Philanthropist tickled pink: Wins online auction to benefit children

PETERSBURG — Philanthropist Bill Nicholson, who owns the historic Hudson-Day House on High Street, has an incredible knack for discovering ways to support the community.

In February 2020, Nicholson signed on to an online auction to purchase items for his High Street row house. What happened next was unplanned and fueled by too much coffee.

"I was online bidding on items for the house when I noticed a collection of beautiful instruments," Nicholson said. "I immediately thought of how wonderful they would be for music programs in Petersburg schools."

Nicholson began bidding while drinking his liquid pick-me-up. He recalled how the caffeine ignited his competitive side.

“An unknown bidder was also bidding on the same instruments. I could not let him win," Nicholson shared. "As each instrument came up, I only thought of the children in Petersburg.”

At the end of the auction, Nicholson had purchased 75 instruments. He knew they would end up in Petersburg somehow.

“I love music. It alters my moods, motivates me, makes me happy, makes me sad and makes me dance but only when no one is watching," Nicholson quipped.

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Appomattox Regional Governor's School

After conquering the bidding war, Nicholson wondered, "What next?"

He reached out to friends Linda and Dale Pittman to see if they had any ideas of who could benefit from his newly acquired collection of instruments.

The Pittmans, who own the historic Strawberry Hill home on Hinton Street in Petersburg, directed him to Margaret Storti with the Appomattox Regional Governors School [ARGS].

Basking in his glorious victory, Nicholson visualized students playing the fine instruments. He never imagined what needed to take place before ARGS could accept his donation.

“I called Ms. Storti who was gracious and intrigued but also concerned about the unknown condition of the instruments,” Nicholson said. “I had to get them inspected and appraised before she would consider looking at them."

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Nicholson contacted an expert from Richmond. He wanted to see the instruments, but with hesitation.

"He said he gets so many calls to inspect worthless, junk instruments that he wanted some proof of the quality before driving to Petersburg," Nicholson said.

After Nicholson sent the inventory, the excited appraiser was there within a day. With the appraisal in hand, he contacted Storti. What happened next... was music to Nicholson's ears.

Storti, ARGS Music Department Chair, agreed to preview the instruments with two coworkers. The entire lot came from one estate and showed an eclectic collector's taste.

Nicholson's offering included about 25 guitars as well as a varied collection of violins, a drum kit, a couple of amplifiers, mountain dulcimers, mandolins and a ukelele. The music lovers were excited about the types, quality, variety and quantity of instruments. They almost immediately said yes.

“I can only describe them as kids in a candy store,” Nicholson said. "I was thrilled and relieved they wanted all of them. Observing their happiness brought me great joy."

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Guitar class: Wish fulfilled

Storti desired to offer a guitar class at ARGS. She knew students would show a strong interest, however, the school only had a handful of suitable instruments. Nicholson's gift helped grant her wish. After getting the new course approved by the ARGS Regional Board of Supervisors, the first guitar class with 15 students began last fall with a waiting list.

"Having instruments on site has been beneficial," Storti said. "The students don't have to risk damaging their own instruments going back and forth on a school bus."

Storti ordered a supply of extra strings and made sure every instrument had a case, a strap, and a sturdy tag with a description. Then, ARGS's Guitar Instructor Larry Cauley spent a couple of weeks going over each instrument and preparing them for use in his class.

"What I really love about this gift from Mr. Nicholson is that we can put an instrument into the hands of any interested student at ARGS," Storti said. "The class is very diverse, offering a fantastic co-curricular elective, with virtually no expense to the student."

By the end of the 2021-22 school year, the guitar class had transformed into a guitar ensemble. In May, they performed a musical concert alongside the ARGS Orchestra at the grand opening of the Petersburg Library's new event center.

This year's class is filled again, with another waiting list. Students often spend their lunch hour in the guitar classroom practicing and making music with friends.

"Having guitars readily available has really been an attraction here," Storti said. "It's an instrument that anyone can learn to play."

Grateful students

Nicholson's generosity may have altered ARGS sophomore Andrew Hall's career path. He recently switched majors from Theatre to Guitar.

"When I saw that I could not only take guitar as an elective but major in it, I was ecstatic," Hall of Richmond said. "It’s really an amazing class to be in. Mr. Cauley is a really great guitarist and makes class not only educational but fun as well.

"I had no idea that all of the guitars were donated by one person, and I am really grateful to whoever donated them," Hall said. "Now, everyone can not only have a guitar at school but one to keep at home."

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ARGS freshman Tyler Lauranzon of Chesterfield was ecstatic when he saw that guitar was being offered as an elective. After the COVID-19 pandemic began, he lost the ability to go to professional lessons. Therefore, he taught himself how to play.

"Being able to replay and learn new things about an instrument is really exciting. I'm really looking forward to learning more about guitar," Lauranzon said. "For Nicholson to donate that many guitars to ARGS, I think is really cool."

The Appomattox Regional Governor's School for Arts and Technology has students enrolled from 14 different school districts: Amelia, Charles City, Chesterfield, Colonial Heights, Dinwiddie, Franklin City, Hopewell, Petersburg, Powhatan, Prince George, Richmond, Southampton, Surry and Sussex.

The public magnet high school located in downtown Petersburg is one of eighteen Virginia Governor's Schools and one of three full-time Governor's Schools in the state. For more information, visit args.us.

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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg resident donates 75 musical instruments to local school