Rotary bulletin – Wed, Sept 1/21

Attendees - 

Petra, Elaine, Karen T, Kerry, Linda G, Melissa, Nancy, Rhonda, Scott, Karen O, Bob, Boris, Catherine, Dave, Connie, Beth, Guests – Alan & Florence

President Petra told us about an upcoming fun event on Sept 20 – a social evening at Capital Theatre with the Port Hope Rotary Club.  Stay tuned for more details.

Happy Bucks – 

  • Karen O – is very happy and very tired; fence comes down today; tents go up; weather looking good for the big wedding celebration!  We wish you all the best Karen!

  • Connie – is very happy to announce she has a new baby granddaughter – Charlotte Anne who was born two weeks ago

  • Kerry – sorry he has missed meetings lately.  He threw in lots of happy bucks because he is happy to be back!  We’re happy you’re back too Kerry!

  • Petra – was happy to wake up this morning with her usual morning thought – thank God I’m alive; even though she woke up surrounded by her dogs’ bums; she is happy to be alive!

  • Catherine – happy that Allen and Florence are joining us this morning.

  • VOS – Victorian Operetta Society

 

Allen and Florence joined us from the VOS and treated us to a very interesting and informative presentation on their group.  We learned so much and most of us had no idea how much work went into these amazing performances from the early stages of choosing a show right up to the last performance.

The group has been responsible for a host of education and entertainment since 1990.  They work with a huge group of volunteers to make each show a success.  They use Victoria Hall as their base.  

Once the show has been chosen (by the board / producer / director) then they must secure the rights to the show.  License fees are charged for the specific show and are usually about $8,000 - $10,000 Cdn. VOS produces between one to six productions per season.  They use various locations to store props, materials, costumes, etc including the Dalewood, Trinity United Church, the Firehall Theatre and others.

For every production, detailed budgets and break even calculations are completed.  The revenue is held by the Town until they reach a threshold of $12,000 in tickets sales.  Then they can make draws on the revenue.  

The production team is a large team of volunteers that is critical to the success of the production.  There are many other teams involved also.  Some of the steps along the way include – the Audition process, choosing the cast, rehearsals (held in many locations for several months at a time), stage planning and design, set construction and design, costume design & construction, props, marketing, sounds, lights & projection, rehearsals and the performances.

VOS is also involved in the community.  They raise money and give bursaries to local students.  They also participate in parades and street fairs and they sponsor and perform at Civic Awards events. 

Thank you to the VOS for joining us to share your wonderful presentation complete with pictures of your performances over the years (including our very own Bob Clarke!)

Club news

Sept 26 - The Foundation Walk will be in Trenton.  Mark your calendars.  The event will be capped at 100 people and the details are pending.  We can have our own club Walk too.

Sept 20 – joint meeting with Port Hope Rotary Club at the Capitol.  Stay tuned.

Our club has been nominated for an award for a non-profit service club for the Port Hope 2020 Business Awards.  It is an entertaining evening at the Port Hope Drive In and would be a fun social evening for our club.

The NHH Garden update – we had one successful session and it looks much better.  The second session was to turn the soil and remulch.  This will be rescheduled – Rhonda will check into this and let us know when in Sept this will be.  Hopefully not as hot as the last time the volunteers worked on the garden!

An email will come out with committees and a list of the chairs so everyone can sign up for a committee(s).

The song for today – SEPTEMBER by EARTH, WIND AND FIRE