On the evening of April 3, a vital legal document was destroyed by fire in the Livingstone Adventist Academy at the Barbara Livesay Chapel. Fortunately, because of the prompt action of the school administration, nothing else was damaged. In reality this was a controlled burn—a mortgage document, destroyed because of a debt paid in full.
Besides the concern of setting off the smoke alarms, all went well and there were no major complications. Even if the alarms had been set off it could not have dampened the joy and relief of being debt-free. This joy was shared by faculty, administration, pastors, board members and the constituent representatives who were on hand to witness the mortgage cremation. It was a time of celebration.
The background to this important turning point began in 2003 when LAA started building their high school. In 2004 the school was completed, and the school was left with a mortgage debt of about $450,000. That debt was gradually amortized, with the final $249,545 coming from an anonymous group. On Jan. 8 the mortgage for the building was paid in full.
With the mortgage paid off, the school now turns its attention to other projects to fulfill its mission of quality education.
Claudia Vorse, home and school member, holds the burning mortgage while Barbara Livesay, former principal, and Jerry Magee, school board chair, look on with pleasure.
