WASHINGTON, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)— A local theater in Washington, Indiana, is show-ready now for this weekend, thanks to a grant from the “Our Community Foundation”. The organization gives grants to local nonprofits in Daviess County.
All the world is a stage, all of us merely players, but sometimes the stage needs some work. At the Veale Creek Theatre in Daviess County, the players were getting ready for a presentation of the “Crazy Quilt Club,” but behind the scenes, something was amiss. President of the Veale Creek Players Inc., Joyce Morgan, knew something was going to have to be done about it.
“It was about six weeks ago, and I noticed that the concrete plinth, as I say, this building was built in the late 1880s,” Joyce Morgan said. “There was a concrete plinth we had put the treks, ramp for disabled patrons to come in and I noticed there was cracks in it, and then I noticed it was moving away from the building.”
Enter from stage left a hero, or rather a group of heroes who work to help strengthen and help non-profits in the area. Executive Director of the Our Community Foundation, Chris Jarrett, mentioned what the foundation does in the area.
“This particular fund was the True Scripps Foundation Fund and it’s a donor-advised fund,” Jarrett said. “So the donors like to still be involved in their charitable giving, and they will recommend a grant to our community foundation and when that recommendation comes in, it’s taken before our board of directors. All local individuals and they vote on it to decide if it aligns with what the needs are in our community and what the values are in our community.”
This is just one example of how Daviess County helps out one another.
“Daviess County is an enormously generous place, and people here love to give and it’s just exciting because this, you know, to have a live theater and a community our size is a big deal,” Jarrett said. “It’s something that people that care about the arts want to support. So we were thrilled to be able to give this money to Joyce and her players here at the Veale Creek Theatre.”
Pamela Morgan is one of the actresses at Veale Creek Theatre and she mentioned how much this theatre means to everyone, both performers and attendees.
“Being a part of Veale Creek Theatre is very nice, and it’s intimate, and it’s very, it’s worth it,” Pamela Morgan said. “Just to escape for just those two hours to be a part of something bigger. It’s come a long way since I first was here back in two thousand and three or four. I performed Oklahoma here, and it is a totally different theater.”
Joyce Morgan hopes more people can come out to the theatre and enjoy the shows.
“A lot of people go, I didn’t know you were here, from Washington, you know, and we say, well, we are,” Joyce Morgan said. “We’ve been going for a long time now and it was important to us that it was safe for anyone to come out.”
This weekend, the Veale Creek Players Inc. will be performing their own production of the “Crazy Quilt Club” on Friday, October 3rd and Saturday, October 4th at 7:00 p.m. each night. They will also have a Sunday matinee at 2:00 p.m. of the show on October 5th.
To learn more about the Veale Creek Theatre and how to get tickets for their upcoming shows, just visit their website or Facebook page.
