Good things come in small packages

"Good things come in small packages." That's what I've always heard, and it was certainly true of Hermine Melton Holzborn Downing: a petite dynamo with a gift for the arts and a strength and passion for encouraging others, especially her students and proteges. Some will recall with fondness and appreciation the many wonderful plays Mrs. Hermine conducted with local talent. The wonderful musicals, "The "Sound of Music", "Oliver!", "Annie Get Your Gun", "Show Boat", "The Music Man, Oklahoma, South Pacific, The Wizard of Oz, "42n Street#, and Annie#. She took the youngest children, the oldest adults, and everyone in between, to create those extravaganzas on Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons.

I, for one, always enjoyed the Sunday matinees. Don't tell me the Broadway directors and casting crew didn't miss the boat by failing to procure some of the vast talents available in our area, or was it simply that this "little lady of the arts" had the ability and desire to successfully encourage and inspire her willing casts ... and they included many: Bob McMillan, Belinda Manning, Diane McCracken, Barbara Maddox, D.J. Downing, Marcia DeGraaf, Warren Garmeson, Frank Weaver, LaMar Shelley, and Catherine Crosby, to name a few.

Hermine's greatest gift to us was helping create the Brewton Council of the Arts and helping design the Patterson Auditorium, named for former President Woodfin Patterson of Jefferson Davis State Junior College now Coastal Alabama Community College. Her office, just off the stage, was one of amazing memories, with photos from all those wonderful productions. Some, framed, hung on the walls; others lay scattered on her desk. But the local productions were only a part of her many contributions. She certainly was the encouragement for me, when for several years I booked talent from Atlanta, New York, Nashville, St. Louis, even California, to appear in Brewton, Alabama. For thirty years I served on the Council Board. I was program chair for years and served as Arts Council President. When the Auditorium began to show age and disrepair, I asked Suzanne Kirby to co-chair with me a restoration project redoing footlights, flooring, painting, sound equipment, a new roof, and curtains. Hermine was pleased and had our backs all the way, including personally donating several thousand dollars for new curtains ... Today the Patterson Auditorium still serves our community. The original acoustics were wonderful, and thanks to Jackson Hines and his crew working carefully with us, remain wonderful!

For my booking those events to perform here, Hermine was always available to lend an ear or word of advice. There were late afternoon talks over the phone, while she fixed dinner for her and husband John Lee. It's tough dealing with those production companies, who were forever demanding more money, special sound and special lighting effects, etc. Ever calm and encouraging, Hermine would say, "Sally, they want to come, even to Brewton, as badly as we want them to. Just tell them, this is what we have, deal with it!" And they usually came! The Glenn Miller Orchestra, The Birmingham Symphony, Driving Miss Daisy, Jack Daniel's Original Silver Cornet Band, the Beatles Review, Riders in the Sky, an Elvis Tribute, Ricky Skaggs with his Kentucky Thunder Blue Grass Band, and even the United StatesMarine Band! We had fun. We worked hard, and through her determination, desire, and encouragement, people like me, Stephanie Walker, Susan Miller, John David Finlay (our first President), Emily Wesley, Liz Garrett, Kate Owens, Kandy Kelly McDaniel, Doug Finlay, Catherine Fountain, Betty Campbell, Harriet Godwin, Emmie Jernigan, Susan Parker, Kathy McMillan, Clay Lisenby, Frankie Lanier, Kitty Luttrell, Marsha Henderson, Elizabeth Rush, and many others ... through the years learned, grew, and helped Hermine push forward her vision for the arts. Hermine always kept going! She didn't stop. Like many who reach the age of 86, most of her friends and family had passed on, but she was still active almost to the end. She exercised at the YMCA with her friend Barbara Page (T.R. Miller High Economics! Remember?), and Hermine was a devoted worker in her church, Brewton First United Methodist. When long-time friend and fellow Methodist Rev. Frank Scott passed, she and her faithful group served dinner at the church to his family. Many weddings were directed by Hermine as well, not just at her church but throughout the area. I remember, too, her kindness. When I would visit my cousin Emily at the nursing home during the last months of her life, I always met Hermine either coming or going ... every single time. She was loyal to her friends.

Hermine Downing was always efficient, always pleasant, and never failed to say "thanks!" So with a sadness in my heart at her passing (September 16, 2020) but with a smile for her friendship, all the memories, and All that she gave to this community, I just wanted to say "thanks!" Hermine, you will be missed.

 
 
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