Young
In the light of a fully lit Christmas tree, installed a few days ago at her request, Hildy Morgan passed away early in the morning of Monday, Oct. 27. She has moved on, but her spirit and inspiration are alive all over Tunkhannock, the Endless Mountains and far beyond.
Hildy’s good works continue to be all around us, including the vision and the creation of Interfaith Friends (Sweet Repeats) and the Wyoming County Cultural Center at the Dietrich Theater. And her words of support and understanding to so many of us give us the renewed energy to continue to keep working as hard as we can to serve our community as best we can.
“Hildy brought love and joy and meaning to so many of us. We are forever changed for the better because of her,” realizes Erica Rogler, our executive director.
Hildy often recalled looking out the window of Interfaith Friends, back when it was located across from the long-closed Dietrich Theater — its marquee dim for nearly 15 years, the building quietly crumbling with time. Turning to her dear friend Sandy Vieczorek, she asked, “Do you think we could get enough support to open the Dietrich again?” Sandy replied without hesitation, “Let’s try.” And that was the beginning of the grassroots effort to bring back the Dietrich, including door-to-door collecting donations. Hildy constantly taught us that if you truly believe in a goal, you can make miracles happen. She had the gift of making a vision a reality and inspiring others to come along on the journey. She believed she could do it, and she did.
Hildy had a master’s degree in social work from Misericordia University, a background that guided her in every aspect of her life. That is why almost 25 years after the Dietrich reopened in 2001, we offer so many free or low-cost classes and events, including movies. We are a community where so many need support. Hildy knew the need, insisting that through grants and donations and scholarships, no child is turned away from our classes, and everyone can attend many movies and events.
I have been on this journey with Hildy since 1998, when her dream for the reopening of the Dietrich first became a community happening. Meetings were held at the Carriage Inn and at various other venues to see who was interested in this dream, and I, and many others, attended those meetings. Then a Dietrich Board of Directors was formed and Sandy Vieczorek asked if I would be on the Board. Another story Hildy loved to tell was that she thought it would take 6 months to get the theater up and running again. It turned out that it took 3 years, but we did it, led by Hildy.
The theater was reopened in April 2001, redesigned by turning one big theater into two – the Murray Theater and the Evans Theater, showing movies 365 days of the year. Our first year went well, so then it was time to start to be the cultural center we endeavored to be. This is when Hildy asked me if I could take on that job. I didn’t have a title yet, so I researched it and chose Program Director. I explain all this because I said I would like to do the job, never daunted by the fact that there was no space for classes when we reopened. The spaces on both sides of the marquee were rented to businesses, a source of income we needed. But because of the inspiration of Hildy and Sandy, we figured out that classes could be in the space by the stage in the Evans Theater and in the Earnshaw Gallery. Another instance of the adage – if you believe you can do it, you can! Steve Colley remembers bringing a potters wheel into the entry area to teach pottery!
Thank you, Hildy, for making us ever mindful that we can accomplish great things if we think we can. Hildy taught us that it is great fun and very fulfilling to create something new. For me, it was the creation of a cultural center as part of a movie theater, ever mindful of the needs of our community. Hildy was always encouraging about trying new programs and classes. Her attitude was — “Let’s try it. If it doesn’t work, we will try something else.”
The best thing is that we have a team, led by Erica Rogler, to carry out the dream of what we said we would be. Hildy was so reassured that Erica, Ronnie Harvey, and Mary Turner are taking us so much farther than we could have imagined. Hildy’s spirit will always guide us and be with us.
