Opening the doors for music

PORT MEDWAY - Orit Shimoni will soon be performing her music at the Holy Redeemer Church in Port Medway.
The Anglican church at 40 Long Cove Rd. is 143 years old and needs some work. That’s efforts are underway to raise money.
The concert, scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7, is one of those initiatives.
“I think it’s important to keep it open,” said Donald Allan, warden of the church.
Allan said the church was built in the carpenter gothic style, which was popular in the mid-1900s.
“(It’s) epitomized by steep-pitched roofs, gables, phineals at the top, and board and batten construction, and I just think it’s important that we preserve this type of building as well,” said Allan.
Already, there’s been some work done to the vestry floor. And last year, one of the congregants was able to get some land beside the church.
Allan said some smaller tasks are getting accomplished, such as painting, working on the plaster and fixing lights.
“We’ve got more to do in terms of the ceiling, and we’ve got to weather strip some of the doors, and we should be clearing a lot of the brush and shrub from around the church,” said Allan.
He said the bigger jobs are on the exterior of the building. The church has lancet windows, which are tall and narrow, with peaked arches and stained glass.
“We should be looking at how well they’re mounted,” said Allan.
Another big job that will need to be done is taking care of rotten wood and peeling paint.
Finding ways to cover some of the costs are a priority at the parish. That’s how the idea of a fundraising concert came about.
After listening to some of Shimoni’s music, Stan Clark, one of the wardens of the Anglican Parish of South Queens, thought the singer would be a good fit for the event.
“It’s bringing the community into the church and the church into the community,” said Clark.
Shimoni’s website says she has been on the road for nearly eight years. She was a teacher and an academic who became a full-time, touring solo artist after releasing two albums in Montreal.

Go online: To learn more about Orit Shimoni, visit http://www.oritshimoni.com/.  

If you go: People can get tickets for the concert at the Port Grocer or by calling Elizabeth Bethell at 902-677-2011 or Stan Clark 902-947-2065.

Did you know?
Holy Redeemer is part of the Anglican Parish of South Queens. The four other churches are St. John the Evangelist in Eagle Head, St. Andrew’s in Brooklyn, Trinity in Liverpool and St. James in Hunts Point.