{"id":136,"date":"2018-11-17T09:57:13","date_gmt":"2018-11-17T14:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.gospelbarn.com\/?page_id=136"},"modified":"2024-02-20T21:39:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T02:39:28","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History of The Gospel Barn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to The Gospel Barn in Hillsdale, Michigan\u2026an inspired and unique gospel music theater with an atmosphere of fun and fellowship centered on Christ.\u00a0 Spreading the Gospel in song since 1974. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1955 \u2013 Everett Wirick purchased his saxophone from Coldwater Music Store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1957 \u2013 Everett purchased front 6 acres at 475 Bankers Road from Wally Houtz for $1,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1960 \u2013 Everett, being a builder by trade, began construction of the home at 475 Bankers Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall 1961 \u2013 Approximately 25 additional acres were purchased from Wally Houtz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1962-63 \u2013 Home was completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1965 \u2013 Palm Sunday tornado rips through the wooded area surrounding the home. The home remained virtually undamaged, but the wooded property was destroyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 1966 \u2013 Everett\u2019s first wife, Letha, passes away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 1967 \u2013 Everett married Margaret Frager. \u201cMargaret was an accomplished pianist and a wonderful personality. Her talents, along with Everett\u2019s abilities on his saxophone, led them to a honeymoon in Renfro Valley, Kentucky, where they performed. It was at this time that the idea of the Gospel Barn began to take shape.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Margaret and Everett Wirick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

September 1970 \u2013 Theater seats were purchased for the Barn at a cost of $252. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 1971 \u2013 Logs were hauled to the mill for the Barn.\u00a0 Everett continued building the facility. Occasionally, he would have some help in his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1974 \u2013 Construction on the Gospel Barn was completed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 22 1974 \u2013 DEDICATION SERVICE for The Gospel Barn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 6, 1974 \u2013 Records show the first group to appear in concert was the Union City Singers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1976 \u2013 Camping area was completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1978 \u2013 Current house band singer\/guitar player, Norm Keesler, begins performing at The Barn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

November 1978 \u2013 Gospel Barn Music Incorporated was formed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1980 \u2013 Contributions were received to help pay for the addition to the west end of the auditorium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1982 \u2013 Addition to the west end of The Barn was completed before concert season begins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early 1980\u2019s \u2013 A live concert album was made at The Gospel Barn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 1984 \u2013 Everett and Margaret received a four page letter from grandson, Scott Wiley, telling them of his desire and interest to run The Gospel Barn someday. Scott was in the 10th grade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1986 \u2013 New piano was purchased for The Barn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1987 \u2013 Scott Wiley moves from Florida following graduation from high school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall 1987 \u2013 Scott Wiley was added to the Gospel Barn property and corporation.\u00a0 \u201cThis would prove to be vital in the next year due to the process involving the estate of Everett Wirick.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1987-88 \u2013 (WINTER-OFF SEASON) Everett installs insulation in the ceiling of the auditorium. This would be his final project. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Scaffolding built to complete this project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

February 12, 1988 \u2013 Everett & Margaret are suddenly and tragically killed in an automobile accident while visiting in Avon Park, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring 1988 \u2013 Scott Wiley, along with his parents Charles & Norma Wiley and sister Sandy, come back to Michigan to prepare for the upcoming concert season.\u00a0 Ken Kurtz, Dave Tuckey, Norm Keesler and Nan May are asked to be Emcee and house band for The Barn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 30, 1988 \u2013 Memorial Service held at The Barn for Everett & Margaret Wirick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

November 18, 1989 \u2013 Scott Wiley & Rebecca Nafziger are married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 27, 1991 \u2013 500th CONCERT was held at The Gospel Barn with the Gospel Harmony Boys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 20, 1993 \u2013 Nathan Everett Wiley was born to Scott & Rebecca. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1995-96 \u2013 Completely new restroom facility was constructed in time for the 1996 concert season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 17, 1997 \u2013 Katherine Joann Wiley was born to Scott & Rebecca. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 1-8, 1998 \u2013 Balcony renovation completed\u2013adding and improving the seating area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 20, 1998 \u2013 25th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring 1999 \u2013 New sound system was installed in the auditorium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall 2000 \u2013 New roof was put on The Gospel Barn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 2003 \u2013 Air conditioning was installed in The Gospel Barn auditorium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall 2004 \u2013 Spring 2005 \u2013 New parking lot lights are installed and additional lighting was added around The Barn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 10, 2006 \u2013 1000th CONCERT was held at the Gospel Barn with the Rick Webb Trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

November 2007 \u2013 Driveway was widened to accommodate a left-hand turn lane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 10, 2010 \u2013 Ground Breaking Ceremony for Auditorium Addition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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July 12, 2010 \u2013 Construction began on the Auditorium Addition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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October 6, 2012 \u2013 Auditorium Addition used for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 13, 2012 \u2013 Dedication Service for the Auditorium Addition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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January 2014 \u2013 Roof Project completed \u2013 Shingle roof replaced with metal roof. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer 2018 \u2013 Center section, main floor, seat backs recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winter 2019 \u2013 Remodeled and expanded east side of lobby began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spring 2019 \u2013 Remodel and Expansion of lobby completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View of Expanded Concession Area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously friends, only\nthe Lord knows what the future holds.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to The Gospel Barn in Hillsdale, Michigan\u2026an inspired and unique gospel music theater with an atmosphere of fun and fellowship centered on Christ.\u00a0 Spreading the Gospel in song since 1974. 1955 \u2013 Everett Wirick purchased his saxophone from Coldwater Music Store. 1957 \u2013 Everett …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2377,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-136","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2005,"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136\/revisions\/2005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gospelbarn.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}