Friends Come Together to Raise Funds For Beautiful Tribute to Linda Langhorn

RIVERHEAD, NY - Linda Langhorn of Calverton died when she was only 65 in 2014, but she left a legacy of love that will last forever.

And now, friends are coming together to create a beautiful place to celebrate her memory.

A GoFundMe page, "A Pergola for Linda," has raised $840 of its $1,500 goal, with a goal of creating a pergola at the Rivers and Roots Community Garden for the woman who touched so many lives.

The page was created by Eileen Mackey, who wrote a loving tribute: "Every once in awhile a person comes along that embodies grace. For me, that person was Linda Langhorn. She was a beautiful woman who lived, loved, and laughed among us, and was taken from us too soon. Linda had a way of making everyone she met feel special and important and heard, and I came to cherish the time spent in her presence. It wasn't until after she left us that I realized just how special she was to everyone who crossed her path."

Linda Ignaczak, Mackey wrote, met Butch Langhorn when he was singing with a band called the Royals. "He sang every song for her after that day. They married on July 5, 1968, and made a home in Calverton, where she converted her garage into a salon that soon became an entity all its own. Linda ran that shop for 32 years, and it brought together the most unlikely range of characters from different backgrounds, each supporting the others in their own way. Each time you crossed the threshold of Kountry Kutters you would be greeted by a group of women that crossed the boundaries of class and age, a captive audience for the sharing of ideas and information, intimacies and vulnerabilities across the generations. The tears and the laughter and the love flowed as freely as the shampoo and hair dye at Kountry Kutters," she wrote.

Linda, Mackey said, left behind a husband, James "Butch" Langhorn. a daughter, Kelli McCabe, a son, Michael, a sister Sally Patterson, and a host of grandchildren in addition to nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

"There is a community garden in Riverhead, a beautiful oasis in the middle of town where people from all walks of life gather to work in the soil. I believe this sanctuary of sorts has a similar vibe in bringing people together, and I often think of Linda when I am there. We are in the process of constructing a beautiful wooden pergola there, and I think it would be fitting to dedicate it to her. I envision this lovely pergola in the River and Roots Community Garden as a place where her family and friends can come to celebrate her life in the community she loved. "

To donate, click here.