Chautauqua Region Community Foundation Supports Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy > Chautauqua Region Community Foundation

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Chautauqua Region Community Foundation Supports Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy
Thursday, June 30, 2011

Laughter is often said to be the best medicine, and the Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy is endeavoring to make sure Jamestown is known worldwide as the destination for laughter through comedy.

As part of their most recent board meeting, the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation's Board of Directors agreed unanimously to provide the Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy with $30,000 to be used towards the center's "Legacy of Laughter." The four-pillar plan was designed to bring the mission of the center back to life in the form of tangible, sustainable programming and activities.

The first pillar is a Festival of Comedy, which will be taking place August 3rd through the 7th. Pillar two is a comedic arts and education program, which focuses on the development of the comedic arts. Pillar three is a comedy film festival honoring the legacy that Lucy and Desi left behind the camera and behind the scenes. And finally, the fourth pillar deals with the establishment of the Lucille Ball - Desi Arnaz National Comedy Hall of Fame; the most aggressive and long-term of the four pillars.

"We are well on our way towards accomplishing the goal of Pillar One, and have begun to develop Pillar Two and Pillar Three," said Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy Executive Director Journey Gunderson. "With the help of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, we will be able to realize our ultimate goal of making Jamestown, NY the center for comedy."

"The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation is pleased with the new direction of the Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy. The four pillars of their new mission clearly have the long-range potential to pave the pathway to making its center of comedy a key component to the delivery of arts and entertainment to our community and throughout the region. We compliment the hard work of the Board of Directors and staff in advancing this new focus and wish them much success," said Randy Sweeney, Executive Director of the Community Foundation.

The upcoming Festival of Comedy August 3rd through the 7th includes a showcase of new comedians and comedy acts that Gunderson said are coming to Jamestown because of beneficial association of their names with the established headliners; Joan Rivers and Paula Poundstone. These comedians will also be asked to visit with the region's ill and aging population to enact the healing powers of laughter. For more information on the Festival of Comedy, please visit www.lucy-desi.com.

The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation is a nonprofit, community corporation created by and for the people of Chautauqua County. For more information on the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, call (716) 661-3390 or visit www.crcfonline.org. You can also find the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CRCFOnline.

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