Sharing “center stage,” (L-R) PCHS Music/Theatre Director Natalie Hulstrom and Putnam County Community School District Superintendent Dr. Clayton Theisinger gratefully receive the donation of Putnam County Educational Foundation Board Chair and PC Rotarian Reed Wilson and Putnam County Rotary President Adriane Shore. The combined donation of $6,000 will help fund renovation of the High School auditorium’s stage lighting system.
Putnam County’s 2023-23 Grant Project includes stage lighting upgrades and Club support of performing arts events throughout the year at Putnam County High School.  The lighting project includes replacement of an outdated lighting system, installed some 30 years ago, for which replacement bulbs and fixtures are no longer available. The work will include a safety overhaul of the scaffold rigging to which lighting is affixed. Those benefiting from the lighting upgrades will include theatre, chorus, band and student presentations, all considered by Rotary and PCEF to be an important and integral part of our schools’ education program.
 
The 408-seat Auditorium is center stage, literally and figuratively, in Putnam County where it is the only such venue for the county’s 6000 residents, nearly 800 students, and a multitude of plays, musicals and performances throughout the year and during the summer months as well.
 
The donation toward the project began with a $1,500.00 Rotary District Grant, matched by PC Rotary Club fundraising, the total of which was then again matched by PCEF’s generous donation, bringing the total to the $6,000.00 presented on March 8.  The total project cost is estimated to be $131,000, after applying a state grant, and should be completed some time this spring.
 
With the help of this District Grant, we can help keep the spotlights shining on this important part of our students’ education and our community’s support for the performing arts.