An art show and sale scheduled for Saturday, June 1, will recognize the legacy of a local pastor who emotionally embraced first responders.
Stephen W. Burdette and his wife, Kathy, moved to Blue Ridge Summit in 2008. He got to know local firefighters and police officers, and started fielding calls from them for counsel after difficult situations on the job.
In December 2023, Burdette, who held a minister’s license, was asked to become the chaplain for Blue Ridge Fire & Rescue Squad. He was looking forward to the formal appointment but died of heart failure just weeks later.
“He always had a place in his heart for firefighters and their commitment to the communities they lived in and what they did,” Kathy Burdette said. “All of the fire companies had a place in his heart.”
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Steve Burdette’s art will be sold at the fire hall at 13063 Monterey Lane in Blue Ridge Summit. Prices range from $5 to $500. Cash sales are preferred.
Burdette started taking private art lessons in his early teens and graduated from Academy Art School. He maintained a gallery on Tracey’s Corner in Blue Ridge Summit for several years.
The sale will feature prints, cards, and original works, including oil paintings, watercolors, pencil drawings, and pen and ink. The subjects include rural farms, architecture, nautical scenery and fire department apparatus.
Saturday’s event, which will include food sales, stemmed from a conversation with family friend, local businesswoman and active volunteer Lynn Martin. She helped Kathy Burdette with sorting through the estate.
“In going through everything, Lynn said, ‘What are we going to do with all of Steve’s pieces?,” Kathy Burdette recalled.
The sale is designed to help the Burdette family with funeral and burial expenses. Kathy Burdette expressed gratitude for Lynn Martin’s drive and the kindness from the mountaintop’s first responders, saying she was overwhelmed by the number of people who attended the visitation and funeral.
“My mind, even now four months later, is muddled,” she said.
