Crews News | June 2024
June 1, 2024 | Russell Crews, President & CEO
by Russell Crews, President and Chief Executive Officer
In late April, restored and redesigned stained glass was installed in the windows of the Rosie Benson Benton Meditation Chapel in The Vista. Located on the second floor, near Christ Chapel, the stained glass is a magnificent addition to the space and true representation of our faith-based organization.
Foster Stained Glass was on campus last year and removed stained glass from both The Cove and Parchman Chapel which is located in Lawther Point East. Both buildings are permanently closed and will be demolished at some point in the future.The installation for the Meditation Chapel used glass from The Cove. Now, the artisans are working on the stained glass design and installation for Christ Chapel which will use the glass from Parchman Chapel. We have hopes this second and final installation may happen by the end of this year.
As you can see, this project has been in progress for a long while!
It took us time to find the right organization to delicately restore and reconfigure the old glass. As you may imagine, this is a very specialized field with few vendor options. We spoke with a few and then found Quint Foster from College Station: https://fosterstainedglass.com/
A family owned and operated business, his organization was founded in 1977. They provide custom stained glass on local, regional and national levels including restorations such as ours. Coincidentally as we researched them, we learned our friends at First United Methodist Church of Richardson had used them along with other notable churches and even one of our peer organizations in senior living in Texas. Those were great endorsements! We scheduled a visit with Quint Foster, met with them, talked about design options, and then worked with them to finalize their plans. Before they could begin, they had to thoroughly clean all of the glass which took many weeks.
Throughout this time, I have been reflecting on the amazing history represented at CC Young. We were able to locate some of the history on Parchman Chapel. This information was shared by Rev. Kathy Betz, who worked at CC Young years ago. As taken from a 1978 Auxiliary book in the archives:
“During the time the C. C. Memorial Home was being developed, Mrs. J. L. Blanton, daughter of Mrs. Gertrude Brown, helped to set up the Parchman Memorial Fund. Many people throughout the area have made contributions as memorials or honorariums over the years. At the time that Blanton Gardens was built, funds were used to decorate and to furnish the chapel area of the Gardens. (B Chapel was used also as a multipurpose room for large groups.)
Mr. Parchman who survived Mrs. Parchman by several years, died in 1966 and left his entire estate ($40,000) to the Auxiliary to be used to establish a memorial to Mrs. Georgia Parchman. Approximately $14,200 was in the fund. As a result of this action, at the time Young Health Center was built these funds were used. Dr. T. Lee Miller, administrator, was the advisor to decorate, furnish, and purchase an organ for the beautiful chapel in that building. Stained glass windows were selected and installed for $7,200. At the same time the room was given the name of J. L. Parchman chapel.”
If you have not visited The Vista’s second floor since late April, I encourage you to do so. Now that the stained glass is installed in the Meditation Chapel, the space is more inviting and will be a wonderful destination for quiet time, prayer and reflection. We will communicate again about the installation in Christ Chapel once that happens.
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