Pledge/Prayer: Pres. Bob Chase Town Families Children Old Saybrook 24 47 Deep River 28 52 Chester 20 41 Westbrook 19 41 Lyme-Old Lyme 19 40 Essex 9 24 Totals 119 245
Song: Andy Anderson
Brents Card Game Winner: Brent
Sergeants Report: Paul Moore
Raffle Winners: Brent Taylor, Bill White, Tom Cloutier
Happy Bucks
Announcements:
Pres. Bob Chase: Board meeting next week following the regular meeting.
Walter Osborne: 2008-9 Warm The Children to date: Number of families and children served by town:
Walter Osborne and Jason Smith thank the many volunteers who make this program a great success. Its been a cold winter and providing warm clothing is what Warm the Children is all about.
Bill Suits: There will be a meeting of the Outreach Committee following the todays meeting. So far the Outreach Committee has spent $7500 about half its budget.
John Donnelly: There may be a need for volunteers to drive RYLA students to and from Shelton early February.
Induction of Bill White by Gerri Lewis. Joan Michaud is Bill's sponsor.
Program:
Bob Czepiel introduced the speaker, Chuck Still, Exec Director of the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. Chuck was hired April 14, 2008 after a 6 month search and 300 applications. Chuck is originally from Tennessee where he worked in theater management over several years. Chuck said when the Center is completed, it will be something the community can be proud of. He gave a status of the construction. The sheet rock is hung on the first floor and the heating and air conditioning systems are finished. They are working toward obtaining the Cert. of Occupancy which will enable work to go at a faster pace. Chuck estimates that the first performance will be in the summer. More money needs to be raised, the goal being $1.7 million and $1.4 million raised so far.
Ticket prices will range from $20 to $70 depending on the cost of the performer(s). Seating capacity will be 250. Some of the performers we can expect to see include the Salt Marsh Opera, the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra who will perform some Charlie Chaplin scores among others, and there will be High Definition Shows by the New York Metropolitan Opera. There will be a wide spectrum of music offered. There will be comedy shows (2 nights - 1 weekend per month), a Caberet series, film including the Wesleyen Classic Series, and films on the Town Green. There will be Children's Theater Performances, after school classes, and involvement by the Tracy Arts Galery. RJ Julia Boods will host speakers, writers and a lecture series by NPR radio broadcast. The Peter & the Wolf Ballet is scheduled for October 11 and there will be more dance performances as well.
The vision of the trustees is to offer a wide variety that will provide a broad appeal to people of Old Saybrook and surrounding towns. The town owns the building and has an operating agreement with the Center Board of Trustees. $30,000/yr. has been budgeted for operating expenses. Bob Czepiel explained that there have been some construction delays because of the special considerations of building a theater the most important being that special attention to detail to make the building aesthetically excellent. Another special consideration is the electrical service. For a theater, the sound system must have its own power source separate from the service that runs the lights and other items that require power. This insures consistent and excellent sound.
