Ingrid Mezo

The scores of people who turned out for Thurmont’s first Gallery Stroll on Friday are an indication that that the community is ready for more art, music and entertainment. "My husband and I both were absolutely overwhelmed by the number of people who came," said Rebecca Pearl, co-owner of the Rebecca Pearl Gallery.

Now, most of the stores on the Main Street close at 6:00 p.m. and town residents have to go elsewhere for evening entertainment on the weekends. But, because so many people were still out toward the end of the gallery stroll and the grand opening of Cool Beans coffee shop and the Rebecca Pearl Gallery, maybe entrepreneurs thinking of opening such businesses and keeping them open later could thrive in Thurmont.

"Thurmont is just a bud ready to open," Pearl said. "It’s just very exciting." Pearl’s gallery, which actually opened in March, was full of people on Friday, sampling wine, eating free food, and admiring and buying artwork.

She and her husband Jay of Rocky Ridge moved the gallery from Emmitsburg to Thurmont because they had outgrown the space there, Pearl said. Jay Pearl has become an expert custom framer, who frames all of his wife’s artwork since the couple married five years ago.

The Grand Opening of the Rebecca Pearl Gallery got started with Main Street Manager and Business and Economic Development Committee Chairwoman Vickie Grinder wanting to start the gallery strolls in town once a month, Pearl said. However, Grinder said that the next one would not take place until March. She chose the red and yellow, Parisian/Roman decoration theme for Cool Beans, where she hopes to book jazz bands to play for the strolls.

The hours for the coffee shop, which officially opened is scheduled to open for business next Monday, have not yet been determined. Grinder is co-owner of the business with Richard Little of Thurmont. "Tonight was a test pilot to see what we did right, what we did wrong," she said. And what they did was right, according to the people who came out for the gallery stroll.

Thurmont residents Rikki Browning and Daniel Fitzgerald both enjoyed the free coffee and desert samples at Cool Beans, and being out in a Thurmont downtown business open later than 6:00 p.m. "It’s been pretty fun, we’ve been here, we’ve been over to the art gallery," Fitzgerald said. "It helps the local businesses and brings people from out of town here."

Sarah Transeau, who owns and runs the Tranquility Farms therapeutic horse-riding program, said she really enjoyed Pearl’s artwork, much of which is inspired by horses.

"She really knows horses," Transeau said. "I really love her artwork; it’s like nothing else. And, she really cares about people."

Pearl said one of her favorite things about art, is seeing how people respond to her work and the stories they tell her about themselves after looking at one of her paintings. "I think having an art gallery, it’s a kind of place to really share," she said. "I think that art enriches people’s lives and it’s not just the artist providing art, but it’s the public, because when you put an image in front of someone, you find out something about him, and it opens up communication. We’re very visual people."

Pearl said that her hope for the gallery is that people will come there to meet and talk. She also hopes that local school children will show their artwork there, and hang out on the Persian rug she put for them to sit on.

"People bring their dogs in," she said. "It’s a friendly atmosphere for people to experience art and music." They are very similar, Pearl said. "It just changes your mood, and you go to a more emotional place," she said. Emotions are not a bad thing, they are something everyone needs to feel, work through, or elevate herself by, Pearl added.