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President: Rob Schimmelpfennig Executive Vice President: Judy Robson Vice President: Mike Fedler Vice President: Bill Kline Treasurer: Rich Vanek Secretary: Debbi Waring BOARD MEMBERS: Baerbel Baginski, WSL Steve Candella Neroy Carter Arnie Esterer Adele Herzog Mary Ellen Higley Ken Johnson Mark Jones Randy Jones Gloria Kaull Kim Laurello Ed Looman Chris McClure Tom Picken Scot Sinkler Linda VanBuren Joseph Varckette Ellen Winer Phyllis Duffy-Zala | ||||
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Executive Director Cindy Rimpela Business Manager Pamela Hammond Public Relations/Marketing Coordinator Shelagh Dubsky Dance Coordinator Lyn Savarise Music Coordinator Meeghan Humphrey Visual Arts Coordinator Phil Mullet Technical Liason Joe Ford Maintenance Coordinator Marquitta Mollick Evening Desk Coordinator | ||||
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 2928 West 13th St. Ashtabula, Ohio 44004 phone: 440-964-3396 |
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Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2003
 Mark your calendars! The always popular - and always FREE - Kidsfest will return to the Arts Center grounds on Saturday, August 9th, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. This year’s event is called “A Fairy Tale Festival,” and will feature many crafts and games with a fairy tale theme.
Each year Kidsfest offers over a dozen hands-on activities for children of all ages. Crafts stations are set up on the AAC grounds (near Straw Hat) so that children may move about at their own pace and try whichever crafts and games they want. In addition, our concession stand will be open during Kidsfest, offering hot dogs, pop, popcorn and other snacks. Visitors are also welcome to pack a picnic lunch to enjoy on the grounds during the event. This year’s event promises to be fun for the whole family, with many exciting games and crafts available for kids of all ages. You can visit our “royal costumers” and become a princess, knight in shining armor, fairy, or even a dragon. Or jump on our stilts and see what it’s like to be a giant! There will be a miniature castle that everyone can help paint, and smaller sand castles to make and take home with you. If you’re really lucky, you may even get to sit in the King’s throne! Many photo opportunities abound, as Cinderella and other fairy tale characters will be roaming the grounds during the event.  Among the many crafts available this year are fairy wands, pop-up frog cards, dragon masks, puppets, crowns and stamped-out stories.
The youth theater troupe Theatricks will be on hand performing “Fractured Fairy Tales” in Straw Hat theater. Be sure to plan on spending enough time at the event to do all the crafts and see the show! Sure to be a great afternoon of fun and entertainment for the whole family, Kidsfest is a great way to get outside and get involved this summer! Hope to see you there! |
Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2003
16th Annual Regatta for the Arts a success The 16th annual Regatta for the Arts, an annual fundraiser held by the Ashtabula Yacht Club to benefit the Ashtabula Arts Center, was held on Sunday, June 15th. More than $5000 was raised as a result of the event. Sailing under perfect sunny skies and summer-like temperatures, this year’s Regatta featured 24 boats on a course from Ashtabula to Geneva-on-the-Lake and back. The Regatta is the only fundraiser conducted by the AYC. Area businesses and individuals made monetary contributions to sponsor boats in the race, with the proceeds wholly benefiting the Arts Center. Overall winner of the event was the “Kahuna,” skippered by Bob Anderson and sponsored by Deli in the Rye and an anonymous donor. Other winners and their divisions include: Performance Handicapped Racing Fleet A: 1st place, “Kahuna,” skippered by Bob Anderson and sponsored by Deli in the Rye and an anonymous donor. 2nd place, “Obsession,” skippered by Bob Maiorano and sponsored by Fagnilli’s. 3rd place, “Ten Spot,” skippered by Terry Persily and sponsored by Ten Spot Syndicate. Performance Handicapped Racing Fleet B: 1st place, “Pinafore,” skippered by Carl Anderson and sponsored by Curry & Pasqualone. 2nd place, “Fat Lady,” skippered by Gary Englehart and sponsored by Geneva Ford. 3rd place, “Eleanor Rigby,” skippered and sponsored by Bob Lee. JAM (Jib and Main) - Fleet A: 1st place, “Rocinante,” skippered and sponsored by Bill Bobulsky. 2nd place, “Red Dog,” skippered by Art Benson and sponsored by Hughes-Roller Construction. 3rd place, “Epiphysis,” skippered by Jeff Brodsky and sponsored by Ashtabula Orthopaedics. JAM (Jib and Main) - Fleet B: 1st place, “Maccallan,” skippered by Bruce Robson and sponsored by Bruce & Judy Robson. 2nd place, “Muircu,” skippered by Brett Kaull and sponsored by Brett & Gloria Kaull. 3rd Place, “Entropy III,” skippered by Bob Gilmore and sponsored by O & P Gas and Oil Co. Overall JAM winner “Maccallan,” skippered by Bruce Robson and sponsored by Bruce and Judy Robson. Other boats participating in the regatta and their sponsors included: “Whistle,” skippered by Jim Laird and sponsored by Harbor Realty; “Talisman,” skippered by Dwight Beebe and Candy Allds and sponsored by Stouffer-Herzog; “Hanalei,” skippered and sponsored by Bill Shinskey; “Mistral,” skippered by Sigfried Horne and sponsored by Buckeye Title; “Sailcat,” skippered by Ed Millspaw and sponsored by Sutherland Marine; “Ballisage,” skippered by Jim LaPierre and sponsored by Raymond Builders; “Tinkertoy,” skippered by Chuck Koski and sponsored by Nevin Hoeffert; “Knot Much,” skippered by Mark Millberg and sponsored by Grand River Rubber; “Renegade,” skippered by Pat Steadman and sponsored by Smith & Miller; “Free At Last,” skippered by Ed Shelley and sponsored by Second National Bank; “Serendipity,” skippered by Rebecca Huddle and sponsored by Koski Construction; “Hatha,” skippered by Bob Brandenstein and sponsored by Bob Brandenstein and Miller Realty. A party for sponsors, skippers and crew members was held at the AYC following the regatta, and was sponsored by Parker Hunter and Scot Sinkler. On behalf of the Arts Center, Executive Director Beth Koski extended special thanks to donors and volunteers, including the AYC Sail Club, the Committee Boat, Phyllis Zala, Judy Robson, Ivan & Kristy Stowers, Zelda Altman, Baerbel Baginski, Scot Sinkler, Larry Meloro, Markko Vineyards, and the Ashtabula Yacht Club. |
Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Serene Farmer, Bud Hill and Roz Moulder share their memories of the 1980's and the building of the new theater. The following is the third in a series of interviews being conducted in celebration of our 50th anniversary. We are traveling through the decades, using memories of those who have been influential in the Arts Center’s history along the way. The 1980’s saw some tough times for the Arts Center. With the building on West 13th Street up and open in 1973, and the music wing added in 1976, the next major area of development came with the addition of the theater wing in 1987. However, problems in leadership and finances almost kept this dream from becoming a reality. Before the theater wing was added, the Arts Center had a small stage, located in what is now the music wing. According to Bud Hill, former president of the Ashtabula Arts Center Board of Trustees, the area used for theater was more like a multi-purpose room than an actual, functional stage. “It wasn’t functional for doing major plays,” he says. “The stage was small, there was no wing space, no dressing area, nothing.” Theater veteran Roz Moulder acted on the old stage at the Center. “While any stage is wonderful,” she says, “we had no dressing rooms, we used to dress in the music room with the grand piano. We had to get people out of lesson rooms for ‘real’ dressing rooms so we were separated, men and women.” According to Moulder, the old stage posed a problem not just in getting dressed, but in making performances come to life. “I’m one of the very few people left who remember that old stage, and how we had to improvise to do ‘Cabaret’ ... I don’t know how we did it, with our wonderful stage and space we have now,” she says. Due to a greater interest in theater throughout the area, it was eventually decided that a space needed to be build to specifically house the theater arts. In 1980 the Arts Center applied for and was granted the funds from the Civic Development Corporation (CDC) to move Straw Hat Theatre from its old location at Walnut Beach (where it was falling victim to vandalism) to the grounds of the new AAC building. At the same time, the AAC requested funds to build a new performing arts wing within the main building. On June 4, 1986, ground was broken for the new theater. However, many problems would befall the Center during the building phases of the wing. According to Hill, this was a particularly bad time, as the Center was changing directors and going through some serious financial difficulty. The CDC was keeping a close eye on the Arts Center’s bills, trying to make sure the Center got out of debt and still kept production on the new theater going at the same time. “I think (the CDC’s) thought was that if you guys are going to go under, why should we continue to give you more money?” says Beth Koski, current AAC excutive director and board member during the 1980’s. However, it was with the help of some very dedicated individuals and businesses that the theater finally took shape. The Arts Center still needed more money (beyond the CDC grant) to build and equip the theater, and so major fundraisers were launched, one of which being the selling of the nameplates on each of the theater chairs. “Everyone wanted their name on a chair,” says Serene Farmer, former board member and building committee chairman. “We couldn’t actually go out and raise funds (because of the CDC grant), but we could ‘sell’ the seats,” says Hill. Actually, the fundraiser was so successful that they were able to put a nameplate on each arm of each chair. “I don’t think anyone has ever mentioned to me the fact that we have more chair names than we have chairs,” says Farmer. Once the actual building was up and open, many hours - both working and volunteer - were put into getting the theater ready for opening night. The chairs were extracted from the old Shea Theatre downtown, and refurbished through help from Goodwill Industries and the Astatic Corporation. Farmer visited at least six theaters around the Cleveland area to decide on the color of the inside walls, which were spray painted by personell from several area companies. Actually, Koski says that all of the painting in that whole wing was done completely by volunteers. When the theater finally opened in a Gala Celebration on January 31, 1987, it was a far cry from the well-equipped theater we all know today. Because the budget was so tight, there was no money to equip the theater, meaning there were no curtains and only a meager lighting system. Still, the space was considered by many to be the best around. “The opening of the new theater was just the most magnificent thing for us on the stage,” says Moulder, who has since acted many times on the new GB stage. “We were told at our celebration that our space is better than many Off-Broadway theaters. The whole thing has just improved so much.” The first theater performance held on the new stage was Neil Simon’s “The Good Doctor,” staged February 6-8 and 13-15, 1987. | ||