Callboard

Callboard - Volume XVIII • Issue 1 • Spring 2021 www.tanys.org Page 5 2020 TANYS Honors At our 2020 Virtual Festival it was our honor to present the Fredric Blumberg Distinguished Volunteer and Mary Eva Duthie Awards. The Blumberg Award is given to an individual under 65 who has provided significant service to community theatre for 15 years or more. Nominated by members of the Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop the award was presented to Mr. Jim Schmidt of Hurleyville, NY. In their nomination documents members of the Workshop noted "Jim's volunteerism has exceeded normal limits," and superlatives like "hardworking, determined, supportive, knowledgeable and steadfast in his duty and dedication to our theatre." It was obvious from the support of his peers, that Jim is highly deserving of this award and TANYS congratulates him! The Mary Eva Duthie Award is the highest honor TANYS can give and is not awarded every year. The award honors Mary Eva Duthie, the guiding force behind the founding of the New York State Community Theatre Association in 1946 (predecessor of TANYS). It is given to an individual or organization in the State who has made significant contributions to Community and/or Academic theatre. It was an honor to present this award to Cynthia Nagle! Cindy began her community theatre "life" in the Auburn and Albany theatre scenes. She then moved on to successfully take on and fulfill many volunteer and Board roles for TANYS including President, Festival Chair, and Treasurer. During her many years of service to the organization, anything and everything she has done has been with a focus on the growth and betterment of community and academic theatres statewide. As I said in my presentation address; "she has faced many challenging situations with one of the most upbeat personalities and "we can do it" attitudes I have ever seen!" The most recent challenge was spearheading, chairing, and leading our first virtual Festival to success - thereby keeping TANYS from cancelling our annual festivities in 2020. TANYS is proud to add the name of Cynthia Nagle to the Duthie Award roster. Congratulations Cindy! Cynthia Nagle Jim Schmidt