HARPS FOR HUERFANO

Eight years ago, the Spanish Peaks Harp Retreat put out a request for used harps to be donated to the schools in Huerfano County.  We were delighted when several harps were given to us.  From a loan of four harpsicles in the La Veta School to two wood harps and one pipe harp in the Gardner School, the donations are so very appreciated..  One music teacher followed up by having her young students perform with these harps.  Other teachers put the instruments in their classrooms and let the students just play them.

Then Vie Lidmark, a harpist  and harp teacher from Colorado Springs, offered to give a free session to the interested teachers and some of their students.  Vie has offered this for two years  and the students left her session with an ability to play a simple tune and with a basic understanding of the harp. Vie jump started our Harps for Huerfano Program and we are eternally grateful to her for her continued support.

We expanded the “Harps for Huerfano” program in 2016.  The goal was to bring a harp teacher into the schools on an occasional basis.  Professional musician and harper, Kim McKee,  worked with the Gardner School children .  Under the direction of part time music teacher Johnnye Dee Mullen, a Holiday Program was put together using the harps (and Kim).  This was a start.  We hoped to find some funding to continue music and harp in this school.  

2017 update: Jacqueline Quick ,  a harp retreat participant, donated a beautiful Stoney End 29 string harp fully levered. This gift was so beneficial for those children who had mastered hand positions and were ready to advance.  A new participant ( in 2017) to the Harp Retreat, Bruce Panetti,  also donated a MusicMaker harp he made from a kit.  David Kolacny, our patron saint of all matters Harp, put some levers on this instrument and also convinced one of his customers to donate another Stoney End harp to the Gardner School.  A long term friend of the harp retreat has lent us still another harpsicle (making a total of 6) for the Gardner School.  A new music teacher at Gardner  continued our  harp program.  Still another long term friend of the Harp Retreat  donated a Camac harp to the education program.  We are overwhelmed and grateful to Kate Ellis.  We now began to solicit donations to cover the cost of bringing harp teachers to the school .  The Harp Retreat is a 501C3 non profit: any donations are tax deductable. 

2021 UPDATE:The harp program was kept alive due to heroic efforts of three volunteers: two of our harpers and one Walsenburg resident who loves the harp. These 3 kept the program going through the illness of the teacher who was to have led it and through the relocation of her replacement.

COVID  No music teacher at Gardner, no volunteers or harps in the classrooms.  We have a harp teacher ready to instruct via zoom and now thanks to The Spanish Peaks Business Alliance we have the funds to actually pay a harp teacher to come to Gardner to teach.

The Spanish Peaks Business Alliance held their annual auction in December 2021.  The Harp Retreat was one of the many recipients of the numerous donations.  Thanks to some generous donors, we find ourselves, for the first time, able to actually pay a harp teacher to work with the students in the Gardner School.  We may have to wait for Covid to subside before doing this, but we can go forward with our “Harps for Huerfano.”

In addition to Arica Andreatta and James Shoff whose logos appear above, we would like to thank Sarah Jardis for her generous support of our program.