WILTON — A fund has been created at Franklin Savings Bank in Farmington to help Countryfolk Music Theatre founder Larry Bisbee rebuild his home at the complex beside Route 2.
The cabin and all of his possessions were destroyed by fire April 18, his daughter Kathy Bisbee said Tuesday in a news release.
Sparks from Bisbee’s chimney started a woods fire that spread to four of six additions to his cabin, Wilton fire Chief Sonny Dunham said.
The “loss is so difficult to put into words, as nobody else knows the value of a lifetime of personal belongings from friends and family,” Larry Bisbee said. “All of a sudden, a lifestyle that you dreamed of, built and lived for so many years changes forever in a moment.”
Despite the loss, Bisbee said his dream continues, “to share music with a wonderful community of volunteers, musicians, spectators, family and friends, and to continue our Countryfolk youth music scholarships in the future.”
Kathy Bisbee said her dad’s vision to create a venue where musicians could perform to the enjoyment of whole families began 13 years ago.
“Prospecting through countless yard sales, he began by bartering small treasures found for supplies to build his dream: logs, sheet metal, nails and tools for building,” she said.
“He found volunteers who offered to construct stages, bring amplifiers and instruments, and recruit plenty of musicians itching to perform at his (Wilton) location.”
With the community’s help, Kathy Bisbee said, her father built two covered stages and a space for musicians to gather each Friday and Sunday to play their own sets.
She said it gave them an opportunity to perform, hone their skills and meet other musicians in Western Maine.
Her dad, she said, wanted people to have a “fun activity that could be enjoyed by the whole family.”
“He put on every one of these events at no charge to the community,” Kathy Bisbee said. “He organized music scholarship donations for local youth musicians and raised over $4,000 in the past 10 years for this program.”
After 13 years, she said her dad decided to take this summer off to relax and enjoy the property without organizing activities for the community every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Kathy Bisbee of Santa Cruz, Calif., said her father looked forward to spending time with her and her brother, Jim Bisbee of Charleston, W.Va. He also wanted to work on the cabin that he had built over the past 10 years.
Disaster struck on April 18. She said that her dad started a wood fire and “a few sparks escaped while he was out walking on his property.”
“Once the sparks ignited the dry leaves just outside, the cabin was up in flames and burned in just under an hour,” she said.
“Fortunately, the hundreds of acres of woods behind his property and the outbuildings used for Countryfolk’s music activities were all saved, thanks to several passers-by from Rangeley who helped Bisbee rake leaves toward the burning building until firefighters from East Dixfield, Wilton and several other surrounding communities arrived on the scene.”
Since then, Kathy Bisbee said her father has been receiving donations of tools and household items, and now has a temporary shelter on his property.
To contribute to the Larry Bisbee/Countryfolk Music Rebuild Fund, donations can be sent to: Franklin Savings Bank c/o Kathy Bisbee, P.O. Box 825, Farmington, ME 04938. Checks can be made payable to Kathy Bisbee, who is administering the fund.
For more information, contact Julie Harnden at the bank or write Kathy directly at bisbeefilms@gmail.com.
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- The remains of Larry Bisbee’s cabin at his Countryfolk Music Theatre complex beside Route 2 after the cabin was destroyed by fire on April 18.
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- Larry Bisbee and his cabin prior to the April 18 fire that destroyed the cabin at his Countryfolk Music Theatre complex in Wilton beside Route 2.
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