Festival Hill Valentine’s Benefit Concert to Continue as a Tribute to Dick Smith

It’s that time of year when love is in the air and the annual Valentine’s Library Benefit Concert for Round Top Festival Institute is happening. This year it will be The Art of the American Song: A Tribute to Dick Smith. The concert starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 11, benefits the Festival Institute’s Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Library and Study Center. Tickets can be purchased online at www.festivalhill.org or by calling the Festival office at (979) 249-3129.

Carrying on in his uncle Dick Smith’s footsteps and musical tradition, Will Lynde from Nashville will be performing along with a star-studded cast of family members to honor Smith’s memory. Dick’s daughter, Ryan Smith along with Dick’s brother J. Gary Smith and Will’s brother Justin Fox will also be performing. Plenty of love songs will be on the program including “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra, a Stephen Sondheim song from Sweeney Todd, and “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys.

Dick Smith had an illustrious career in advertising starting out at the Houston Post. His goal to run and own his own design firm became a reality with the founding of Houston-based Smith, Smith, Baldwin and Carlberg, which soon became a leading agency in the Southwest.

Retiring in La Grange, he became involved in the local community, often fundraising for Festival Hill where he produced the annual Valentine’s concert, as well as creating advertising campaigns for local businesses. His lifelong goal of creating a Broadway show culminated in the Festival Hill production of Virginia and Ed Leach’s “Heart of the Tin Trunk.” In addition, he was an active member of the Noon Lions’ Club and participated in the Choir at First Presbyterian Church in La Grange.

“The Round Top Festival Institute gratefully acknowledges the 19 years of musical performance donated by Dick Smith and family to support the Festival Institute Library. The funds received through these concerts have tremendously impacted the growth and maintenance of the Festival Library collections” stated Library and Museum Collections Curator Lamar Lentz.

After the concert there will be an opportunity to participate in the ever popular Adopt-a-Book program. This gives attendees a chance to view and donate a book of your choice, ranging from $20 to $250 dollars, to be placed in The Bybee Library at Festival Hill. Tip: Give a lasting and meaningful Valentine gift to your significant other by adopting a book in her/ his honor. A special bookplate will be added in the book in memory of someone, in honor of someone, to mark a special occasion or anniversary or just to support the library. It is a good chance to see the books being acquired for the Bybee Library at Festival Hill.

The Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Library, named for early Round Top preservationists and philanthropists, is a regional repository with a dedicated emphasis on music, and the arts and humanities. Round Top Festival Institute has long been active in collecting books on Texas history, Fayette County, art, architecture, and decorative arts with the intent to establish a world class research, study, and reference library. It actively collects and preserves rare books, manuscripts, photographs, archival materials, recordings, works of art and houses the personal library of Texas historian and former Texas State Librarian, Dr. Dorman Winfrey and The Faith P. and Charles L. Bybee Collection. The Library is by appointment only. You can also access the Library book catalog of over 11,000 volumes online at http://festivalhill.org/library/ index.php.

You can support the Library by purchasing a ticket for the concert, with your monetary donation or the adopt-a-book program. To donate go to festivalhill. org and specify Library. For more information, contact Lamar Lentz, Library and Museum Collections Curator, at lamarl@festivalhill.org or call the Institute office at (979) 2493129 Ext. 20 and leave a message.