Last Week's Meeting
Rotarians know Stambaugh Auditorium as the home of our Groundhog Craft Beerfest. Jamie Marshall, chief strategy officer at Stambaugh Auditorium, added to our understanding by discussing the management agreement between Stambaugh, DeYor Performing Arts Center, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Opera Western Reserve and the Youngstown Playhouse.
The partners are benefitting from shared services, which include educational programs, organizational development and a central box office. The latter also benefits consumers, who may purchase tickets to multiple shows in a single transaction, Marshall said.
YSO has three more concerts this season and has been “blessed” with wonderful guest conductors since the unexpected death of director Randall Craig Fleishcer, Marshall said. As for the next director, the symphony’s board of directors is weighing candidates and options, she noted.
The Youngstown Playhouse will expand its programming with theater classes this spring, Marshall said. Session age groups range from toddlers to adults. See https://experienceyourarts.org for more information.
The Playhouse also offers a Flex Pass package, which can be used to secure four seats at one show, or one seat at four shows. Flex Pass and symphony season subscribers get special pricing for tickets to the local production of the Broadway musical “Rent” from April 27 to 30 at DeYor, Marshall said.
When asked, Marshall affirmed that the management agreement or central box office can be available to other arts organizations. Stambaugh management’s biggest motivation is to “share services so we don’t see an organization fail,” she said.
Marshall graduated in 2009 from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She was first hired at Stambaugh as a graphic artist. She, her son and daughter live in Big Beaver Borough, her hometown in western Pennsylvania. Fun fact: She is now the mayor of Big Beaver!
Also, Beerfest co-chair Kevin Chiu thanked Rotarians for their roles in another very successful fundraiser on Feb. 4. Final figures will be shared in the coming weeks.
Barbara Brothers and Trina Williams gave their Vocational Service Month Member Exchange presentation, which had to be postponed in January. Theirs was a touching presentation by two friends.
“We met over peach cobbler,” Trina recalled. Barbara said Trina was just launching her catering business when they met at Oak Hill Collaborative. Barbara asked Trina to cater the high school class reunion she was hosting at her house. Then, during Fall 2020, apartment residents at Park Vista were looking for someone to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for them. Barbara turned again to Trina, who would have done so at cost if Barbara hadn’t talked her out of it. That was when Barbara asked Trina to join Rotary “for her generous support of the community that she demonstrated,” Barbara said.
The two have discovered many similarities in their lives, including their families’ history of living in the Oak Hill Avenue-Marshall Street area; and Barbara’s previous employment at South High School, from which Trina graduated. “She mentors me. I look up to her,” Trina said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without a lot of you.”
Trina’s food truck, which she bought with support from a crowdraising campaign, should be operational by March 16, she said.
