Submitted by John Hibberson
The last six months for the Midway Community Association (MCA) have been terrific. A highly successful “Christmas with the Grinch” celebration was followed in February with an equally successful Valentine’s Dinner and a Movie.
Around the same time the MCA decided to support John Hibberson, director of Midway Little Theatre, in his dream of creating a theatre space in the Midway Community Hall.
A new council, headed by Janice Lucas, and a number of new members to complement the old have added a lot of energy to our association.
Next up for us is the annual spring dance. Our “Spring into Summer” dance will be held on Saturday, June 7 at the Midway Community Hall. Starting at 8 p.m., it’s an adult dance with music by the excellent local band, Undercover. The night offers a great chance to get together with the locals for some good old rock ‘n’ roll! We’re working hard to arrange some designated drivers to encourage any interested folks from Greenwood to Rock Creek to join in the fun.
Information on this as well as tickets can be obtained by dropping in or phoning Catherine Kappes at The Spot (250- 449-2345). Prices are $10 in advance, or $12 at the door.
News on the theatre front is looking good. It seems a lot of people in our area are totally behind the project. Things got rolling early, in March, with a $1,000 grant from the regional district’s representative, Bill Baird. The Village of Midway allotting $5,000 for the needed electrical changes and a beautiful new curtain followed this. Then the Midway Partnership Fund awarded the MCA a grant to buy a lighting control system.
The Phoenix Foundation also shared a belief in the project by funding the necessary lighting fixtures to go along with the control system. Another nice surprise was obtaining generous donations from Vaagen Fibre Canada; our town doctor, Eddie Naude; and Jeannette Taylor (who kindly donated the entire profits from the recent arts and crafts bazaar). Their dollars allowed the association to purchase a small but wonderful sound system. Thank you all!
There is still much to do in order to create a theatre but the MCA is well on its way. Once the space is established an inaugural meeting to create a new theatre organization will be held. The hope is to attract members not only from Midway but from Greenwood to Westbridge to Bridesville.
A new name will reflect this philosophy: “MIDWAY...and Beyond LITTLE THEATRE.”
Many people are essential to produce successful plays.
The association needs people, both young and old, to make a decent go of it.