How many times have you said, as you were about to leave the house; "I wonder if I’ll see anyone I know tonight at the show?"

It’s a great possibility as you enter the Fine Arts Center facilities. One of our Community Ushers may be your neighbor, a fellow Rotary member, or someone you golf with. They’re folks who volunteer their time to meet and greet you and who become infused by the power of the arts and community.

About four years ago, the FAC saw an opportunity to engage the energy and good spirit of community members with what we do here. Community members as ushers are folks just like you - interested in connecting with their community and seeing a diversified roster of visual and performing arts events. Many welcome the opportunity to open themselves up to new experiences. They have the opportunity to work with their peers and students, many who for the first time may be about to experience live dance, jazz, or comedy!

Though several of our Community Ushers have retired or semi-retired from their jobs, they haven’t retired from life. Doris Holden, an usher for the past four years, volunteers her time at the Dakin Animal Shelter in Leverett as well as the FAC. Phil and Dora Clarkson, who became Community Ushers last year, serve on the Peer Mediation Conference Committee and the Education Committee of Historic Deerfield, respectively.

Their ties to their community are reflected in their other activities. Frieda Howards, a retired teacher and a resident of the Pioneer Valley for over 35 years, is a member of a legislative committee that lobbies for better health care. One of our new Community Ushers for the upcoming season, Ann Gibson, is part of a grant committee for the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. And let us not forget our Community Ushers’ commitments to their families, some of whom were, are, or are going to become UMass students and patrons of the arts.

The FAC’s Front of House staff also includes a dedicated group of community members who arise pretty early to volunteer their time. Started over two decades ago with the creation of Performances Plus!, our children’s series, this core of volunteers welcome young patrons into our halls for morning performances. Some of the members belong to University Women, an organization made up of faculty wives and faculty. With as much gleeful anticipation as our young patrons, these Community Ushers enjoy watching them enter and enjoying the presentation.

The FAC welcomes our newest Community Ushers for the 2001/2002 season - Richard, Susan, Kathleen, Anne, Annie, Garth, and Kathleen!

You may indeed see someone you know at a Fine Arts Center event, ready to hand you a program, show you to your seat, direct you to our concessions tables, or relate to you what happened at the last Rotary meeting that you missed last week. What has brought people of varying ages, races, beliefs, and talents to volunteer at the Fine Arts Center? The sentiment expressed the most is the feeling to "give back" to their community. To quote high school teacher Valerie Valentini, "to provide a service to an institution that gives us so much."