For a hamlet of just a few hundred people, Pine Hill punches well above its weight. This week, Brett Barry visits the Pine Hill Community Center to mark its 25th anniversary — and to find out what it actually takes to keep a place like this alive.
The center's origin story is equal parts heartbreak and generosity. In 2000, a tragedy in the community prompted founders Florence and Bernie Hamling to transform Bernie's research and development space into somewhere people could simply come together. Twenty-five years later, it offers pottery classes, concerts, art exhibitions, a wellness program, a farmers market, a thrift shop, youth programs, and a weekly social circle — all out of a former eyeglass factory that was once a gas station.
Director Colleen McMurray, who joined during the pandemic amid an ongoing renovation, walks us through the building and breaks down how the center sustains itself: a mix of private donations, grant funding (including a state grant secured in 2023), and a remarkably productive thrift shop managed by volunteer Berns Rothchild.
Also featured: how the community itself has shaped nearly every program the center offers, what's coming next (a dementia social program, a second-floor expansion, and an elevator), and why Florence thinks other small towns struggle to replicate what Pine Hill has built.
Recorded by production intern Sierra DeVito. Transcripts by Jerome Kazlauskas. Kaatscast is a production of Silver Hollow Audio.
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