Boise Sunrise Rotarian Pattie Richey finds a terrific new home for a unique musical instrument
Boise Sunrise Rotarian Pattie Richey finds a terrific new home for a unique musical instrument
Pattie Richey was looking for a solution on what to do with a beautiful and very old violin after her husband Chadwick E. Richey passed away in 2019. The violin’s provenance was traced to the luthier shop of Johann Benedictus Gedler in the Bavarian region of Germany where it was estimated to be created in 1791. Chad had owned it and played it for many years starting in the 1930’s. He used it to audition for the Junior Symphony of Los Angeles and continued to play in this ensemble until he left the USA for military service in the US Navy in WWII.
Pattie wanted to ensure that it found a proper new home. She looked into selling it and received feedback that it was worth somewhere between $1000 and $15,000. But simply turning it into cash did not seem to be the “next chapter” that she wished to write for this unique instrument.
After making a few calls, she got in touch with the orchestra director at Borah High School in Boise. Ms. Cristin Newhall was very interested in the violin. Pattie and Cristin met and after talking for a few minutes, Pattie knew that she had found the right home for this violin. The instrument will stay with Borah HS and the lead violin player in the orchestra will be allowed to play it each year under the supervision of Ms. Newhall. This unique violin will thus be back in rotation and will be played regularly by a rolling cast of young musicians.
This is a terrific solution and all of us at Boise Sunrise are extremely proud of Pattie for taking the time and effort to make this happen in such an inspiring manner. At Boise Sunrise, our club motto is that we seek to leave it better than we found it. We are very happy to have Pattie in the club and we are thrilled to be able to share this story about a very old and a very special violin finding an outstanding new home where we know it will be played on a regular basis. We believe it will inspire a growing list of talented young musicians who will be allowed to bring it to life in orchestra performances at Borah HS for years to come. Bravo, Pattie!
