Looking back; excited about the future

I have spent much of today writing a story about the history of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center. It will be published in a brochure we will present during our Ten Year Gala Celebration Dinner and Program on April 1 at Willow Bend Country Club. We have five seats remaining for this memorable event, which will precede our gala concert with Bernadette Peters and The Boston Pops Orchestra. About 300 seats remain for this momentous concert; I so hope you can join us!

As I began writing the story about the history of the Niswonger, I had a difficult time convincing myself it has actually been 10 years. I looked into my files and it seemed I had just started writing the tabs for each folder. I was taken back to the original announcement banquet held in the old VWHS gym, when Scott Niswonger announced he was donating $2 million to kick off the campaign. This was May 3, 2003. Little did any of us realize what we were in store for?

So many people, organizations, businesses, and foundations along the way deserve the credit for what we now have.  We call it the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio because we hoped to impact the entire northwest region of Ohio. Little did any of us realize we would someday be bringing people from literally all over the United States to see entertainment in our little city of Van Wert, Ohio.

This little idea which began in the minds of a few people nearly 14 years ago has grown into one of the gems of the Midwest, bringing performers from all over the world. I could share more, but I will save the entire story for the gala attendees on April 1.

What I will be so proud of is the number of people attending our gala concert who have helped shape our performing arts center. I have agents who have played valuable team roles in getting entertainment to our facility. We will have alumni and others who were so instrumental in dreaming, planning, and raising the funds for the project.

I realize our gala concert is a high priced ticket for some, but when you celebrate Ten Years of Wow! once, you want to do it in a big way. I never would have dreamed we could put a concert like this together. Thanks to (once again) Scott Niswonger, The Van Wert County Foundation, Central Insurance Company, and support from The Kenn-Feld Group, we have accomplished this huge event.

Our gala will be a dress-up event. We are encouraging tuxes, formal gowns, dresses, and suits as the accepted attire. It is not often we get all dressed up and experience a big city night out right here in Van Wert. We will do it once every 10 years. April 1 is the occasion.

Before we arrive at our gala on April 1, we look forward to some exciting shows happening right now.  This Sunday afternoon and evening, we move another big show into our house — Broadway’s 42nd Street.  It is a huge four-truck show with lots of glamour, glitter, dancing and music you will recognize and love.  We have two shows: one at 2 p.m. and the other at 7:30 p.m.  With the two shows, there are still some tickets remaining. Call (419.238.6722), go online or drop by the box office to get your tickets. You can even get tickets at the door one hour before the show.

We’re just getting heated up as we move through the winter and look forward to spring. Lots of other wonderful shows and concerts are coming as we move closer to our April 1 gala celebration!

FINÉ.