BUENA VISTA, Va. — Parry McCluer Middle School is located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley — one block from Buena Vista Baptist Church. Like many aging school buildings in small towns, it is full of memories for generations of students who attended there.
Bryon LePere, pastor of Buena Vista Baptist, saw the classrooms inside the 90-year-old school building, home of the “Fighting Blues,” for the first time two years ago when he attended an open house there. While impressed with the school faculty, he noticed conditions such as peeling paint and signs of wear and tear in the rooms that needed attention.
Talen Roberts, a rising fifth grader at Parry Clurer Middle School and part of the Buena Vista Baptist Church family, paints cabinets in a classroom.
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For three weeks in June, Buena Vista Baptist Church sponsored “Renew the Blue,” a community project combining volunteers from churches, businesses and local organizations to renew the spirit and appearance of Parry McClurer Middle School.
“Ultimately our vision was to paint the entire building,” said LePere, “but knowing that was shooting pretty high, we approached the school administration with the commitment to paint one room. We would do more if we could, but our initial commitment was to one room.”
“Renew the Blue” began June 10, the Monday after school closed for the summer. Anticipating the much needed improvements, teachers moved desks and chairs to the middle of the rooms and took everything down from the walls, said LePere.
When the project was completed on June 29, volunteers had painted 19 classrooms, four bathrooms, the main hallway, the front entrance and part of the auditorium.
“We still have one project to finish — installing new carpet in two classrooms and the main hallway,” LePere said.
“What has excited me the most is watching those who have had a connection with the school catch the spirit of the project,” he said. Many volunteers who were former students had not been inside the school for years and were surprised by the drastic change.
“This community struggles economically, like many of our size and demographic profile,” said Mary Holm, acting superintendent for Buena Vista City Schools. With limited school and city budgets, most of the money goes for instruction, leaving little for building improvements, she said.
Family Painting Night during “Renew the Blue” increased opportunities for involvement in the project.
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LePere makes it clear that “Renew the Blue” was not about Buena Vista Baptist Church.
“We’ve been blessed with being able to lead it, but this is not our project,” he said. “This is a community project.”
He estimates 20 to 30 organizations provided volunteers with hundreds of individuals and groups making donations to purchase the supplies, including hundreds of gallons of blue paint.
During the weeks of painting, LePere estimates 80 to 90 people were in and out of the building taking shifts; about half had graduated from Parry Clurer.
“We had school board members, city council members and a retired teacher who volunteered,” said LePere. “People came in groups, so no one was there without a friend or partner.”
Volunteers ranged from 4 years old to those in their 80s.
Several months prior to “Renew the Blue,” the Baptist Bees, a women’s group at Buena Vista Baptist, committed to serving lunch for volunteers during the first week. As the project began, other churches and organizations volunteered to provide the mid-day meal.
Painting was scheduled during the day, but LePere said requests began to come from those who worked and families who wanted to paint.
“So any time a group could come in the evening, we provided a person to supervise them,” he said. A Family Painting Night was also added to the schedule which extended the opportunity for entire families to be involved.
“I have participated in probably 40 to 50 mission trips in my lifetime, and almost all of them have been going away — going somewhere. And I’ve been blessed by them all,” said LePere. “But as much as I love mission trips, ‘Renew the Blue’ has been one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had as far as doing missions.
“This was very much about supporting the school and what it wanted, not telling them what they needed,” he added. “We are here to love and support and serve them. The servant is not the leader in terms of deciding what we do. The school had ownership all times.”
He said “Renew the Blue” was more than putting a fresh coat of blue paint on the walls, it was the reaction of so many people and the spirit and energy that it brought to the community. He’s looking forward to the fall when students see the newly-painted classrooms for the first time.
“Buena Vista Baptist is not a megachurch,” said LePere. “God can do what God wants to do when you let him, regardless of how big a church is.”
The question is: what will follow “Renew the Blue”? And while he’s not sure, he expects it will be great.
Barbara Francis (bfrancis @religiousherald.org) is on the staff of the Religious Herald.