Hollywood Star Power = Strange Money Spent in Rural Indiana
Newslink Indiana is reporting that plans are underway to restore the old high school in Fairmount, Indiana, up in Grant County:
The Fairmount Foundation has joined with Hollywood for a Beverly Hills fund-raiser to save the high school where James Dean learned to act.
Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper and several other A-list celebrities are helping the foundation raise money to restore the vacant Fairmount High School. Singer Pat Boone and actress Shannen Doherty are hosting the event.
Link.
With all the falling down buildings in rural Indiana (the school will need to be gutted), pouring money into an abandoned school strikes me as wasteful. Maybe these stars would have a better impact n Fairmount if they offered to build something for today’s Fairmount students in honor of Dean, instead of shoring up a bunch of old masonry.
I do have some personal contact with the school, so maybe I should be grateful: My great aunt went to that high school with Dean some 60 odd years ago, and my grandfather and all of his siblings gradutated high school there.
July 25th, 2007 20:09
Hi! I am a 1966 graduate of Fairmount High School and also worked under Adeline Nall. Sad to say I didn’t make it to the Pros. I would LOVE to see the old school rehabbed as long as they keep the auditorium as close as original as possible. Man, that school holds a lot of memories. If those old walls could talk, they could probably tell some stories that will otherwise never be told. I’m only too sorry that I cannot financially support this endeavor, but I still will be overjoyed if that can be made to happen. Thank you for your time.
July 25th, 2007 20:25
Hi! I am a 1966 graduate of Fairmount High School in Fairmount, Indiana. I was in Speech and Drama under Adeline Nall from 1963-1966. If those old walls could talk they could tell some stories that otherwise will not be told. I really hope that my Alma Mater can be restored. I especially hope the auditorium can be kept close to the original. I was 7 when James Dean died, but I remember the pictures my grandparents (Joe & Zora Payne) had of us and Nick Adams, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, etc. I remember Bronson staying with us a few days, and we called him Coy. I could go on and on. My granfather made some small pewter-like head sculptures of Dean and sold them for $1.00. Wonder if any of those are still around? Talk to you later!