PICH Meeting, February 23, 6:30 PM, ICDC, Fulton

Meeting May Determine the Fate of THE CEDARS

The Cedars (Cates-Gaither House) Project Meeting

The attempt to save, move, and restore the landmark house, The Cedars, on Main Street, Fulton, is at a crossroads. The community preservation group, Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage (PICH), has received a firm estimate from the mover. Although the preservation group has raised almost $10,000 for the project, it is still a few thousand dollars short of having enough to save the circa 1860s house.

A most important meeting of PICH is scheduled for Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 6:30 PM, at the Itawamba County Development Council's Building at 107 West Wiygul Street, Fulton.

Please make plans to attend this vital meeting of PICH to insure that The Cedars, part of our hill country heritage, is preserved for future generations. Invite your friends and neighbors --- help us spread the word about how the fate of The Cedars depends on raising just a little more money.Bring your checkbooks and ideas for making the project a reality.

Limited edition signed prints of the watercolor, The Cedars, are available for $100 donation each. Prints will be available at this meeting --- and are also obtainable by writing Margaret Bain, Vice President, PICH, at 77 Dogwood Estates Drive, Fulton, MS 38843. Donation inquires may also be directed to Joel Ewing, President, PICH, by telephone at 662-610-5867. Online donations may be made to the Gaither House Special Project Fund at Create Foundation (www.createfoundation.com).

The Cedars, home of the Cates and Gaither families of Fulton, was built as a four-room open dogtrot house in the 1860s. Mr. Cates had the gin next door (near today's site of the Fulton Methodist Church). Over time, the estate was remodeled with new facade, rooms, wings, and porches and the house took on the appearance seen today. The Fulton Methodist Church, current owner of the house, has offered it to the community along with a lot on Main Street upon which to relocate the house. PICH was formed in 2009 and adopted The Cedars (Cates-Gaither House) as its first preservation project.

PICH needs your help if The Cedars is to be saved and preserved as a prime example of "high" Hill Country living from more than one hundred years ago. Your presence and support at this meeting on February 23rd is vital.

Submitted by Terry Thornton, Treasurer, Preserving Itawamba County's Heritage, Fulton, MS, 38843