River Company members present a check for $800 to Healthy Kids at the Healthy Kids office in Damariscotta on Wednesday, Dec. 20. From left: Nick Azzaretti, director of River Company’s “A Christmas Carol”; River Company Treasurer Mitchell Wellman; River Company Board of Directors members Judy McQuillen and Andrea Handel; Healthy Kids Executive Director Leslie Livingston; and Healthy Kids Board of Directors member Alicia Hunter. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
Thespians raise money for Healthy Kids: River Company President Mallory Adams invited me to a noon event at the Healthy Kids office in Damariscotta on Wednesday, Dec. 20. The occasion was the presentation of an $800 check from the local theater company to Healthy Kids, whose mission is “to prevent child abuse and neglect in Lincoln County,” according to its website, healthykidsmaine.com.
River Company had partnered with Skidompha Library to present “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 9 as its annual fundraiser, with the proceeds going to Healthy Kids, Adams said.
The backstory: “On Dec. 9, River Company staged its eighth annual fundraiser with two performances of an adaptation of Orson Welles’ 1939 Christmas Eve radio broadcast of ‘A Christmas Carol,’” said Adams. “The show was directed by Nick Azzaretti (and) produced by Phyllis McQuaide, and River Company Treasurer Mitchell Wellman starred as Bob Cratchit and was the sound technician. Skidompha Library Director of Development and Communications Torie DeLisle assisted with production and promotions.”
Adams noted that other well-known local talents donated their time to the production: Joseph McGrann as Ebenezer Scrooge and John David Adams as the Narrator, as well as cast members Ben Meader, Kernan Cross, Mike Rowe, Judy McQuillen, Marie Stickney, John Jenkins, Laurie Brown, Beth Rowe, Savanna Allen, Liam Allen, and Eve Allen.
“The show was the final production of River Company’s 20th season and its first as the official resident theater company of Skidompha Library,” said Adams. “River Company has been performing in Skidompha Library’s Porter (Meeting) Hall since 2002 and recently partnered with Skidompha Library with the hopes of presenting more shows together beginning in 2018.”
Adams said past beneficiaries of River Company’s annual fundraiser include New Hope for Women, the Central Lincoln County YMCA, The Community Energy Fund of Lincoln County, Spectrum Generations’ Meals on Wheels, the ElderCare Network of Lincoln County, the Newcastle Ecumenical Food Pantry, and a Big Brothers Big Sisters employee who hiked the Appalachian Trail.
Kudos to River Company for its generosity to worthy local causes. And congratulations on becoming Skidompha Library’s official resident theater company!
Some quotes to ponder going into 2018:
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
“Celebrate what you want to see more of.” – writer Tom Peters
“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” – Oprah Winfrey
“One resolution I have made, and try to always keep is this: to rise above the little things.” – naturalist and writer John Burroughs
Happy New Year!
(Email me at clbreglia@lcnme.com or write me a letter in care of The Lincoln County News, P.O. Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543. I love to hear from readers.)
