Celtic Arts Foundation cuts ribbon on multi-million-dollar centre
The ribbon was finally cut on June 20th, marking the official opening of the multi-million-dollar Littlefield Celtic Center in Mount Vernon, Washington, after years of fundraising and benefactor donations, allowing the new building to accommodate seated meals, concerts and lectures for up to 150 people in the Pacific Northwestern United States.
The brains behind the intiiaitive is Skye Richendrfer, who founded the Celtic Arts Foundation in 1997. Richendrfer is a former piper with the Grade 1 Simon Fraser University Pipe Band and was mayor of Mount Vernon for seven years. A graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a former pipe-major of that school’s band, he now serves as the executive director of the foundation.
According to Richendrfer more than 150 individuals from seven U.S. states and two Canadian provinces resulted in some US$240,000 being raised initially. Other donations in the hundreds-of-thousands were also made.
Mount Vernon has a population of about 31,000 and is approximately 160 kilometres from Vancouver and 120 kilometres from Seattle.
I am looking forward to playing my pipes in the new Littlefield Celtic Center. Skye and the rest of the Celtic Arts people are all very classy. Looking forward to checking out the new building.
Congratulations to Skye and the Celtic Arts Foundation on another success. Many thanks to Ed and Laura Littlefield for their incredible contribution.