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Unique approach raises more than $37,000 for Bainbridge scholarship
BAINBRIDGE — When local artist Rick Johnston donated a painting to the Bainbridge Alumni Association last spring, the idea was simple enough.
Johnston’s daughter Lauren had received a scholarship from the alumni association in 2016, a godsend to the family still dealing with Rick’s sudden onset of a neurological disorder one year earlier.
Johnston has since recovered the ability to speak and much of his mobility, in the process discovering a previously-untapped painting ability.
Now known well beyond the borders of Putnam County as The Bearded Painter, Johnston decided to “Pay it Forward” to the alumni association, a theme throughout the thousands of paintings he’s produced.
Johnston painted a picture of the old Bainbridge High School as well as the Bainbridge Pointer mascot and donated it to the Bainbridge Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. The idea was that the association could perhaps auction off the paintings, with the funds raised going into the scholarship fund.
Janet Houser O’Hair, a 1969 graduate who sits on the fundraising committee, was pleased with the donation and the idea. However, husband Denny, also a ‘69 graduate, was thinking bigger.
In a fundraising auction, while part of the idea is to actually get something, the bigger point is donating to a worthy cause.
If, for example, 20 people were to bid on the paintings, that’s 20 people who were willing to donate to the alumni association, not counting those who were outbid before they even had a chance.
What if, Denny proposed, the paintings were not sold, but funds were solicited from Bainbridge High School alumni and community supporters to support the project and then, in turn, present the paintings to be displayed in the Bainbridge Community Building.
Pat O’Hair Martin, another 1969 graduate who took part in the effort, was impressed with both Rick’s donation and Denny O’Hair’s vision for the project.
“What’s important to me is Rick made the initial offer and then Denny had the idea to take donations,” Pat O’Hair Martin said. “And Denny’s wife thought he was nuts.”
Janet did, indeed, think Denny was nuts — probably not the only time in the last 50-plus years.
“When he came up with this idea, he talked about it constantly and I was unconvinced,” Janet O’Hair recalled. “So I said, ‘Let’s call Bobbi.’”
Bobbi is Bobbi O’Hair Canada, a 1966 graduate who is also on the scholarship and fundraising committees. Her answer let Janet know she was outnumbered.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Canada said.
And so the committee met and put together a packet to present to folks who might be interested.
The letter sent to supporters outlined the history of Johnston’s illness. And the help they found from the Bainbridge High School Alumni Scholarship.
“The great part of it was Rick’s daughter received one of our first scholarships and he wanted to pay it forward,” Canada said. “And then we thought to pay it forward with this fundraiser.”
In this case, paying it forward was also a matter of paying it back.
By outlining his generosity, Janet O’Hair and fundraising chairman Carolyn Roth Hiser hoped to encourage it in others.
“Rick has generously donated his talent and we are hoping that you will match it with your generous donations to the Bainbridge Scholarship Fund,” O’Hair and Hiser wrote in a letter to supporters from May 2019. “The scholarships will continue to provide Bainbridge students assistance with the costs of college.”
The response was overwhelming. The fund received $24,615 in donations. However, that wasn’t the end of the road.
By taking part in the Putnam County Community Foundation Share the Dream program last summer, the scholarship endowment received an additional 60 cents for every dollar donated from May through July.
By raising more than $21,000 during that period, the scholarship fund became the top fundraiser for Share the Dream, earning an additional $1,000.
This brought the total raised from Johnston’s initial donation of two paintings to $37,524.
Even Denny O’Hair, the visionary whose wife called him nuts, couldn’t have foreseen that.
“Janet and I just couldn’t believe the response we got from people,” Denny O’Hair said.
“Our scholarship endowment will now be able to not only fund a four-year scholarship every year, but as it continues to grow it will provide additional scholarships,” Janet O’Hair said.
Once the paintings are on display at the Bainbridge Community Building, there will also be a plaque listing all the generous donors.
Donors include:
Diamond: Charles Yeager, Hendricks Regional Health - Bainbridge and Hendricks Regional Health - Danville.
Platinum: Franciscan Health Indianapolis, Hendricks Power Coop, Hometown Dental, Larry and Bobbi Canada, North Salem State Bank, Putnam County Hospital and Tri-County Bank & Trust.
Gold: Cox Trucking Services Inc., Crossroads Pharmacy, Detro Trailers, First National Bank, Greene Realty, Harold Alcorn family, Dennis and Janet O’Hair, Rick and Judy Parent, Linda Coffman, Linda Hartman estate and Ron Spencer family.
Silver: Bainbridge Dariette, BHS Class of 1964, BHS Class of 1967, BHS Class of 1969, Dick and Carol McFarland, Carol Robertson Ersland, Harold and Carolyn Hiser, Dick and Clara Thompson, Cochran Catering, Darrell Storm, Family of Cindy Chadd, Gary and Monica Gray, Lanny and Janet Parker, Janet Updike, Lawson & Co., Gary and Marian Cooper, Pamela Evans, Gus and Pat Martin, Putnam Inn, Rick, Cammie and Lauren Johnston, Earl and Sally Coffman, Michael and Sharon O’Hair, TJD Promotions LLC and Willard Scobee.
Bronze: BHS Alumni Association, BHS Class of 1946, BHS Class of 1961, BHS Class of 1965, Claire Winings, Country Folk Greenhouse, Dick Sutherlin, Jim and Donna Lasley, Donna Tippin, Doris O’Hair, Errol McBride, Hayden’s Bainbridge Tap, Bob and Janet Clampitt, Janice Montgomery, Jim Robertson, Joyce Northcutt, Kevin Green family, Larry Steele, Larry Wilson, McPherson’s Market, Sara Bridges, SueAnne Moreland, Roger and Susie Riggen and Thursa Evens.