REHupa

I received my Howard Days “packet” from Project Pride today, with pertinent info and a send-back form for the Friday night Banquet enclosed, along with a gentle reminder that REHupa is the co-host of this shindig. The fine folk of Project Pride have always been beholdin’ to us REHupers, and we’ve always done right by them.

So, it was with some degree of remorse (I guess that’s the word I’m looking for) that while recently wading through some of the back-and-forth over on the innercircle forum, an idea was presented there that certainly bears repeating here.

The chin music got around to the perpetual fund raising struggles of Project Pride, the Cross Plains civic organization that keeps the Robert E. Howard House & Museum up and running. REHupan Frank Coffman made a suggestion that I hereby papraphrase: if everyone on the innercircle list would contribute $10 to Project Pride, they’d be sitting on a nice little pile of dough. This echoes what Rusty Burke said 18 years ago, when Project Pride just got started and the House was just purchased: (again, I paraphrase): If everyone who has ever read a Robert E. Howard Story would donate a dollar to the preservation of this house, they would have no money problems ever.

In a little over two months, June 8th and 9th to be exact (plus the 7th if you come early!), the House will be opened up as the main attraction of Robert E. Howard Days. The preliminary schedule for this event has been posted over at the Cimmerian Blog, with more detailed info forthcoming here on the REHupa site. Howard Days is the big yearly fund-raising endeavor for this small dedicated group – the same people who work year-round to preserve something that really belongs to them, but they know that the Robert E. Howard House really belongs to the whole wide world. And they do this work entirely for the benefit of strangers from all over that whole wide world.

It’s all part of that wonderful Texas hospitality that I personally have come to know and love about my yearly trip to Cross Plains. The people of Project Pride have placed importance on where REH came from, on where he was when he became important, and when he left us, they decided upon the importance of what he left behind, which has now become the tenant of some of the folks of Cross Plains.

So, if you’re planning on coming to Howard Days this year, you’re already helping: buying a ticket to the banquet, donating a few bucks at the luncheon or for the Sunset BBQ, purchasing Howard items from the House or taking part in the Silent Auction/Dealer’s Room – it’s all part of contributing to Robert E. Howard Days. And you can contribute even if Texas is not on your itinerary this year: donate some items to the Silent Auction or crack open that checkbook and send Project Pride a coupla pazoors. It’s even tax deductible, so you can catch a break and still feel good that you’re both honoring and supporting the Legacy of Robert E. Howard.

Mail your contributions or donations to the Silent Auction to: Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443. Trust me when I say there is nothing quite as nice as the good wishes from all the fine folk at Project Pride, and it’ll make your day seem nicer, too.

Thanks, and I hope to see a passle of you’uns in Texas in a couple of months.