The meeting was called to order by President Rich Marcus. Kristina Wyatt led the Pledge of Allegiance and Sam Slater had the Thought for the Day.

 

Phil Fortino introduced his guest, Ralph Brigantino, from Brigantino Irrigation. 

 

Kristina Wyatt introduced her two daughters, Molly and Haley who are students at Spring Grove School.

 

Rich noted that it was Sam Slater birthday, and this followed with the singing of Happy Birthday to Sam.

 

Larry Shaw reminded everyone of the golf outing on Friday, August 11th at Ridgemark.  The first tee time is 11 AM.  If you cannot play, join the group at the end of the round for a drink on president Rich.

 

Esther Curtis thanks everyone for the support of CASA at their event on Saturday at Eden Rift Winery.

 

Raffle winners (and losers) were Kristina Wyatt and Gordan Machado.

 

Sam Slater was detective again this week.  He asked a series of trivia questions about the movies. Winners got to select an item from a bag of goodies.  Some members were asked to name their most favorite movie and their worst movie and got to pay $5!

 

 

Rich announced that we will not have a meeting Monday, August 21st.  Instead we will have night social meeting on Thursday, August 24th.  Time, location, and program will be announced soon. Mark your calendars.

 

Volunteers are needed for Stuff The Bus.  It will on Saturday morning, August 5th at the Target parking lot. Five or six people are needed to prepare and serve hot dogs and drinks for the kids.

 

 

 

Our own member, Anne Hall, who is the current president of the San Benito Stage Company, gave us an overview of the stage company and its mission.  Founded in 1999, the San Benito Stage Company provides performing arts experiences that enrich the lives of its members and patrons. By providing educational opportunities in acting, dance, voice and technical theatre, SBSC promotes theatre arts and community involvement through the challenge of creating theatrical productions.

 

The company does 4 productions a year for different age levels.  This year they did "Til Beth Due Us Part" an adult comedy, "Tut Tut", a children's musical, "Foot Loose", a family musical, and this fall they will perform "The Wedding Singer", a team musical.

 

A problem for the San Benito Stage Company is finding a suitable venue for their productions. Anne told us about the need for a performing arts center in the county.  For now they are using the Veteran's Memorial, and school gymnasiums.  The Grenada theater is no longer available for rent to the company.

 

Sponsorships are available for individuals and businesses. Individual sponsorships range from $40 to $300, and business sponsorships range from $250 to $5000. Visit sanbenitostage.org to become a member or sponsor.  

 

Anne took questions from the members. Asked about the annual budget, Anne reported that their budget is $80,000 and each production costs about $20,000. 

 

She ended by thanking everyone for their interest in the San Benito Stage Company and asked for our financial support by considering individual and/or business sponsorships.