid-1970s carrying only what their Volkswagen would hold. David Kenyon started a law practice and Pamela, who had been a school teacher, built solar houses and eventually built the family’s home.
“They moved to Dresden because they loved the outdoors, they loved animals and they loved the community,” said Mary Walsh, who serves as a trustee of the Kenyon fund. “Tragically, they didn’t live to be here today.”
The Kenyons believed in the power of the arts and education. Nate Kenyon, 43, said he and his sister, Amanda Cederman, who wasn’t able to attend the ceremony, were encouraged to use their imaginations and creativity.
“I think a lot of times, as adults, we lose some of that,” Kenyon said. “That’s too bad.”
The Kenyons also encouraged their children to participate in the arts. That encouragement extended to other children through an artist-in-residency program they established at the school. Nate Kenyon recalled the artists, from magicians to musicians, who passed through the school.
“It was really fun,” Kenyon said.
David Kenyon was killed in a car crash when Nate Kenyon was 8. Pamela Kenyon, who had learned she had terminal cancer shortly before the crash that killed her husband, established the memorial fund in his memory before she died five years later.
The Kenyons, through the fund Pamela established in David’s name, continue to promote a love for the arts through its work in Dresden.
“People in the community know they can come to the fund if they have an idea for arts or music,” Walsh said.
The idea of remaking the arts class and library at the Dresden Elementary School, which has about 100 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, came about after seeking input from the community, educators and students.
“It’s been a community effort to pull together ideas,” Walsh said.
Bachelder, who was recognized during the ceremony for his extra effort to give the students the best place possible to read and create, said the time and money were unquestionably worthwhile.
“I wouldn’t think the kids would be as impressed as they are,” he said. “You see it in their eyes and smiles that they really do appreciate it.”
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
Twitter: @CraigCrosby4
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