History 1987-90

The History of the Cultural Society as written by Virginia Hailey was not continued after 1986. When Jane Pacey started working as Administrative Coordinator in 1997, she decided to research back minutes and old programs and compile some sort of history from 1987 to the present. Since the Paceys moved here in 1982 and joined the Cultural Society immediately, she had seen several of the events as they happened—but not all. Those of you who were more actively involved during the years will need to help correct this history. Jane welcomes you to come in and add information at anytime. The Cultural Society also has multitudes of pictures that are not identified and are lacking some programs of the past. Any way you can help would be appreciated.
As the history has been published in the Area Arts in the recent years, it is added to the website. If you have a computer, please check out the history by decades as listed there. The address is www.centraliaarts.org. Those who participated will want to make sure the facts are accurate.
According to the minutes, the following events were a part of 1987.
The Little Theatre Players were planning to participate in a play festival competition with a play called, “A Night in the Ukraine” but had to cancel out. This competition was to take place in Alton. The basic requirements of the contest are that the play must be of one hour or less in length and setup and teardown of the set must be done in only 10 minutes. The cast included Sheree Jones, Keith Shaw, Cheryl Galassini, Charles Lackey, Heather Holland, Daron Bruce, Jon Logullo and Sarah Holland. We had a multitude of young theatre enthusiasts at that time like Kad Day who later directed one of my favorite shows “Pump Boys & Dinettes”, a country music revue, with Heather Holland, Cheryl Galassini, David Ritter, Bart Day, Lisa Rushing, Kenny Boeker and Kad Day.

Pinocchio - 1987

Chad Beguelin directed “Pinocchio” that same year who wrote the original adaptation of that play with original lyrics. Kad Day and Carol Day of Carlyle composed the music.
Scholarship recipients that year were Kim Condor, Craig Bland, and Ronnie Crume. Craig was performing in the Palace Music Hall of Six Flags and Daron Bruce sings in Miss Kitty’s Saloon at Six Flags. Keith Shaw was cast in all five of the Summer Musicals at Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan. What a great group of young performers!
Marilyn Gluck & Jay Stanley directed “Hooray for Hollywood” which also showcased some of the young talent available. Tickets were $4 and $3. Hollywood Brands was acknowledged for all their generous financial support they gave the Society. The chorus directors were Marge Kasten and Rose Marie Caldwell.
Bob Cover directed the popular musical “Carousel” which was performed at the High School with ticket sales of $7830. The Carousel that was built for the show was sold to Pyramid Players for $800. There were 135 people involved in the show either on stage, backstage, the orchestra, or the production staff and those people came from seven surrounding communities.
Jane Littrell was the administrator that year and Sharon Ingles was excited about starting her first year as President of the Board. An accountant was hired since Volunteer bookkeeping was no longer feasible. The Board of Directors had 34 members—with each group having 4 representatives and 13 members at large.
The Philharmonic Orchestra held a Winter Pops Concert which netted $1200. In August there was a joint concert with Rend Lake Symphony conducted by Bill Camphouse at Library Park. They also participated, of course, in the Candlelight Concert in December. A Young Artist Competition was also held that year.
The Choral Society presented “Christmas in Williamsburg”—a madrigal in December and a Sacred Music concert in October.
Conchitta Grabowski’s 4th grade play was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of the Black Forest.” This was her fourth play to be performed at the Cultural Society.
The Palette & Brush Club held their Fall Art Show . They also held a Spring Art Show They had an acrylic workshop and worked with the Centralia Correctional Center for an art exhibit. They had a exhibit at Home Federal. A drawing workshop was held in April. A photography exhibit was held in September. Virginia Rohrbacher conducted a series of classes.
A special event of the year was the Easter Parade of Crafts. Hollywood Brands donated $2500 to the Society. The Airport Fall Festival was held in September. Mike Loomis was thanked for being editor of the newsletter for 12 years.
The whole society was saddened that year by the death of a beloved director and performer, Jan Logullo. Jan directed “Fiddler on the Roof,” “My Fair Lady”, and “Annie.”
The volunteer group NOVA-CALA was dissolved that year also.
It was difficult year for the board as Jane Littrell resigned, as well as several board members. The Society had to borrow $9000 from the Puffer Trust to pay bills as no Illinois Arts Council grant was received that year.
A needs assessment and study was done in 1987 on the restoration of the Grand Theatre. A grant was received for $12,000 to do this study. It was determined to not be a feasible project.
1988- Barbara Cortelyou began as part-time Administrator. The dues for each organization was raised to $100. Tom Simmons, part-time janitor was paid $100 a month. The following events were held in 1988:
“Hello Dolly” was directed by Bob Cover and was a huge success. Kad Day directed “Pippin” which was also quite popular. The Orchestra held a summer “Music Under the Stars” concert with a decorated blanket contest. They also held a “Music ala Mode” concert in August and a concert in Benton and a String concert.
The Choral Society held a “Sing-along Messiah” concert on Palm Sunday, a Children’s Variety Show, a Fall Patriotic concert and the Madrigal in December.
The Palette & Brush Club held a watercolor workshop and a spring Art Show. Special events included St. Mary’s Play, “Cinderella” and the Holiday Craft Fair and Christmas Concert. A Business After Hours was held with 92 in attendance.
Major donations in 1988 were from Hollywood Brands ($3000) and an IAC grant was received for $7,830.
David Allen, Andrew Liefer, and Betty Hood received scholarships that year. Young Artist Winners were Kim Roberts, David Allen, Stephanie Hicks, Stacey Weatherspoon.
The Sentinel started printing the Area Arts Newsletter this year.
1989—The following events were held

Cast of "Arsenic & Old Lace"

Little Theatre Players held a Dance Workshop, did the play “Arsenic and Old Lace”-directed by Sherm Doolen, Children’s Workshop “Story Time Too” directed by Madge McCall & Jeanne Jones, Teenage Workshop, “Waitin’ to Shine”, directed by Mike Ross and produced the play“Man Who Came to Dinner,” directed by Bob Cover

Singing Mermaids

ORCHESTRA: The Winter Pops, “Sea Cruise”,took listeners on a tropical cruise where ship’s captain and orchestra conductor, Bill King, promised many interesting ports of call. The Singing Mermaids were special guests for the evening and Ken McCall lead the traditional audience sing-a-long. They also held another Young Artists Competition, Music Ala Mode Concert, and a Concert at KC featuring the Young Artists.
PALETTE & BRUSH: Workshop, Fall Art Show, Exhibit at K.C., Spring Art Show with High School Students
SPECIAL EVENTS: St. Patrick’s Day Dance, Holiday Craft Fair, 29th Christmas Concert.
Owlet Christmas Magic Show sponsored by ONB.
Barbara Cortelyou, along with the Centralia Foundation, BPW, Sunrise Rotary, and the City worked very hard on the Art Train. It took many volunteers and a lot of work to organize this project, but 3658 people were able to see the exhibits aboard the Michigan Art Train while it was downtown during the Come Home to Centralia celebration. The exhibit featured 150 years of Childhood Toys.
Cindy Stricker, Angela Thompson, and Sarah Holland were scholarship winners in 1989. There was also a break-in at the building which caused damage and the mortgage was refinanced for 12 years. Tom Simmon’s salary was raised to $150 per month.
In 1990, the Spring musical was “Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, directed by Mike Boyll who was currently living in Florida, but came to Centralia to direct this musical. Bob Cover directed “Love Rides the Rails” that year. Marilyn Brookman became president of the board in 1990.
The Palette & Brush club held their Fall & Spring art shows and sponsored a trip to the St. Louis Art Museum. They also held an Art Fair during the Balloon Fest, and held several Art Workshops. The Spring Art Show was held in conjunction with the performance of the Spring Musical.
The Orchestra had the Illinois State Brass Quintet perform at Winter Pops. David Allen was a member of that group. They also held their annual Ala Mode concert, did a concert at Balloon Fest, and sponsored the Young Competition. A portable stage was built by the Prison to use and the Cultural Society paid for half the cost.
The Choral Group had a concert of 18th & 19th Century Love songs a Sing-a-Long in August and October concert, did another Madrigal, and was sponsor of a Gospel Sing.
Special events of the year were the Barbershop Concert, Business After Hours, and the Candlelight Christmas Concert. An appreciation night for
volunteers was held that year.
Scholarship winners in 1990 were Charles Lackey and Emily Jourdan.