577 Foundation celebrates new courtyard

When she first ran for Congress in 1981, one of the first places U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) toured during her campaign was the 577 Foundation, a nonprofit community arts and nature center in Perrysburg.

She was invited by the foundation’s founder, Virginia Secor Stranahan, even though she said she had no idea who Mrs. Stranahan was.

“I never knew anyone in the Stranahan family,” Ms. Kaptur said. “I didn’t go to school with them. She could not have been more gracious. She had a great sense of humor and obviously this sense of beauty.”

Ms. Kaptur, along with several Perrysburg city leaders and 577 Foundation staff, celebrated Mrs. Stranahan’s legacy and much-needed renovations to the foundation’s entire courtyard at the front of the property Monday.

Nearly 100 individuals and community groups in Perrysburg donated to the courtyard’s renovation via newly paved paths, six tall berry trees in honor of Mrs. Stranahan’s six children, and an updated drainage system.

The community organization donations came in the form of several grants including the Entelco Foundation Grant, Stranahan Supporting Organization Grant, Country Garden Club of Perrysburg Grant, Perrysburg Rotary Community Foundation Grant, Greater Toledo Community Foundation Grant, City of Perrysburg Sewer Separation Grant, as well as grants from Trust Company Family Offices, and the 577 Foundation Board of Trustees.

The total cost of the project was $200,000, said Heather Gallant, executive director of the 577 Foundation.

She said $125,000 came from grants and donations while the other $75,000 was from the foundation’s reserve funds.

“My favorite part about this project is the fact that so many people were involved in bringing this to fruition,” Ms. Gallant said. “Perhaps we could have gone out and found a single person who wanted to fund the project but that would mean it doesn’t belong to everyone. I really love that so many first-time donors came together to support this project. It really was a group effort.”

Perrysburg resident and donor Kate French said she always takes trips to the 577 Foundation during walks with her two daughters.

“There’s a really neat path that kind of zig zags down to the flat ground,” she said. “It’s so nice to have access to the [Maumee] river from here.”

Mrs. Stranahan was born in 1906 to Jay and Mary Secor, one of Toledo's most prominent and influential families, and grew up in a mansion in the Old West End, per previous Blade reporting. When she died in 1997 at 90, she gifted her home and its 14-acre grounds in Perrysburg to the 577 Foundation.

“This is a most fitting tribute to the founder of 577, Virginia Secor Stranahan, and her desire for the community to gather together to experience nature, to improve the environment, and build friendships here at 577,” said Jay Secor, board president of the 577 Foundation.