Marion Palace Theatre

A Successful 90th Anniversary Celebration – September 2018

A Successful 90th Anniversary Celebration – September 2018

This Applause column comes on the heels of our 90th Anniversary Celebration. What a great party! Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate. You all did an amazing job dressing up in your 1920s garb; the costumes were so fun. Thank you for getting into the theme and adding to the spirit of celebration.

Here are a few follow up thank you notes and a snapshot into the evening for those of you who couldn’t make it.

Our DJ Dennis Cametti had the music hoppin’ and the dance floor full. Congratulations to our Charleston Queen and King, Danielle Knight and Jay Reid. Way to cut a rug, kids! And a related round of applause to Kristi Wink for teaching us to Charleston and to the rest of you who got out there and danced your hearts out. To Sara Grote and John Garnes, thank you for beautifully singing the sounds of the era for us and my thanks to Dee Ehrman for your amazing accompaniment. You each generously share your talent, and it is appreciated.

I heard from many of you what fun the organ and silent film were. It was a great step back to what those early audiences experienced here at the Palace. Thank you to Dave Calendine for masterfully presenting that entertainment for us at the party.

Many generous donors added to the silent auction and happy bidders took home their newly acquired treasures. Our appreciation to the bidders and the buyers! Thank you to the following donors:

Baires-Marcella Barrios, Baldauf Construction, Carroll’s Jewelers-Lowell Thurston, Destination Mansfield-Kim Miers, Candy Dreher, Cliff Edwards & Dan Dickman, Drew & Shelley Ellerkamp, Doug Ford, Fuzzy’s Flowers and Gifts, Barb & Jim Greetham, Andy Harper, Joe Howard, Inspirations Nail Studio, Dean & Sue Jacob, David & Diana Kasmenn, John & Marge Keggan, Jennifer Knotts, KW Limousine-Kevin Wenig, Marion Community Foundation, Marion Country Club, Marion Public Library, Marion Technical College, Marion YMCA, Michelle Miller, OhioHealth, R.W. Mills Fine Arts-Rick and Hanae Mills, Tom & Cindy Schifer, Serenity Therapeutic Massage, The Ohio State University at Marion, and Visible Changes Salon.

Additional thanks to Janet Knotts (cake), Dan and Candy Dreher (ice cream), Emily Yaksic (decorations), and Deb and Randy Myers (champagne toast) for their support. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the Palace staff who worked tirelessly to pull this party together detail by detail.

Finally, I want to highlight Jim and Barb Greetham for sponsoring the fun. What generous supporters you are! And a huge thank you to our planning committee (Clare Cooke, Barb Greetham, Andy Harper, Sue Jacob, Michelle Miller, and Mike Stuckey) for putting together an outstanding celebration event.

Let’s raise a virtual glass. Here’s to the next 90 years and beyond! May this treasure ever be a vibrant performing arts facility in the heart of our community; loved and preserved for future generations.

And with that, I’m off to the Arts Midwest Conference to begin planning our 91st season!

Bev Ford, Executive Director