|
|
The Spoon River ProjectWednesday, August 05, 2009
Rose S. Prinzi
With the beautiful and historically significant Lake View Cemetery as the backdrop, you are invited to an event which may just prove to be a once in a lifetime experience.
Through the funding from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation’s Community Service Grants, the Fenton History Center - Museum & Research Center will be sponsoring the Spoon River Project on the evenings of July 29, 30, 31, August 1 and the afternoon of August 2. It is an adaptation of several poems from the Spoon River Anthology into a cohesive piece of theatre interlaced with live music and dance. The Fenton History Center, in collaboration with Tom Andolora, a professional actor/writer/director originally from Jamestown, and the Lake View Cemetery Association will be presenting a summer production of the Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. These are stories about people from the small fictional town of Spoon River dating back to around 1916. Their stories will come to life in front of you.
The Spoon River Anthology Project is a fundraising event. Tickets for this production are available by contacting the Fenton History Center. Prior to the presentation, there will be a tour of the Cemetery where famous Chautauqua residents like Lucille Ball, Gov. Rueben Fenton, “The Lady in Glass” Grace Galloway and BF Goodrich are interred. There are over 43,000 gravesites in the Lake View Cemetery, each one with stories of their own. Through the Spoon River Project, you will be able to travel back in time and glimpse into the lives of those who have passed before us. Their epitaphs are unflinching in their revelation about small town ways, human conflict and the pride, spite and regret that go to the grave.
The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation’s Community Service Grants make these types of community-enhancing events possible.
The Foundation’s Community Service Grants are unrestricted in nature. They are grants which are used for a wide variety of charitable projects or needs. These funds are by far the most flexible and powerful tool available to the Foundation to address the changing needs of our community. Applications are carefully reviewed by a volunteer committee of community members, and recommendations are made to the Foundation’s Board of Directors for the final approval.
These grants are made possible through the generosity of those who have established or who have contributed to an unrestricted fund. The grant to the Spoon River Project evolved from a forward-thinking donor in 1985. The donor, Ruth H. Holmberg passed on a legacy of supporting charitable community events by designating assets through her will.
If you are interested in learning more about establishing a fund to benefit the community after you lifetime, call the Community Foundation at 661-3390.
… and remember to mark your calendar to attend the Spoon River Project.
Previous Page | Next Page