Champagne toasts. A buffet table heavy laden with tasty cuisine. Ladies dressed to the nines. A singing quartet and harp music. Stories told and retold. Art, music and entertainment.
Sunday, Jan. 22 at NM Tech’s Macey Center was indeed a fitting party to celebrate the golden anniversary of performing arts in Socorro.
That the actual anniversary, as Bill Stone noted before leading the toast, “is more a physicist number;” the champagne was not really champagne and the term “brunch” itself suspect, was beside the point: There was – and is! – plenty to celebrate.
And celebrate, we did: Over 140 Performing Arts Series supporters filled the Macey Center’s upper gallery hall, to participate in the first birthday celebration (and hopefully not the last). As Valerie Kimble, MC, proclaimed the afternoon was a truly “social event” setting the pace for the year.
PAS director Ronna Kalish deservedly received many accolades, with Tech President Dan Lopez praising her “vision” and the “Prima Donnas” paying tribute in their rendition of “Operator” to a few of her trials and tribulations through the years of presenting the sometime eccentric artists to a demanding public.
To see that performance and other pictures click here. (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/pp-514/showgallery.php?cat=508)
Ronna, in typical Ronna style, shrugged aside any glory for herself, instead saluting the wider community support that the program has received over the years, from the students and administration of the college to the businesses and individuals in the community.
In truth, of course, PAS is successful because of “all of the above”: the leadership and vision of Ronna, the dedication of volunteers and staff; and the support of sponsors and the audience.
As the multi-media presentation and the spontaneous comments of the audience verified – the Performing Arts Series is a precious community asset, enriching the lives of its citizens by offering the best of society: its culture of art and beauty expressed through music, dance and theatre.
Participants also got a chance to take home beautiful works of local art through the silent auction. The silent auction raised $3,000 for PAS, and it is generally agreed that every successful bidder got a whale of a deal since minimum prices were set at bottom-end.
And, now after all the back-patting, we hope the wider PAS community won’t forget: Programs such as PAS are not business ventures to give you a financial return on your dollar (the return is invaluable, as noted above).
PAS, however, like many cultural programs these days, has been facing tightening budgets and more competition for dwindling grant funds. The birthday celebration was, simply put, a fun way to help raise needed funds for the program.
Hopefully some of the state’s windfall will be dedicated to cultural assets, historic and performing.
But, in the end, to continue having PAS as a valued community asset, we all need to pull together, dig deeper into our pockets or plunk down more volunteer time to ensure its success.
For more information on how to help PAS, including its new Betty Clark Memorial Fund, volunteer activities, and coming attractions, please visit www.pasnmt.org (http://www.pasnmt.org) or call 505-835-5688.
To see the Prima Donna's performance and other pictures click here. (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/pp-514/showgallery.php?cat=508)
©2006 Steppin’ Out SONewMex.com
Champagne toasts. A buffet table heavy laden with tasty cuisine. Ladies dressed to the nines. A singing quartet and harp music. Stories told and retold. Art, music and entertainment.
Sunday, Jan. 22 at NM Tech’s Macey Center was indeed a fitting party to celebrate the golden anniversary of performing arts in Socorro.
That the actual anniversary, as Bill Stone noted before leading the toast, “is more a physicist number;” the champagne was not really champagne and the term “brunch” itself suspect, was beside the point: There was – and is! – plenty to celebrate.
And celebrate, we did: Over 140 Performing Arts Series supporters filled the Macey Center’s upper gallery hall, to participate in the first birthday celebration (and hopefully not the last). As Valerie Kimble, MC, proclaimed the afternoon was a truly “social event” setting the pace for the year.
PAS director Ronna Kalish deservedly received many accolades, with Tech President Dan Lopez praising her “vision” and the “Prima Donnas” paying tribute in their rendition of “Operator” to a few of her trials and tribulations through the years of presenting the sometime eccentric artists to a demanding public.
To see that performance and other pictures click here. (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/pp-514/showgallery.php?cat=508)
Ronna, in typical Ronna style, shrugged aside any glory for herself, instead saluting the wider community support that the program has received over the years, from the students and administration of the college to the businesses and individuals in the community.
In truth, of course, PAS is successful because of “all of the above”: the leadership and vision of Ronna, the dedication of volunteers and staff; and the support of sponsors and the audience.
As the multi-media presentation and the spontaneous comments of the audience verified – the Performing Arts Series is a precious community asset, enriching the lives of its citizens by offering the best of society: its culture of art and beauty expressed through music, dance and theatre.
Participants also got a chance to take home beautiful works of local art through the silent auction. The silent auction raised $3,000 for PAS, and it is generally agreed that every successful bidder got a whale of a deal since minimum prices were set at bottom-end.
And, now after all the back-patting, we hope the wider PAS community won’t forget: Programs such as PAS are not business ventures to give you a financial return on your dollar (the return is invaluable, as noted above).
PAS, however, like many cultural programs these days, has been facing tightening budgets and more competition for dwindling grant funds. The birthday celebration was, simply put, a fun way to help raise needed funds for the program.
Hopefully some of the state’s windfall will be dedicated to cultural assets, historic and performing.
But, in the end, to continue having PAS as a valued community asset, we all need to pull together, dig deeper into our pockets or plunk down more volunteer time to ensure its success.
For more information on how to help PAS, including its new Betty Clark Memorial Fund, volunteer activities, and coming attractions, please visit www.pasnmt.org (http://www.pasnmt.org) or call 505-835-5688.
To see the Prima Donna's performance and other pictures click here. (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/pp-514/showgallery.php?cat=508)