Monday June 23

(Sarah asked about my vehicle problems in a previous blog. I picked up my truck today (monday) afternoon after a new starter was installed. Thanks again to the crew members of Anything Goes who helped me push it off Broadway and into a parking space on 4th St where I had it towed to a repair shop on Sunday- See the previous post about my adventure)

The annual picnic and family reunion began about 6 pm tonight and ended about 7 :15. About 100 people showed up bringing a dish to pass. Several people brought lawn chairs and everyone enjoyed BBQ by Starnes and fried chicken from Supervalu along with lots of salads, side dishes and desserts. The new board which takes office July 1 was accepted by unanimous vote. Marsha Cash presented volunteer recognition certificates. Denise Bristol received the zookeeper assistant director award for her work on a couple of shows this season. Jim Roush received the backstage yoga flexibility award for working 5 different crew positions this season in productions this season. Ann Counts received the ticket tearing seat sitting award for ushering the most this past year. Dick Holland and Stephanie Young received the Galloping Gourmet award for providing food for the tech dinners for the cast this season. Breandan Fredericks was recognized for volunteer props work. Janice Peterson was recognized for her volunteer costume work. Ann Counts won the Volunteer of the Year award for her work on the MHT board, as an usher, office worker, props worker, window display decorator and help with so many areas too numerous to mention.

Special thanks goes to Valerie Pollard who has been the MHT Board President for the past two years. Valerie will become Past President on July 1 as Renie Barger moves into the President spot. Valerie has done an outstanding job as President over the past two years with fundraising events and oversight of the theatre. Roy Hensel, Becky Haus, and Ginny Elmore will retire from the board June 30. Special thanks goes to these three board members for their hardwork and dedication to the theatre. Roy and Ginny served 1 year terms and Becky completed a 3 year term. Several fundraising events including the Beauty and the Beast Princess Tea Party fundraiser and the Cocoa and Cookies with Santa were chaired by Becky. She is a wonderfully talented person and a hard worker. Roy has been involved at MHT for over 25 years. He has been very active onstage and in support of the theatre and his children Travis and Emily are wonderful performers and volunteers at the theatre as well. Ginny Elmore has supported MHT in dozens of ways long before she became a board member. Ginny has supported MHT fundraising events through Kirchhoff's for several years. Her daughter Maddie is actively involved in our youth programming.

Most people think of the shows on the MHT stage. Some of the MHT stars never step onstage. They are the board of directors which provide oversight and financial planning support for the $500,000 annual budget and operations of the theatre. A huge thanks goes to the board of directors.

The 21st annual golden screw awards were given out by April and I to sixteen recipients. Guest directors for the season - Phil Counts, Sylvia Steiner, Mary Jane Bowles, and Diane Byrd- were all thanked for their contributions. Each staff member was introduced and thanked for their work above and beyond the call.

All of the performers and volunteers were thanked for the thousands of hours that made our 44th season a success. MHT is not a paid staff organization with volunteer support. It is a volunteer organization with paid staff support. The volunteers are the core of what the theatre is all about.

MHT produced over 30 plays the past season. I will post photos of the picnic on the website tomorrow. Check the volunteer menu on any web page and click on the bulletin board page.

Anything Goes cast has two more days off before they begin their final weekend. The Cinderella camp moves to Clark Elementary school for their performance at the end of the week. The board of directors will have an extended planning meeting on Saturday morning of this week.