After installing a new furnace at the Burchfield Homestead, Custom Comfort Systems Owner Mike Weikart chats with Robert Viencek. Weikart donated the installation and Bryant donated the heating system this winter after Viencek, a Burchfield Homestead Society board member, told his friend and former student about problems with the home museum’s 25-year-old furnace. (Submitted photo)

Submitted Material

SALEM — Mike and Renee Weikart, owners of Custom Comfort Systems Inc., and Bryant Furnace have donated a $4,000 heating system to the Burchfield Homestead.

Their donations happened this winter after Mike Weikart serendipitously learned from Robert Viencek, a Homestead Society board member, of inadequate heat at the historic Salem home where watercolor artist Charles E. Burchfield grew up in the early 1900s.

Viencek and Weikart have been friends since Weikart graduated from Salem High School in 1989. Viencek was Weikart’s teacher for college writing, senior English, and computer science.

Weikart said he has stayed in touch with Viencek because he was such a positive influence during tumultuous times in his teen years.

“He was that teacher that made the true difference to me,” Weikart said.

On the winter day that Weikart called Viencek to install a part on his home’s furnace, Viencek had been at the Homestead taking down Christmas trees. That day it was nearly as cold inside the house museum at 867 East Fourth Street as it was outside due to the Homestead’s malfunctioning 25-year-old furnace.

The situation was on Viencek’s mind as Weikart completed the repair so he just asked. Viencek said, even with their long friendship, “it was probably very bold of me to ask for a new furnace for the Burchfield Homestead Museum. Without hesitation he agreed.”

Viencek said, “This speaks so much to the character of this man. Indeed, I am touched by his generosity and that of his lovely wife Renee. This is typical of their generosity to the Salem community.”

In an interview, Weikart explained that Bryant provides factory-authorized dealers with one free system each year to donate to a nonprofit. So the furnace maker provided the equipment for the Homestead’s new furnace and Weikart and his team installed it at no cost.

After the installation, Viencek thanked Weikart on behalf of the entire Burchfield Homestead Society Board.

The Burchfield Homestead Society, a nonprofit organization, preserves the home where the watercolor painter Charles E. Burchfield grew up. The Homestead Society also educates the public about the artist’s life and promotes appreciation of his work.

The Homestead Society’s founders will be honored at the annual membership meeting at 11 a.m., Sunday, April 6, at the Homestead. Bo Sullivan, an architectural historian and wallpaper expert from Oregon, will talk about the wallpapers that Burchfield designed in the 1920s for M.H. Birge and Sons in Buffalo, New York. All are welcome.

The Homestead is open on from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays from May through October, and by appointment. Call 330-717-0092 to schedule tours at least three days in advance. For more info, see www.burchfieldhomestead.com.