“Heroes may be remembered, but legends never die.”

   Babe Ruth

If you did not know, today, on the 5th of July in 1822, a legend was born. The man I speak of was Ammi Willard Wright. I speak of him as a legend because he did many things to improve our town and left a huge legacy in Gratiot County. His legacy lives on in many areas of Michigan, mainly Alma and has been long lasting throughout the last two centuries. Happy 202nd Birthday!

I want to apologize for skipping a few weeks of adding to this blog, I have been quite busy recently. I left you hanging on just before our Wright Night for Trivia! I would like to talk about that night briefly. It was a fabulous evening! If you missed out, please know, that we will be having other events that you can participate in, we are not done fundraising yet! The amount of people that donated, volunteered, bid on the auction items and came to the event was unreal! We met our United Way Match Campaign and then some! So, thank you to all, we are so very proud that we met this goal!

Since receiving enough funds through donations and grants you will be seeing some action taking place at the Wright House! The Steering Committee met with several roofing contractors, and we have made a recommendation to the GCHGS Board for approval. You will be seeing a new roof being placed soon. I want to touch base on the roof. Through historical research we now know that the current roof was not the original roof of the home. Research says the roof was replaced after a hailstorm in 1911 to the current tile roof, although the roof has done a phenomenal job protecting the home, it is not feasible to replicate and redo the current tiles in a responsibly fiduciary way. The new roof will look like slate and has a guarantee of at least 50+ years. During this process the roof will be further stabilized, and any needed repairs will be completed. We are now in the process of seeking bids for the sandstone repair and will continue to fundraise and seek additional grant funding to complete Phase 1 of the project.

Decisions made regarding the Wright House Restoration do not come lightly, it is our goal to make every effort in keeping with the historical aspect of the house. We have also received a grant from the Gratiot Community Foundation to begin work on the plumbing. This will be another huge undertaking as well!

As with any project, phases of the project can be fluid to a certain extent. We will complete Phase 1, but specific grants request for example, plumbing, can still begin even though that is part of Phase 2. When the funds come in, time constraints must be adhered to. You will see many parts happening at once! That’s a good thing!

I also want to promote our next big event! The Historical Group and the Fundraising Group will be hosting a Babies Born at Smith Memorial Hospital event, and they have some fun things happening that day. This event will take place on August 17, 2024, at Wright Park! If you were born at Smith Memorial Hospital, if your parent or family members were born at Smith Memorial, please consider join us! You can find the registration form to sign up on our Facebook page, and Website (Coming soon).

Be sure to also visit us at the Alma and St. Louis Farm Markets and get your swag or donate to the project! They have WHR T-shirts, WHR coffee mugs (you can also purchase these at Saravilla), yard signs and more! Every dollar goes to the Wright House Restoration.

July 15th at 6:30 pm is the Annual Meeting for the Gratiot County Historical and Genealogy Society at the Alma Library. Be sure to stop by and join in on the meeting!

I leave you with this, as we march forward with restoration; “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”

-Rochelle