Elizabeth Roth is the new owner of Bear Mountain Music Hall. Formerly South Waterford’s Grange, it will become a live music venue. A self-taught harpist, Roth plays at the Honey Badger Bar and Grill in Oxford and at open mics in the area. She spent 30 years performing music with her husband Allyn Fenn, who died in 2012. Roth lives near her mother, who is 86, and with her dog, Cutie. 

I had a really great childhood. I grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. We lived in a nice middle-class neighborhood. We weren’t wealthy, but we were comfortable.

My father was an attorney. My mother was a Registered Nurse and though she holds multiple degrees, she never pursued a career.

Though no one in my immediate family was musical, I remember my mother coming downstairs one day and saying, “All of my children will learn to play a musical instrument.” We could play what we wanted, but we were going to learn. I was 4. Though I do not know why, I chose the harp, which I didn’t learn until I was 25.

I had two older sisters. My middle sister was sick most of her life with lupus. She died two weeks before my 14th birthday. That defined and continues to define our family in unspoken subtle ways.

After my sister died, my parents had to do something with me. They remembered my singing around the house. I was permitted to go into voice.

I took singing lessons in the 9th grade. After that, all I did was community and musical theater.

I went to Cleveland Heights High School, which was one of the top schools in the country. Many of the members of the Cleveland Orchestra lived in our community, which meant the music programs got as much money as sports. I was very fortunate.

I went to Cleveland State University and graduated in 1980 with a degree in vocal performance. The only thing I was qualified to do after that was stand up and make a lot of noise in front of a lot of people. It turns out I was quite good at that.

I moved to Manhattan. I lived in Spanish Harlem on the Upper West Side, one block off Central Park West. I wanted to be on Broadway, but I was never able to do that. I went to the American Music & Dramatic Academy for a year. I tried to survive. I had 13 jobs in four years, most of them secretarial. I was not a good employee. As I like to say, I don’t morning well.

Just before I turned 25, I went to a Renaissance Festival in Tuxedo, New York. I saw a man playing a small Celtic harp. Though I was in a madrigal choir, when I wasn’t with them, I followed him around. I was riveted. When my parents said they wanted to get me a really good camera for my birthday, I asked for a harp instead.

I got one and studied with Mildred Dilling, who was the grande dame of the harp world, notable for teaching Harpo Marx.

The summer I turned 26, I came to Maine to do summer stock. I made more friends in three months than I had in the five years I had lived in Manhattan. I also met a really wonderful guy named Allyn Fenn.

Allyn was a wonderfully talented and gifted musician. He played the guitar and sang to me for three days. I moved in and never left.

When that summer was over, he came to Manhattan with me. The next year when my lease was up, we moved back to Maine.

Allyn and I played together as a duo called Silk and Steel. Our music never fit in any category, and it was hard to market, so I always had to do other work. I ended up becoming a real estate appraiser. Though Allyn was never licensed, he worked with me. I was able to make a good living and have a flexible schedule. I could do other things.

Allyn and I were a Siamese twin couple. We went on the road together, we lived together, and we did music together. I was happy.

Our lives were intertwined until Allyn became ill and was no longer able to do music. After he died, I had to find a way to build a life. I started taking my harp to open mics. I’d show up, and people would ask if I was lost. People were nice and generous to me. They decided to see what I could do. Though I don’t sound like a traditional harpist, I became accepted.

I teach voice at Mountain Top Music Center in Conway Village. My good friend George Wiese is the director of the center. He came up to me one day and said, “Did you see that Bear Mountain Grange in South Waterford is for sale?”

I said, “Let’s go look.”

I walked through the building once and immediately saw the potential. Though it needs work, I thought, I can do this. I bought the hall on August 5th. At two days past my birthday, it was a pretty big birthday present.

I started giving open house tours and waited to find out what the planning board would permit me to do. Luckily they deemed it a continuing use grange hall, based on my plans, and gave me a green light. For that, I am very grateful.

I have started painting the downstairs, which will become a casual coffee house. The upstairs Great Hall will be for concerts, play readings, and maybe weddings. I’ve already had three requests for  contra dances. The back will become a place for artists to work. George is advising me when I have questions.

I had a potluck jam session last August to open the building with about 40 people in attendance. We will have another on November 2nd. Hopefully, the coffee house will open by the end of the year.

I have tried a lot to things since Allyn died, and I will never not miss him, but I am hoping this will give me a sense of direction and a way to make a new life.