"Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul."
-Peggy Toney Horton
Here we are in September, a month of transformation, just as ACTF is poised for its own new chapter. For so many, September signals, a change coming. Gone are the long hot days of summer (almost) and now comes the expectations for fall. Kids are back in school for many families and life seems to accelerate towards the holidays.
For most of my career, September has meant new beginnings as well. Whether it was launching a new sports season in my arena career or a new performing arts season in the PAC years, September has been the starting line of a busy year ahead. After 10 years at my previous PAC, it does feel odd that I am not launching a new season of arts programming for the community this month, but those days will come...eventually. Although there is no new season to launch, there are still new beginnings to acknowledge in my life.
After trying on the guise of an apartment renter, Natalie and I took the leap and just purchased a new house near the current offices. This coincided with the sale of our former Tennessee property, making the close of one chapter and the start of an exciting new one for my involvement with ACTF. Five days piloting a 26' box truck during the cross country move took me back to memories of my touring sound engineer days, but not enough to want to spend my life doing it again.
Other beginnings of note are connected to ACTF. After a very dedicated and accomplished tenure as Board Chair, Steve Wiley has stepped down in order to focus more on his new role as the President of the Richland PFD. He will still be very much with-in arms reach and driving force as the PFD takes on development of the MPCAC. I look forward to continuing to work closely with him and the other PFD on the next phase of our project.
This, of course, means a new board chair will have to step in. This will allow us to re-evaluate that role and the best way to leverage the new person's talents toward the two major areas of focus for ACTF - namely ballot promotion and capital fundraising. More on our new leadership can be found elsewhere in the newsletter and I intend to provide additional commentary in this area in the future updates.
As we move into this season of transformation, I encourage all of you to stay engaged and help us turn this period of change into one of triumph for our project. All still requiring our best efforts pushing our goal to build the Mid-Columbia Performing Arts Center into the next phase of completion.
Blake