December, 2008

For the last 15 years, the Catawba Valley Scottish Society and its dedicated members have been integral components in bringing the cherished history of the Davidson family, our shared love of Scottish heritage and our local history to life for the thousands of North Carolinians and their children who come to Rural Hill every year.  Thank you for your generosity, your support and your protection of this incredible resource. 

I am sad to report however that the future is precarious for Rural Hill.  In July, the CVSS launched a three-year Living History Fund and we need your support.  Admissions prices and facility rental fees to Rural Hill cover only a portion of the operating costs, making your support of the Living History Fund vital to our stability and success.  We know that you want Rural Hill to continue to offer life-changing education to local school children, to maintain the painstakingly rehabilitated homestead buildings and to secure the future of the Loch Norman Highland Games, the Amazing Maize Maze and our other programs at the high standard we all have come to cherish.   At this critical moment, Rural Hill urgently needs your help to keep its doors open. 

Gifts made to the Rural Hill Living History Fund will allow us to continue to make wonderful opportunities available to Scottish Community, our community, and most especially to the tens of thousands of families and school children who will be delighted, inspired and challenged by their visits to Rural Hill each year. 
Rural Hill’s impressive history stretches back almost 250 years and we need to preserve and celebrate the many roles this site and the Davidson family played in our collective history.  Help us to continue:

With your support we can maintain and expand the incredible offerings Rural Hill provides to this community.  We ask that you consider joining one of our giving circles by making a three-year pledge.  With your support we can continue to preserve this vital part of Mecklenburg’s past for future generations.    Being a part of the Living History Fund has a variety of exclusive benefits associated with your generous gift.

Please see below for details or give Ed McLean a call at the Rural Hill office.  Click here for a form you can fill out and send to us.

Friend: $150-$250 a year for three years
Unlimited free admission to Rural Hill and its 265 acres of grounds; subscription to the e-newsletter and acknowledgement on our website as a Friend.

Benefactor $251 -$500 a year for three years
Unlimited free admission to Rural Hill and its 265 acres of grounds; subscription to the e-newsletter; acknowledgement on our website as a Patron; two tickets to the Loch Norman Highland Games at Rural Hill and VIP parking for one car.

Rural Retreat Circle: $501 - $1000 a year for three years
Unlimited free admission to Rural Hill and its 265 acres of grounds; subscription to the e-newsletter; acknowledgement on our website as a member of the Director’s Circle; listing in our annual report; two tickets to the Loch Norman Highland Games at Rural Hill and VIP parking for one car; acknowledgement on the Living History Donors plaque to hang in the Cultural Center; two tickets to the Amazing Maize Maze and VIP parking for one car; and invitations to special events and lectures.

Major John & Violet Davidson Circle:  $1001 - $2500 a year for three years
Unlimited free admission to Rural Hill and its 265 acres of grounds; subscription to the e-newsletter; acknowledgement on our website; listing in our annual report;  two tickets to the Loch Norman Highland Games at Rural Hill and VIP parking for one car; invitations to special events and lectures; acknowledgement on the Living History Donors plaque to hang in the Cultural Center; two tickets to the Amazing Maize Maze at Rural Hill and VIP parking for one car; 10% discount at the Rural Hill gift shop; 10% discount on facility rental and four passes to a special preview of the Amazing Maize Maze at Rural Hill.

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Circle:  $2501 - $5000 a year for three years
Unlimited free admission to Rural Hill and its 265 acres of grounds; subscription to the e-newsletter; acknowledgement on our website and in our annual report; four tickets to the Loch Norman Highland Games at Rural Hill and VIP parking for one car; plus acknowledgement on the Living History Donors plaque to hang in the Cultural Center; four tickets to the Amazing Maize Maze at Rural Hill; VIP parking for one car;  four passes to a special preview of the Amazing Maize Maze at Rural Hill; 10% discount at the Rural Hill gift shop; 10% discount on facility rental; invitations to special events and lectures; two invitations to the annual State of Rural Hill Chairman’s breakfast.

Rural Hill Guild:  more than $5000 a year for three years
Unlimited free admission to Rural Hill and its 265 acres of grounds; subscription to the e-newsletter; acknowledgement on our website and in the annual report; acknowledgement on the Living History Donors plaque to hang in the Cultural Center; four tickets to the Loch Norman Highland Games at Rural Hill and VIP parking for one car; four invitations to the Call to the Clans reception prior to the Games; four tickets to the Amazing Maize Maze at Rural Hill and VIP parking for one car; four passes to a special preview of the Amazing Maize Maze at Rural Hill; invitations to special events and lectures; private guided tour of the historical homestead; plus 10% discount at the Rural Hill gift shop; 10% discount on facility rental; two invitations to the annual State of Rural Hill Chairman’s breakfast.

History uniquely teaches and enlightens.  It is a concrete demonstration that we have more in common than different and that our pasts can inform our futures.   Join us in keeping history alive and thriving by pledging your support to the Living History of Mecklenburg County – at Rural Hill. 

Sincerely:
Robert McIntosh                                                                      Edward McLean
Chair of the Board                                                                   Executive Director