Totem Pole Playhouse Receives $1 million pledge

Totem Pole Playhouse Board of Directors announced a $ 1 million pledge at its kickoff celebration for a $ 2.5 million capital campaign April 22, 2010 at Hauser Estate Winery, Biglerville. The campaign, fully supported by the Board of Directors, called "Recalling the Past, Embracing the Future" has already received $100,000 of the million dollar pledge which was used to install brand new seats in the auditorium and revamp both bathrooms on the East side of The Playhouse.

The donor of this magnificent pledge and gift, Charles Q. Smith, has asked that recognition be given in memory of his mother, Jessica Weaver Smith who was a season subscriber to Totem Pole since its beginning in 1950. "My Mother used to ‘drag' me and my Dad to the original concrete block pill box called a theatre near Pine Grove Furnace", said Smith. "Soon we all came to love the theatre and became season subscribers through all the years in the old dance hall at the top of the hill and then into the present location." Mrs. Smith died at age 95 in 2000 and attended her last Totem Pole play just a few months before her death.

Ray Ficca began the evening at the Hauser Estate Winery with a history of theatre throughout the world and how it has impacted the Cumberland Valley with the creation of Totem Pole Playhouse 60 years ago. Ficca, the 4th artistic director of the theatre states, "Mr. Smith's pledge will help bring the 40 year old theatre into the 21st century and beyond."

Elise Overcash, President, of the theatre's Board of directors states "CQ's
$1 million pledge to the Capital Campaign will provide an opportunity for Totem Pole Playhouse to shine into the future, providing the core of the financial requirements needed for the theatre, facility and grounds improvements."

For more information on how to "Enhance the Future" of Totem Pole Playhouse or to receive campaign literature on named gift opportunities contact Judy Houser at 888-805-7056.

 

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