Organizers from the Rotary Club of Powell River’s festival of performing arts are seeking the public’s help to clear space in the group’s storage locker.
It was full of trophies, but most of them now reside in Jan Gisborne’s basement and spare bedroom. She is a member of the Rotary Club’s organizing committee for Powell River Festival of Performing Arts as well as this year’s provincial festival.
For the past 70 years awarding trophies was an intricate part of the annual performing arts festival. This year, though, event organizers decided to switch the festival’s focus from awards to education. It was a move in a small part to put the festival’s budget to better use. Instead of spending the several thousands of dollars on purchasing medals and paying for trophies to be engraved, the festival paid for master classes.
Gisborne is leading the effort to find homes for many of the trophies. She estimates there were at one time about 110 trophies that were presented for various disciplines during the festival. A great number of those were donated from various families over the years as memorial trophies for loved ones or from groups.
Some have gone back to family members since the committee decided they would no longer be awarded, a few have been damaged over the years and irreparable and then some have simply been lost.
Some of the trophies the organizers plan to keep, particularly if they are old and have withstood the rigours of time.
“It’s mostly if they look cool, are they in good shape and if they have a lot of history,” said Gisborne adding that they would like to keep at least one trophy from each discipline “as something to represent the history of the festival.”
She added that they are taking photos of all the trophies which will be included on the festival’s website.
Gisborne is asking readers to contact her if they are aware of a trophy that was donated by a family member which they would like returned to them or ideas about what they would like to have happen with the trophy. She can be reached at 604.485.2935.
Gisborne added that Rotary organizers are also still looking for about 200 volunteers to help run the BC performing arts festival in May. They are looking for volunteers to work three- to four-hour shifts to help prepare and close venues. Some volunteers will be required to move equipment, furniture and supplies, while others will be needed as greeters, ticket sellers and ushers. They also need drivers for adjudicators and board members who will make trips to the airport, ferries, sessions or the workshops. Venue directors and other in-house volunteers are also required.
Gisborne said they are also looking for people who have pianos in their homes to allow participants to practice on them and people to help out adjudicators as well as others to help out with concession sales. For more information, readers can contact Gerry Wray at 604.223.1079 or by email at [email protected].
