Calendar November 2009

2 Formal Presentations at The Maxwell House

(8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

4 General Meeting at San Gabriel Country Club

(4 p.m.)

11 Benefit Meeting (9 a.m.)

17 Board Meeting (9 a.m.)

Executive Board President Delise Menik 1st VP Marti Farley 2nd VP Beverly Marksbury 3rd VP Cindy Steffen 4th VP Phyllis Wilburn Membership Donna Gotch Secretary Cheri Graham Advisor/Parliamentarian Joy Sullivan Standing Committee Treasurer Susie Caron Hospitality Liz Giordano PSHA Music Mobile Julianne Reynoso PSHA Youth Concert Eileen Reilly Provisionals Kathryn Hofgaarden Public Relations Jenine Baines Publications Danielle Takata Season Tickets Lisa Loeffler Non-Voting Board Members Archivist/Historian Gipsy Bergstrom Associate Rep. Mona Mapel Associate Rep. Suzanne Sposato Intermediate Rep. Kathy Feely Intermediate Rep. Jan McEachern Investment Fund Chair Karen Stracka PSHA Instrum. Comp. Susanne Abbott PSHA Instrum. Comp. Marti Farley Telephone Comm. Cheri Graham

Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts

November 2009

Just in….Showcase

President’s Message Delise Menik

Every autumn, we begin our new year for the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. And, this year, what a beginning it’s been! We’re off to a great start. Our first General Meeting was held in the Founders Room at Walt Disney Concert Hall (WDCH). Gretchen Nielson, the LAPA Director of Education spoke about all of the exciting events taking place at the Philharmonic. There is much enthusiasm and excitement taking place with the intro-

duction of the new Music Director, Gus-tavo Duchamel. After Gretchen, each of our Board members spoke, sharing how they spent their PSHA summer. In case you missed the meeting – or would like a recap – here’s a summary of what’s been going on behind the scenes as PSHA plans for the ensuing year. Our first Vice President, Marti Farley, has jumped right in to orchestrate an Ad Hoc committee to evaluate streamlining our Instrumental Competition. Meetings have been held with previous Instrumental Competition Chairs and with Selena Traylor, LAPA Manager of Young Musi-cians. In addition, Marti spoke at length with those in charge of the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition – gaining invaluable insight into the finer points of competition structure. She also made a point of asking David Garrett, a musician with the LAPA and previous head judge, for his professional feedback. Thank you, Marti, for your commitment to revitalizing a competition that has helped transform the lives of countless young musicians. Beverly Marksbury, our Benefit Chairman, and her core team have held Designer Walk Thru, Second Peek, 3rd Peek, and Informals and are now planning for the upcoming Formal Presentations. The de-signer turnout and enthusiasm has been terrific. This is attributed to the enthusi-asm inspired by Beverly and her core team of Diane deNoyelles, Joan Vienna, Andrell Panconi and Kate Sullivan. A big thank you to all as we begin our Showcase year.

Treasury team members Cindy Steffen and Susie Caron have been working tire-lessly behind the scenes. Cindy is now in full swing with our Auditors, tackling the paper trail from all of last year while Susie Caron is busy paying our bills and coordinating the Benefit budgets for the coming year. Cindy and Susie, thank you so much for your willingness to share your expertise. What would we do with-out you? Gifts and Grants Chairman, Phyllis Wilburn, has been inundated with grant requests. This is great news, of course, but it does mean that Phyllis has been extremely busy coordinating mailbox pick ups of completed applications. Phyllis, thank you for overseeing such a vital part of our organization. Donna Gotch, Membership Chairman, has been busy as well – making sure all membership requirements are being filled and answering membership ques-tions. Donna, thank you for being the conduit to our membership. Secretary/ Telephones, Cheri Graham, has been typing minutes, picking up mail at the P.O. Box and forwarding phone messages as they come in. Somehow, she’s also found time to send out sym-pathy cards and flowers when needed. Thank you, Cheri, for all that you do and for adding a lovely human touch to our correspondence.

Continued on page 2 —>

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Delise’s article (con’t)

Joy Sullivan, Advisor, makes it a weekly habit to check in and offer support and guidance as we begin our year. Thank you, Joy! We couldn’t have meetings without hospitality…and, already this year, Liz Giordano, Hospitality Chairman, has provided us with a catered lunch at WDCH, lined up speakers for many of our meetings and is now in the throngs of planning the festive Holiday Party which is being hosted at her home on December 4th. Thank you, Liz, for making our meetings even more fun! Music Mobile has begun its season with Julianne Reynoso at its helm. Our first Music Mobile was held at Norma Combs School on October 23rd and members Serena Ho and Kathryn Hofgaarden, who were on hand to help, report that, once again, the chil-dren were thrilled. Thank you, Julie for coordinating this valuable educational program for 3rd graders. It wouldn’t feel like fall if we didn’t have our 56th Annual Youth Concert, overseen by Eileen Reilly, Youth Concert Chairman. The Carnival of the Animals was beautifully performed and enjoyed by 4,100 4th graders at WDCH. All of the children’s energy was contagious! Eileen, thank you for all of your efforts. You produced a truly exceptional Youth Concert. The twenty eight Provisional ―Notes‖ were introduced at our first General Meeting by Kathryn Hofgaarden, Provisional Chair-man. To assist us in learning more about this talented group of women, a booklet picturing each of these women with a brief bio was given to members. Kathryn, thank you for taking the extra effort to help us get to know each of these women. What would we do without Jenine Baines at the helm of Public Relations? I hope you all got to see the article in this month’s Per-forming Arts magazine given out while attending the Philharmonic. It’s titled ―How Showcase Spent It’s Summer Vacation‖. We are so lucky to have a gifted writer as a member. Jenine, thank you! Publications’ job never ends! Danielle Takata handed out our rosters at the first General meeting and first Benefit meeting and has recently mailed first class rosters to all of those who had yet to receive theirs. In the meantime, she’s still updating the website with new text for this year’s Youth Concert and the Shops’ vendor application. Then, of course, there is the monthly newsletter. Dan-ielle, thank you for your endless hours of work. The Philharmonic season at WDCH has begun and Lisa Loeffler, Season Tickets, has solicited from you your preferences for con-cert selections. Thank you, Lisa, for the work you do to ensure that the rest of us can have a great night out, enjoying world-class music. The Associate and Intermediate representatives – Mona Mapel, Suzanne Sposato, Kathy Feely and Jan McEachern – have been busy planning an event for the Associates and Intermediates in the upcoming month. Those who attend will learn all about Vaux-le-Vicomte, the chateau that inspired the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House. Thank you, ladies, for engaging the Associates and In-termediates in such a creative way. Karen Stracka, Investment Fund Chairman, has set up a meeting with our Financial Advisor to make sure we are on track with the ever changing financial market. Thank you, Karen, for overseeing our precious funds! As you can see, life has been very busy for PSHA. With the holidays quickly approaching, I would like to wish all of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving. Each of you is a very special blessing. PSHA is lucky to have you. Delise

Provisional Chair Kathryn Hofgaarden

14 ―NOTES‖ attended our 56th Youth Concert and pitched in as though they have been part of the team for years. On behalf of PSHA, I want to thank them. 14 other ―NOTES‖ enthusiastically are signing up for Music Mobile. Sharing common goals and interests not only makes working together rewarding but, at the same time, getting to know each other enjoyable. Let’s continue to get to know and welcome each new member. This quote is still one of my favor-ites. “Yes'm, old friends is always best, 'less you can catch a new one that's fit to make an old one out of.” Sarah Orne Jewett

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Benefit Chair Beverly Marksbury

We signed the contract for the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design with the American Red Cross San Gabriel Valley Pomona Chapter on 9/9/09! Designer Walk Thru was held on September 22 and we had an overwhelming response by the designers. We had 38 designers submit proposals for 24 Interior design areas and eight designers for five Exterior design areas. It was a great success! Tim Greg-ory, Building Biographer, spoke at Second Peek and indicated that the estate was built in 1930 for the sum of $310, 000 which was

the most spent on home construction at that time and with the furnishings added, the cost was over $1 million! It is one of the few mansions left on Orange Grove which used to be called Millionaire’s Row. He said at one time there were 75 true millionaires living on Orange Grove but in the 50’s they were unable to pay the taxes and/or the upkeep so they sold them off as condominiums. This year’s Showcase will be more a restorative project. It is classic example of French architecture and is designed in the French Chateau style. The owner has hired Peyton Hall, a historical architect, to assist him in navigating the jour-ney known as Showcase. One of the designers is excited about ―going green‖ this year and others are thrilled with the prospect of restoring the many large rooms in the house. This estate is truly grand and in dire need of our help. Dana Marevich coordinated all the printing for Walk Thru. Danielle Takata and Barbara Washington did a great job coordinating their first event as well as Second Peek. Erin Dundee and Jan Tompkins also did a great job with House Ops. Jill Fosselman got the busses up and running! Thanks, ladies! I want to sincerely thank my Core Team, Kait Sullivan, Diana DeNoyelles, Joan Vienna, Andrell Panconi, Marti Farley and last but not least, Delise Menik for all their help in this very fun process! It has been a very rewarding experience. Joy Sullivan, Lisa Lipman, Gipsy Bergstrom. Dana Marevich, Janet Willcox, Jan McEachern did a great job checking in the designers. Mona Mapel, Jan McEachern and Joy Sullivan coordinated the Intermediates/Associates tour and had a lot of fun! We filed the application for the Conditional Use Permit with the City of Pasadena on September 24th and I could not have done it without the expert help of Gipsy Bergstrom. She assisted me in producing the plot plan required by the city. She had to locate @60+ trees on the property and specify their names along with taking all the measurements for the property as we have no architectural plans! She was a real trooper and has a great sense of humor which really helped. Informal Presentations took place on October 19th and 20th at the lovely home of Liz Giordano. Thank you so much, Liz! I hope to see you at Formal Presentations at the Maxwell House located at 55 South Grand Ave, Pasadena 91105 on November 2nd! Parking will be at the Elks Lodge at the corner of Orange Grove and Green Street.The designers will be formally announced at the November General meeting so don’t miss it!

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Public Relations Chair Jenine Baines

It’s time for me to make a confession: as chairman of the Public Relations committee, there is nothing that excites me more than getting my hands on a great photo… For instance, this photo – snapped by Provisional Diane Hedrick – depicts far more eloquently than any press release what an exciting and unique event the Pasadena Showcase House Youth Concert is. Pre-publicity for the Youth Concert included an article in the San Marino Tribune plus KCAL/CBS2 covered the event on the day of the concert. Blogger Pauline Adamek attended the concert as well and wrote a wonderful piece. You can read it at http://www.artsbeatla.com/2009/10/fourth-graders-storm-the-concert-hall-psha-youth-concert/ But, to be honest, the words I enjoyed reading the most were the comments I received from the children at the Frostig School for children facing such challenges as dyslexia, non-verbal learning disabilities and ADHD. Here are a few examples: ―Disney Hall is so amazing. It is beautiful and it’s so cool. The music is so awesome. What I loved the most was the swan. The swan is so beautiful. It is like a harp. And the Lion is so strong and deep.‖ Ariana ―I liked the inside and outside of Disney Hall. I liked the inside because it was all metal and designer shaped. I also liked the fossil because it really sounded like a fossil. It was totally awesome!‖ Conrad And my personal favorite because he covered all the bases…‖I thought the concert was great. I liked it because there were a lot of animals in it. After the concert we ate lunch. I thought my lunch was great. I thought it was great, a great day.‖ Nate I agree with Nate. The day WAS great. But there is no doubt in my mind that it would have been absolutely disastrous had it not been for the invaluable help of Lisa Lipman. Lisa took photos, shepherded professional photographer Carl Kalamon as necessary, and helped watch for and greet the KCAL/CBS2 news crew. In p.r., you often have to be in two places at one time…and, thanks to Lisa, I was able to do that!

Page 5 November 2009

Youth Concert Chair Eileen Reilly

To all of the PSHA members who volunteered to work at the 56th Annual Youth Concert held at Walt Disney Concert Hall on October 15th, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I hope all of you found the experience to be not only rewarding but fun. The concert this year was Saint-Saens’ ―Carnival of the Animals‖ conducted by David Afkham and featuring husband and wife pianists, Joanne Pearce Martin and Gavin Martin, and actress Marlene Martinez, all of whom did a terrific job. I thought the in-teraction between the children and the performers this year worked especially well—I didn’t realize how loud 2000 fourth grad-ers could be until they roared like a lion and started making ―cuckoo‖ noises! For those of you who like facts and figures, with help from the LA Phil staff, the outstanding women of Showcase greeted, or-ganized and ushered 4068 fourth graders and their teachers from 47 schools to concerts at 10 AM and 11:15 AM, with 25 min-utes in between. An amazing feat! I have already heard from a few of the schools thanking us for the opportunity to attend this concert, which one teacher described as a ―tremendous thrill‖. After the two concerts were over, to express our appreciation for all that they did to help us with another successful Pasadena Showcase House Youth Concert, 46 PSHA volunteers hosted guests from The Green Foundation and the Los Angeles Philhar-monic Association at a wonderful luncheon at Kendall’s Brasserie (and wasn’t that dessert delicious?). I think we all know what a special program the Youth Concert is—we offer an opportunity to so many children who may never again experience anything like a world class orchestra, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, playing beautiful, classical music (tailored to their age group) in a unique venue such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall. And, we make this all possible not only by participating on the day of the Youth Concert but by working so hard to make the Pasadena Showcase House of Design so suc-cessful. It was an honor and privilege to serve as this year’s Youth Concert Chair and to work with such a supportive group of women. My special thanks to Cynthia Legato and Kathryn Hofgaarden, who helped by planning and handling the luncheon, Jenine Baines and Lisa Lipman, who worked the PR angles and made it look easy, Jan McEachern, who mentored me in this en-deavor—I hope I do as well for my successor, and Delise Menik, who could not have been more responsive or supportive. Again, thank you all.

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Hospitality Chair Liz Giordano

A lot is happening as always in PSHA. We have our Gen-eral Meeting on November 4 at 4 P.M. at San Gabriel Country Club. Sara McLean of Dunn Edwards will be our speaker. For Board members, our next meeting is November 17. Please make note of the date. It is a Tues-day. The meeting will be at 9 A.M. at San Gabriel Coun-try Club. Boyd Hudson, a tax attorney, will be our speaker. Lastly, a save the date notice. Our PSHA Christ-mas party will be on December 4 at 6:30 P.M. Invitations to follow. We have an exciting menu catered by Kensing-ton Caterers. We will have 3 main course food stations plus dessert and coffee stations. Lobster ravioli, lamb tangine and roasted Chinese duck are part of the festive fair. Trifle shots, miniature apple tarts and dark chocolate petit fours are for dessert. We hope to make this a special start to your holiday celebrations.

Intermediates / Associates Suzanne Sposato, Mona Mapel, Kathy Feely & Jan McEachern

For our fall event we invite all the Intermediates and Associates to join us to renew old friend-ships, enjoy a glass of wine and learn some fasci-nating French history. We will have as our guest speaker, Dr. Eric T. Haskell Professor of French Studies and Humanities at Scripps College. Dr. Haskell received his PhD. in French Literature, studied Art History and Architecture at UCI and the Ecole de Louvre in Paris. He will speak on the fabulous chateau, Veux le Vicomte, which in-spired the creation of Versaille as well as this year's Showcase House! We hope to see all of our many Intermediates and Associates on November 12, 4:00 pm at the Valley Hunt Club. Please call Suzanne Sposato, Mona Mapel, Kathy Feely or Jan McEachern for details.

Season Tickets Chair Lisa Loeffler

The LA Phil season is in full swing! Many members took advantage of the seat selection preference win-dow, October 1st – 16th. The three Dudamel concerts filled up quickly. The remaining 2009/2010 concerts that still have seats available are listed below. Note, the concert scheduled for January 22, 2010, was removed from the schedule as the date conflicted with our Empty House Party. We are currently working with the LA Phil to find a replacement date. I will send an email as soon as the new concert is selected. PSHA members who are eligible for LA Phil tickets are: Actives, Business, and Provisional members (other than those who have their own season tickets) and Emeritus, Associates, or Intermediates who have paid for Season tickets through PSHA. To submit your request, please indicate your first and second choice of concerts and the number of tickets you would like. You may request up to 2 tickets. Email your request to me at seasontickets@pasadenashowcase.org . Upon receipt of your request, I will notify you if tickets are available and provide information regarding the ordering and pre-payment of beverages in the Foun-ders Room. I will also make arrangement for you to receive your tickets. Friday, Jan 15, 8:00pm Lorin Maazel, conductor, Nancy Gustafson, soprano

STRAUSS Rosenkavalier Suite; STRAUSS Salome’s Dance and Final Scene from Salome; SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2 Friday, Feb 19, 8:00pm Charles Dutoit, conductor, Nikolai Lugansky piano

GINASTERA Variaciones concertantes; RAVEL Concerto for the Left Hand; STRAVINSKY Petrushka Please feel free to contact me at seasontickets@pasadenashowcase.org if you have any questions.

Page 7 November 2009

In House Notes:

The main PSHA telephone number is 626-578-8500.

Keep up to date at www.PasadenaShowcase.org

Access the MEMBER Section by click-ing on the PSHA link on the top right of our website. If you don't have a login/password yet, please register by clicking on the ‘PSHA Register’

link also located on the top right of our website. Any questions please

contact Danielle Takata at takata@gmail.com

Newsletter submissions are due the

2nd Wednesday of each month. Send your articles to the Publications Chair at

takata@gmail.com

Secretary Cheri Graham

It is with great sadness that I let you know of the passing of our Honorary member, Richard Curtis. He passed away October 11, 2009. Condolence cards can be sent to his sister Helen Curtis at 69292 Tamala Avenue, Cathedral City, CA 92234-7904. No services have been planned as of now.

Gift Certificates Lynn Mehl

Member Gift Certificates make super holiday gifts and they are now available. Members may purchase up to 10 gift certificates at $25 per certificate at this time. Depending upon the initial response addi-tional gift certificates may be available. Tickets maybe purchased/picked up at the November meet-ing. If you have not already done so, you may order your tickets by contacting me at Lpmehl@aol.com or (626) 798-7727. Checks should be made out to PSHA and mailed to me at 809 La Vina Lane Alta-dena 91001 if you will not be attending the Novem-ber meeting. Just as a reminder these certificates may not be resold.

Staffing Chair Liz Giordano

It is time to start thinking about staffing. Throughout the month of November, I will be bringing a sign up sheet for pre/ post staffing to all meetings. Pre staffing will begin on Monday, January 25th and continue until April 15th. Shifts will be from 9- 1 and 1-5. Saturday staffings will begin on February 6th. Post staffing will go from May 17th until May 28th. As per our Standing Rules, Active and Provisional members are required to staff two pre/ post staffings and Business members are required to staff one pre/ post staff-ings.

November Birthdays!

2 Alisa Chanpong 3 Ardella Horsfall 3 Cindy Hawkins 4 Nancy Maclean 5 Diane Hedrick 6 Holly Cornet 8 Jean Ownbey 15 Jennifer Johnson 16 Bernadette Murray 18 Marilyn Allen 21 Pat Burns 22 Ruth Mayeda 22 Laney Techentin 23 Stephani Tyler 27 Brigett Guitron 28 Josephine Davis 28 Wendie Donahue 29 Carlye Cordner 29 Barbara Little 30 Betty Hutchison

Roster Updates Please take out your roster and make the following changes:

Actives: Liz Giordano’s Cell Phone Number: (626) 200-6962 Julie Reynoso’s Email Address: julie@madridcon.com Roster changes and corrections should be submitted to the Publications Chairman at takata@gmail.com

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