By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The Murphey School Radio Show, an old-style variety show, will be held Saturday at the Shared Visions Retreat Center, marking the first of what center directors hope will be many radio shows at the facility to benefit local nonprofits.
The show – the style of which organizers have likened to the Grand Ole Opry and A Prairie Home Companion – will benefit four Triangle mental health agencies and will feature performances, comedy and readings by local musicians and writers, including Jill McCorkle, Daniel Wallace and Bland Simpson.
Jay Miller and his wife, Ebeth Scott-Sinclair, opened the center last year after more than two years of renovations to the historic Murphey School.
“I wanted to do a retreat center for a long time, and I’d wandered across this old school that was in horrible, horrible condition,†Miller said. “I love old buildings, and I decided to try to take it on.â€
The Murphey School has a rich history, opening in 1923, with the auditorium added in 1936 as one of Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration projects. It closed its doors in 1959 when students transferred to schools in Hillsborough; the building was subsequently leased to a church, purchased by a family and even used as a nightclub before sitting empty for many years.
Following the recent renovations, the Shared Visions Retreat Center opened last year, providing space and services to local nonprofits and hosting programs and activities. The radio show, the first of its kind at the center, will benefit Club Nova, XDS, Freedom House Recovery Center and Mental Health America of the Triangle.
Miller selected those organizations based on the similarity of their missions, as well as his involvement with each of them. He’d like for future radio shows, which he hopes to hold twice a year, also to benefit nonprofits that are similar to one another in their goals.
The performers are donating their time for the radio show, which Miller promises will be a good time.
“It’s not one of those events where somebody’s going to get up and make you feel bad,†he said. “It’s all fun, 100 percent.â€
Miller is optimistic about future radio shows, as the upcoming show sold out earlier this week.
“What we’re looking to do is support nonprofits,†he said. “It’s awareness-raising and it is fundraising. It’s for them.â€
For more information, visit murpheyschoolradio.net