Local history enthusiasts and music lovers gathered in the ballroom of the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center Thursday evening in support of the Museum of East Alabama.
It was the museum's main fundraiser for the year and featured Tim Wells in a production of "Nat King Cole: As I Knew Him," a one man show written by Wells and Wade Hall and directed by Margie Benson.
Fundraiser chairman Libbe Lipscomb first saw the production performed at the Red Door Theatre in Union Springs where Benson directs. Lipscomb said she was impressed by Wells, a 20-year member of the U.S.
Army Band. "We had to have him up here," Lipscomb said.
The story of the Montgomery-born Cole is one that directly relates to the mission of the non-profit Museum of East Alabama.
"The object is to be able give the community of east-central Alabama a showcase museum demonstrating and telling the story of east-central Alabama's history," said Bob Renie, museum board member. The museum celebrated its twentieth anniversary in July 2009 and has been closed to the public since December for renovations, a project due for
completion in April. A team of Auburn University engineering students are working on the interior of the museum's show rooms. Auburn professor and industrial design department head Clark Lundell contributed the initial design.
The bulk of the funds for the renovations came from member donations and dues, with the remainder supplied by the City of Opelika and the Lee County Commission. Sydney Fagen, an administrative assistant for the museum, estimated that the fundraiser brought in $3,000 for the renovation project and other improvements like a new water pump. Fagen said that, although the night was dedicated to the museum, the stage production enabled the fundraisers to draw an audience that supplemented the expected amount of museum supporters.
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