Welcome to the second edition of the Members News! 

I hope you enjoyed last month’s info.  Please be sure to let me know if you have anything you would like to include in this forum.  If you want to share a special upcoming event involving our members or something theater related that might be of interest to folks, please send me a note at [email protected].

On October 8, 2020 the Board met for its monthly meeting.  Here are some of the highlights from that meeting:

• Financial reports were presented as well as a budget analysis.  The Budget Analysis listed current bank balances as well as on going expenses.  We calculate that we have about 10 months of financial reserves to keep us going
• Productions – Producer/Director meeting being planned for January.  However, this may shift depending on our theater re-opening.  Discussion was held and the Board is considering postponing the opening of the theater until June/July time frame.  We will continue to monitor the COVID guidelines for a timeline for opening.  We are aware that other groups are doing limited performances and we will continue to watch these events to see how they handle the event and if there are any repercussions to the performances.
• Education – lots being planned here!  The committee is working on upcoming virtual classes, discussions and performances.  One upcoming project is Director’s Cut sessions (similar to “Inside the Actor’s Studio”) featuring many of our “stellar” directors The team has also planned several classes including Musical Theater Tips and Tricks for Auditions (led by Chad Mildenstein), Make Up Classes (led by Kaitelyn Dieguez) and a producer’s workshop (led by Kathy Mead).  Classes will have a cost of $10 and will be done by Zoom meetings and the Director’s Cut sessions will be on YouTube Channel -donations for these sessions will be gratefully accepted!  The committee is also looking into adding Cabarets to the entertainment.  Keep an eye out on Facebook for dates and times of these wonderful events!!  And in case you missed it, there was a dramatic reading of “The Importance of Being Earnest” on October 9, 2020.  You can still access this wonderful reading on the Port Tobacco Players YouTube page.
• Cultural Diversity, Belonging and Accountability Council – Shemika Berry presented a very enlightening talk about micro aggressions.  It made me much more aware of how small words can bring big hurt.
• Membership - still working to get the information form ready to send out to update the membership database.  We will get this out just as soon as we can.  Please watch for it and complete it so we can be sure our database is current before elections come up!
• Public Affairs – La Plata is not holding its Scarecrow competition this year (boo-hoo!)  but will be doing a Small Business Saturday event on November 28, 2020 from 10AM to 5PM.  A few businesses will do in person experiences.  PTP will be doing a virtual store for people to purchase tickets and items.  We will also accept donations this day.  More details to follow.
• Facilities – Patio paving is done and it’s GORGEOUS!  If you happen to go by the back of the theater and look – it will give you an idea of the beauty that is yet to be seen inside the theater.  Flooring and ceiling tiles have been purchased for the front of house, sound system is being installed, wall covering for theater area is done.  We are still planning a “sneak peek” of the changes.  We’ll let you know when that will happen. 

Board meetings are open to membership to observe.  Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 4, 2020 at 7PM.  If you would like to observe, please contact [email protected].  Chris will send you a link to the meeting.
On a sad note, the Players lost long time member Nancy Gasparovic on October 3, 2020.  She is greatly missed by her many friends in the PTP family.  Here is a lovely write up of her life.

Ticket prices for Musicals have been raised to $20 for Adults and $18 for Seniors, Students and Military.  This increase was made because of the rise in the cost of putting on musicals.  The royalties, script/orchestral rentals and general overhead has been going up a lot in the last few years and we need to increase the prices to patrons to help cover the costs.

The 301 Derby Dames are sponsoring a “Trunk or Treat” party at the Charles County Fairgrounds on October 24, 2020 from 6-9pm.  PTP will be sponsoring a “trunk”.  Admission is free and it’s a drive through event.  Please consider supporting the 301 Derby Dames and vote for the PTP trunk as the best!

If you are interested in running for the board, please send a brief note to [email protected].  The note should state who is being nominated and contain the signatures of 2 current regular members and the signature of the nominee.  Please watch for more details on the nomination and election process.

Looking for ways to support Port Tobacco Players during our closure (we can sure use it!)?  Here are some possibilities:

1) Regular donations can be made through our website.  Any amount is certainly welcome.  If you like, you can specify where your money goes.  Maybe you can help pay a month’s electric bill?  Telephone bill?  Put the money towards the sound system?  Your choice!

2) Purchase items from our Amazon Wish List (discussed last month). Go to ptplayers.com -> “Support” -> “Donate” -> and then scroll down to see the many ways you can support your theater!

3) With the Holiday Season coming up, your purchases through Smile.Amazon.com can result in a donation to PTP.  Click here to set PTP as your charity on Amazon, or: set up a Smile.Amazon account (if you don’t already have one!), log in, select your charity (Port Tobacco Players) and Amazon will send us a percentage of your purchase price.

4) PayPal has identified PTP as one designated for the PayPal Giving Fund.  That means that 100% of any donation given through PayPal will go to us.  They will no longer deduct processing fees.

5) Brick Pavers – It’s never too late to get a brick with your name, memory, comment on it!  Click here for information on how to purchase one!

6) Purchase PTP apparel!  We have hats, scarves, shirts, sweatshirts – all embroidered with the PTP Logo!  Great Christmas presents!  Click here to shop.

Help me keep you informed.  Let me know what’s happening and what you want to hear about.  I will do my best to research your ideas and get you information.

– Carol Charnock, Membership Chair

Written by Ladd Gasparovic

It's with great sadness we announce that our loving, energetic, larger-than- life mother, Nancy Hardin Gasparovic, passed away yesterday in Fredericksburg, VA.

My sister Shannon Gasparovic Christianson and I couldn't have asked for a better mom to raise us and show us what it looked like to succeed in faith, family and in life.

Our children- her grandchildren - couldn't have asked for a "Gigi" to love them more or have more fun with them. Nancy- our mom- was one of a kind. She was the eternal optimist. An always positive force in life that always made things more fun and more interesting! She loved fiercely and deeply - not just our family - but her VAST "extended family" of friends (many of whom we've never even met) that was always and still growing. She never met a stranger! She always made things more fun. She had incredible energy and she could still keep up with the best of them even into her 70's!

She grew up in Beech Creek KY in a house that didn't have indoor plumbing. She won beauty pageants and scholarships to attend college (a first in her family), and put herself on a path to become an extremely successful woman in family, business, life, and in her faith. She put others first all the time. She changed not only her trajectory in life but the rest of her family and impacted and influenced so so many more.

The world is definitely a better place because Nancy Hardin Gasparovic lived in it while she did. She played life BIG while she was here, helping so many people and always giving back to the community and to others in need. She was always helping others. Always.

She taught us and SHOWED us that we could do anything... ANYTHING. And she believed we could. And we believed it because we watched her live life fearlessly and accomplish so many things not just for her or our family, but for others and the community.

I'll miss my mom in so many ways. I owe so much gratitude of who I am and what I have to her influence and passion for life. She was our choir director. She was our music teacher in school. She was so much to so many. She cut a wide path and a deep path.

Most important of all, she's always been a believer- a true Christian. She loved the Lord, and we know she's in heaven wrapped in His arms. She wasn't scared to die. I won't say that she was ready to go, because she loved life so much and I know she would've wanted to hang around longer to watch her grandkids grow older and graduate college and to have more fun in this world. But I can tell you from the conversations we had this year about the ** 2020/pandemic/murder hornets/"is the world possibly ending?"** environment we've been in, she and I had conversations specifically about dying. She told me that if the Lord was really coming in 2020, that she was ready to go! She wasn't scared to die because her faith was strong and she knew who she belonged to. I have faith because she did first and we're continuing to create the generational faith in our family that she helped grow and strengthen. That's a true legacy.

What's the hardest part of losing her now? Those who know her know this... she loved PEOPLE and PARTIES! Her service would've never been a small, stuffy funeral, but a massive Celebration of Life!... A party to celebrate a life that was very well lived. Obviously with COVID and health and safety precautions we won't be able to give her that huge celebration at this time. But it will happen, we promise, when it's safe and possible. And it'll be exactly what she would have wanted: Her friends and family and those who love her, being together, having fun, sharing laughs and memories, making new memories, and sharing the love and joy that life offers us when we share it together.

It sounds cliché, but tell your family and friends you love them. I would give anything to hang out with my mom one more time. But I do know that the last time I spoke to her I ended the call telling her I love her. We always did that. And I know she knew she was loved by me, Shannon and our families, and all of you. And I know she knew she was loved by and belonged to the Lord.
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Mom, Rest In Peace. We wish you were here longer with us, but we'll go on without you in this world in the way you'd want us to, and we'll continue to live life and create memories and adventures and help others and continue to honor you, our faith and your legacy in all we do.