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Well, the balloons have settled back to earth and your Communications co-chairs are relaxing at the beach with our margaritas...
What a wonderful 10th anniversary celebration we all experienced on July 14th. "Up, Up, and Away" was a smashing success due to the work of those members willing to lend a hand. If you have not been involved in actually putting on an event like this, please know that it involves hours and hours of working, laughing, cajoling, worrying and sometimes even praying to make it all happen. Those who put in countless hours over the past year could not have been under more capable leadership than that provided by Kathleen Buoymaster, and there could not have been a more competent, supportive, cheerleader-gala chair than Elizabeth Bergan.
While there are many changes in store for next year, Elizabeth has graciously agreed to chair once more, and those of you who will be working with her are in for a real treat. Her enthusiasm is infectious and, if her energy holds out, we may even top this year's totals. Thanks to both of you wonderful ladies. It has been a pleasure working with you.
Cindy Goodman and Cynthia Larson-Daugherty
Communications Co-Chairs
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Dear Patrons of the Prado, Wow! What a Gala! For those of you who were not able to attend ~ we missed you very much. For those of you who were able to attend ~ what a magical evening!!! Elisabeth Bergan and her committee did an extraordinary job of transporting us "Up, Up, and Away." A fantasy ambience of beautiful colors and soaring illusions, delicious food, great music and extremely beautiful people provided the composition for "the magic." Our Honorary Chairman, Lois Roon, was a radiant picture of elegance as Tom Blair sang to her and as she spoke and shared with us her meaningful thoughts about Patrons of the Prado. Thank you, Lois, for your generous support and blessing on our efforts to raise funds for the beneficiaries this year. We were honored to have you as our Honorary Chairman. Many of our esteemed Grand Dames and past Honorary Chairmen were also in attendance at our Gala this year. How pleased we were to have June Ash, Jeanne Jones, Kathryn Haddox, Judy White, and Charlotte Nielsen, whom we have honored in past years, enjoying the evening with us. These are extraordinary women who have very generously supported our mission and have been leaders in our community for the greater good of the arts in San Diego. To all of our Grand Dames, Honorary Chairmen and generous underwriters, we applaud you and thank you for understanding the importance of a cultured society. Wow! What a fabulous collection of intelligent, talented, and motivated ladies that is Patrons of the Prado. It's truly amazing to review our membership and realize that it reads like a "who's who" in San Diego. It has, indeed, been my privilege and pleasure to have been your President for 2007-2008. My sincere thank you for this opportunity and for your confidence in me as your leader! As we all know, it is never a one man show and it was my good fortune to have an outstanding board of directors. Judy Burer and Dottie Stanley were a dynamic duo creating the special events for the Holiday Party, the Director's Reception, the South Coast Shopping Extravaganza, and yet to come, the Annual Meeting. Smashing successes, all of them!! June Ash, Secretary extraordinaire, was extremely diligent, timely and accurate with the board minutes. Thank you, June, for keeping our records and providing the documentation for our history. Bonnie Hage, our financial guru kept us balanced and "in check" with our monies ~ how we needed her expertise. As Coordinating Secretary, Charlotte Hogue was always "ahead of the game" with her kind notes and loving thoughts. She always knew who needed a thank you or word of encouragement. My admiration for Elisabeth Bergan is "off the charts." Her leadership as Gala Chair was awesome. Her kind and loving ways are infectious. Gala Chair is an "overwhelming" responsibility which she embraced with style and grace. How blessed we are to have a repeat performance next year!!! Under the capable leadership of Vangie Regan, we had an unprecedented underwriting success ~ the first for Patrons of the Prado. Thank you, Vangie, for breathing life into our fund development. Another first this year was provided by our outstanding membership committee, chaired by Linda Moore and Ellen Zinn. We have attained the maximum quota number of 50 actives with our new active member class for 2008-2009. These ladies will be introduced at our annual meeting. This is extremely exciting and a first to have a full (50) active membership!!! Ladies we have come of age!! Bravo, Linda and Ellen. Communication has never been better thanks to Cindy Goodman and Cindy Larson. The newsletter has been outstanding, creative, and beautifully presented. The website, also, has been an invaluable tool to spread the word. How important it is that the community knows who we are and what we do!! Also, great press coverage for the Gala. Balboa Park Liaison, Patti Cooprider provided an invaluable service to the President and the Board, arranging for all the board meeting places and, of course, the luncheon that we enjoyed at the meetings. First things first!!! Beautifully executed, always as well as delicious. Allocations Chair was effectively filled by Barbara Brown, and her duties were executed with perfection. The three beneficiaries chosen this year to receive our funds brought great applause from the institutions and our membership. Our Parliamentarian, Jeri Rovsek, had an enormous responsibility this year as our Bylaws Chair. She guided her committee to produce the revision of our Bylaws which has been sent to the active members for review and which will be voted on at the annual meeting. This was a tedious and detail-oriented job, which she performed with intelligence and good humor ~ which often was needed!! Last, but far from least, was the very important job of Roster Chair, which was performed by Chris Fontana, not only brilliantly, but also in a timely manner so that we could eagerly begin the saga of emails!! It was, indeed, truly wonderful to have the rosters finished, printed and in our "hot little hands" so efficiently. Kudos to you, Chris, for keeping our machine well oiled. My heartfelt thanks to all of you ladies on the 2007-2008 board of directors, who tirelessly gave of your time and talent to make this a banner year of growth with a lot of fun along the way. Wow! What a year. We have accomplished a lot this year as we have grown, staying focused on our mission and true to our desire to help fund our beneficiaries. Soon we will transition the leadership to the 2008-2009 board, who will bring new ideas and energy to the table ~ how exciting! And we will continue to grow and accomplish even more. This is as it should be. Congratulations to all of you for all you have done to bring about another great year for Patrons of the Prado. Ladies, we have done and are doing very good work for our community. It's hard to believe that this year is almost over. What a joy it has been for me "to step back in" so-to-speak and experience firsthand the intelligent and creative dynamics of Patrons of the Prado. An added bonus for me was renewing and revitalizing many friendships and making lovely new ones along the way. Thank you, once again, for giving me this splendid opportunity and I'm looking forward to seeing you on September 16th at the annual meeting where we will enjoy each other and celebrate the fruits of our labor. Kathleen Buoymaster |
The nominating committee of Patrons of the Prado has proposed the following slate officers for 2008-2009:
Dottie Stanley – President
Betty Brayshay – 1st Vice President
Elizabeth Bergan – 2nd Vice President
Miriam Summ – 3rd Vice President
Judy Burer – 4th Vice President
Jeri Rovsek – Corresponding Secretary
Chris Fontana – Recording Secretary
Anita Crider – Treasurer
Susan Hoekenga – Park Liaison
Barbara Brown – Parliamentarian
Cindy Larson – Director of Communications
Voting for the new slate will take place at the annual meeting on September 16th.
It's A Date:
September 16th, Anuual Meeting of
Patrons of the Prado
The invitations have been sent and hopefully you have already marked your calendar with a star!! You don't want to miss our annual meeting this year!! It promises to be an exciting and meaningful time as we vote on our revised Bylaws, celebrate our achievements, welcome our new members and install our new Board of Directors. We have changed our format this year from a cocktail party to a business meeting/luncheon for our members and look forward to "toasting each other" at the Prado. The only charge for this wonderful event is "the charge" to enjoy being together and feeling proud of what we have accomplished. So "call in" your luncheon order, pull up to the valet and have a great time.
Patrons of the Prado welcomes nine new active members and one new Patron member. The new members include:
Dee Ammon
Elaine Darwin
Linda Dealy
Vickie Eddy
Katherine Kennedy
Carol Ann Larson
Tiffany Mahoney
Madeline Pavel
Kimberly Sandler
Sally Oxley (Patron member)
Congratulations to Linda Moore and Ellen Zinn for their fine work on the Membership Committee. You will hear more about all our new members in future issues of the newsletter.
Click Here to view the "Up, Up, and Away" Gala 2008 Gallery.
The long range planning committee has been charged with the task of providing a recommended long range plan to be turned over to the board taking office this autumn. To that end a survey has been distributed to elicit suggestions as to how our organization should operate going forward. We know you have lots of thoughts on this and would like to prepare our report to incorporate your suggestions. However, we can only do this if you actually RETURN the survey. Better to strengthen an organization with the support of its members than to have to respond to concerns that aren't shared until after changes are made.
We are primarily focusing upon three areas: Building our fundraising capacity; finding ways to involve all our members in ways that are fun and valuable to them; and streamlining our record-keeping system. We are also looking at the possibility of adding beneficiaries in keeping with our mission and are particularly interested on your views on the advantages and disadvantages of considering such a change at this time.
Please return your surveys to long range planning chair Cindy Goodman no later than September 12th.
Our own Courtney Coyle is now the proud mother of Maximilian Hunter McDonald, born June 20, 2008 (8 lbs., 4 oz., 20 inches). He joins his sister, Alexandra, in keeping things hopping at the Coyle-McDonald home.
Did you know that Balboa Park houses more than 80 museums and arts organizations? Of those, close to 70 are located along the Prado. To learn more about all of these organizations, contact Balboa Park's House of Hospitality.
In summer of the 2008 gala, three advance parties were held for event patrons. The first, for couples, was held at the beautiful Rancho Santa Fe home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Powell. The second, our annual "men-only" smoker, was held at Mille Fleurs and hosted by Bertrand and Denise Hug. Guests at both venues pronounced the events a rousing success. Bertrand revealed at the smoker that he had started his career serving food on roller skates at a Georgetown restaurant! No doubt this presented quite a picture. Founding member Barbara McColl once again played hostess to a lovely seaside tea to thank gala supporters.