2019-2020 Annual Meeting

Dear Members of the Opera Guild,

In lieu of our annual meeting and always delightful luncheon, I am sending this letter to update all of you on the Guild’s events and our plans for the next fiscal year.

The status of our fundraising and educational events are as follows.

• Our spring fundraiser, An Evening at the Café Carlisle, originally scheduled for April 18, 2020, is postponed. A new date will be decided once health officials ease the Covid restrictions.  At this time, we do not anticipate this event to happen until the spring of 2021.  If we can schedule sooner and keep our guests safe, we will certainly do so.

• Our upcoming fall fundraiser, the 2020 BRAVO! Fashion Show originally scheduled for September 10th has been postponed as well. At this point we anticipate the event will be rescheduled for the following September 2021.  Again, if we are able to reschedule for an earlier date, we will do so.
• The Opera Marionettes presented thirteen educational performances in the fall of 2019 for P-K through 2nd grade. The thirteen spring 2020 performances were cancelled due to Covid.  Nora Stang hopes to give presentations in the fall of 2020 but is waiting on the recommendations of the CDC and the individual schools to determine their plans for the coming year.
• Children’s Traveling Opera gave 14 performances of The Barber of Seville to approximately 1,500 students in the fall. The spring performances were cancelled and Linda Rountree is waiting on the school’s guidelines for the fall as well.
• Unfortunately the High School Vocal Competition, with over 20 applicants, was cancelled due to Covid restrictions. Dr. David Sievers, chair of the HSVC, hopes that once the University of Dayton reopens in the fall, he can begin planning the 2021 Competition.
• The Tri-State College Vocal Competition was held, though in very different format. Ginger Minneman, chair of the TSCVC, along with the judges decided to move forward with the competition using the audio recordings submitted by the applicants.  Please take a moment and visit the Guild website by clicking here to listen to the winner’s recordings. Their voices are truly lovely.
• The Guild membership for 2019-20 was 175, and so far there are 132 renewals. If that is still on your to-do list, please send your renewals to Carol Erwine, or renew online by the end of the month to be included in the Red Book.
• Given the uncertainty of when the Covid restrictions will be eased, we will continue to conduct our monthly meetings via teleconference.

The recipient of the 2020 BRAVO! Award is Barbara Bostick.  Barbara has been the face of the BRAVO! Fashion Show for many years, chairing it twice and as an astute business woman, always keeping an eye on the bottom line.  She has been a loyal member of the Guild and we are fortunate to have her insight and can-do attitude on the Executive Committee.  Congratulations Barbara!

Congratulations also go to Lee Monnin. In recognition of her long standing and highly significant support of the Guild, she is the winner of the 2020 Friend of the Year Award.  Lee is a long-standing member of the Opera Guild and a frequent attendee at a variety of our events. Lee has toasted with guests at Gourmet on the Go parties and regularly has admired the latest fashions at BRAVO! She has enjoyed the Emeritus Picnic at Mike Houser’s to celebrate former members of the Board of Directors and is on the planning committee of the much anticipated An Evening at the Café Carlisle.

Now for some housekeeping.  After you have listened to the winners of the TSCVC on the Guild’s website, please click here enter the member’s only section.  There you will find last year’s annual meeting minutes, the treasurer’s report, the 2020-2021 budget, the slate of board candidates and a more detailed education report.  Please peruse these items and then cast your vote to approve the 2019 minutes, the slate of candidates, and the 2020-2021 budget.  You may also add a comment.  This is normally completed at the annual meeting, but given the Covid restrictions, this needs to be done online.  The deadline for voting is June 24, 2020.

As we all navigate these changing times, I thank you for being a member of the Opera Guild family and for your resilience.  Resilience is a strength and the capacity to absorb a sudden change, and that is what we are as individuals and as an organization.  Even though the Guild was able to hold only one fundraiser this fiscal year, we still met our $70,000 underwriting and series sponsor obligations to the DPAA, as well as $7,500 in support to Dayton Opera’s Artist-In-Residence program.  That is a testament to you and your continuing support of the Guild. The arts are important and we will continue to fulfill our mission. Thank you.

I wish you the best today and the brightest tomorrow.

Kindest regards,

Margarete Jennings
President, Opera Guild of Dayton

 

Breaking News

Dayton Opera Artistic Director Tom Bankston sent a personal note to the Opera Guild as he announced the plan for his retirement at the end of the 2020-21 season.  To read the full Press Release regarding Tom’s plans, please click here.

New Opportunity for Funds

Opera Guild has been approved for participation in Kroger Community Rewards. We also participate with the Dorothy Lane Market rewards and Amazon Smile. The instructions for signing up now are available by clicking here. It only takes a minute of your time if you are already a Kroger Plus Member and helps the Guild earn dollars for its many programs. And the Guild thanks you very much for your support.

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Met Live in HD Season

The Metropolitan Opera has announced its Live in HD productions for the 2019-2020 season. Local patrons can attend at Dayton South 16 (195 Mall Woods Drive) or at Hollywood Stadium 20 @ Fairfield Commons with IMAX (2651 Fairfield Commons Drive). The season opens with Turnandot on October 12 at 12:55 p.m. Click here to reach the MET website with the full schedule.

Lorrie Quinlivan

It is with great sadness that the Guild learned of the death of long time member Lorrie Quinlivan at the end of December. She served as president in 1972-4 and 1993-5. She was editor of Opera Notes for many years and was trained professionally as a writer.  She acted as editor of the publications for the Guild’s 25th and 50th anniversaries and of Dayton Opera’s 25th and 50th anniversaries.  She chaired many committees, served on many others and played a role in numerous of Guild activities including the BRAVO! Fashion Show, budgeting, marketing/communications and much more. The Guild extends sincere condolences to Lorrie’s family and friends.

Opera Notes Summer 2019

Val Beerbower of Downtown Dayton Partnership is editor and taking charge of this informative publication. The latest edition of our award-winning Opera Notes was mailed to members and friends. Click here to see the Summer 2019 edition.

Annual Meeting 2019

54th ANNUAL MEETING OF
THE OPERA GUILD OF DAYTON

The Annual Meeting and Brunch was held on Wednesday, June 12, at Dayton Country Club. After a social hour and gathering time, a wonderful brunch of salad, quiche, asparagus and a fudge nut ball were served. President Nancy Farkas called the official meeting to order at noon. The slate of officers and Board for the upcoming year was presented by Penny Wolff and was approved unanimously by the attendees.

The Guild’s Friend of the Year, Yolanda Newsome of Sinclair Community College, was announced. She has worked with the BRAVO! committee for years to plan the Guild’s annual Champagne Brunch and Fashion Show.

The Guild awarded two recipients for the BRAVO! Award. Judy Hudson and Linda Rountree announced that Children’s Traveling Opera volunteers Cindy Hoffsis and Pat Ferguson would be honored for their years of dedication to this outstanding educational program.

The meeting continued with Tom Bankston summarizing the outstanding year of Dayton Opera productions and expressed appreciation for all of the continuing Guild support. Dolores Anderson gave the Treasurer’s Report and noted that for the years 2000-2019, the Guild has contributed $2,189,397 to Dayton Opera. Dolores continued her presentation with a PowerPoint of the year in review. It was a year of extraordinary accomplishments.

 Boutique

The Guild Boutique is more exciting than ever this season with the addition of some wonderful new items and the return of our popular one-size popcorn tops, shawls, evening bags and fun fashion jewelry. Visit us in the Schuster Center lobby along Second Street beginning with opening night, one hour before opera performances and during intermissions.

We offer an assortment of opera glasses with the more poplar styles from last year, plus a few new ones. We also carry CDs and DVDs of the season’s operas that have been recommended by Dayton Opera’s Tom Bankston, as well as other opera CDs endorsed by the late Charles Wendelken-Wilson.