Just in Showcase - June 2021

Just in Showcase

June 2021

YEAR END CELEBRATION

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

President's Message

Barbara Damerel

What a year! 2020-2021 will garner a special section in PSHA’s memoir! I am sure everyone will agree the past year has been trying, exhausting, arduous, draining, problematic, unruly, and the adjectives are unending. But we are weathering the storm and just like a rosebud, PSHA will bloom again on June 19 and continue to blossom into the 2021-2022 year. We will be able to gather and socialize which will be more meaningful to us all.

There are not enough accolades for the Board this year, but I will try.

Eileen Reilly was stellar in her duties as First VP, Policies and Procedures. She not only is mindful of the importance of a comma in the right place, but the meaning is clear for all. In addition, she oversees all the contracts for the organization which is very cost effective for PSHA but also provides consistency where contracts overlap. Thank you, Eileen!

It was a very trying year for Benefit Chair Susie Aguirre due to all the changes in our benefit. From the 2020 House extending into October to planning a virtual tour only Showcase House for 2021, all her plans seem to disappear. But her June Bloom Team is ending the year on a high note. Thank you Susie!

Suzanne Hart, while no stranger to Third VP, Finance, and not having been in the position for a few years, navigated through the accounting jumble (with the help of Undine Schwarz - Finance Review). This was the first time in our history that we had two years overlap with Benefit. Suzanne has been part of the June Bloom Team keeping the project balanced and moving forward. Thank you, Suzanne!

Marybeth Rehman-Dittu, as Fourth VP, Gifts & Grants, was the guiding force of Showcase Strong and June Bloom. Her goal for those events was that they would be successful to ensure the fiscal health of our organization. And for Gifts & Grants her goal was to establish a strong presence and to inform the public of our good works. Thank you, Marybeth!

Lydia Rubin, as Membership Chair, faced a difficult challenge this past year as she and her committee had to keep the membership engaged when we could not meet in person. She had to work with changing Covid issues and was able to introduce many new interests for our members. Thank you, Lydia!

In drafting the minutes, Matt McIntyre, as Secretary, also had a challenging job with most meetings held via Zoom where conversations are more free spirited. The October General Meeting was especially hard because his computer overheated in the sun! In addition, he chaired the Organizational Advancement Committee with meetings from January through May. Thank you, Matt!

Vikki Sung seemed to have a variety of hats this year. Her official one was as Advisor/Parliamentarian, but she also was ex officio President with the 2020 House which closed in September, head of UV:56 the virtual experience of the 2020 House, as well as Publications Assistant doing JIS. Thank you, Vikki!

Jan Wiles, as Benefit Chair-Elect, unfortunately lost her husband in July, but soldiered on with looking for a Showcase House and reading a mountain of reports. Thank you, Jan!

Lynne Graves, as Hospitality, was a busy gal helping with Showcase Strong and June Bloom and organizing hospitality for a few in-person meetings and Zoom get-togethers like Mixology. She will also plan the end-of-year celebration on Wednesday June 23 at the Shakespeare Club. Thank you, Lynne!

Sally Hazen, as PSH Instrumental Competition Chair, worked on the Music Task Force team, to revamp the Instrumental Competition to the high school level in order for PSHA to help area musicians with their future. Thank you, Sally!

Lani Moore, as Music Mobile™ Chair, was unable to have the program this year as schools were closed; but she is working with Pasadena Conservatory of Music to continue when schools can reopen in 2022-2023. Thank you, Lani!

Barbara Lake was limited this year as Youth Concert Chair, as the LA Phil was not performing in person. Sadly, we could not have our annual Youth Concert. However, the Phil introduced a virtual Youth Concert that we and the Green Foundation joined, in partnership with others, as sponsors. Thank you, Barbara!

Chini Johnson-Taylor as Provisional Chair was really in a tough situation due to Covid. There was not a Provisional Class for the very first time, but she worked with the Membership team this year. Thank you, Chini!

Garrett Collins stepped up to assume Public Relations/Marketing and went full speed ahead to innovative new ideas for PSHA. In addition to steering PR/Marketing, he found time to create a style guide for the organization for continuity of communication. He and his committee are behind the interactive Facebook and Instagram spots. Thank you, Garrett!

Cathy Hilton is the stalwart star of Publications. Cathy has expanded the duties to cover interaction with BHI, our website provider, as well as the information on our own website; pasadenashowcase.org. Cathy is so calm and organized and always seems to be able to assist with the website and Zoom instructions. Thank you, Cathy!

Irma Miller as Season Tickets Chair was in a tough situation as there were no performances, and thus, no tickets. Even though she could not do Season Tickets, she still participated fully in the Board meetings throughout the year. Thank you, Irma!

Jenny Chiang, our cheerful Treasurer, assumed the most difficult year ever with two years running side by side and having to homeschool children due to Covid. Thankfully she had Kathryn Hofgaarden as her assistant and was able to address the accounting issues quickly. Thank you, Jenny!

A special thanks to the Honorary Members:

Archivist/Historian, Debra Qurtman who has been to the storage unit too many times to count.

Associate Representatives, Kathryn Hofgaarden and Gretchen McNally Rhoades, who sponsored the the luncheon for the Associates at the Shakespeare Club that was very well-attended and at which everyone had a wonderful time.

Undine Schwarz, as Finance Review, assisted Suzanne and Jenny during this very unusual fiscal year.

A very special thank-you to the Crescendo for Music and the Arts led by Fran Biles, which gave $370,000 to Gifts & Grants for the 2020-2021 PSHA year.

Kaytie Watkins, as Website Liaison, for the infinite time she dedicated to the website and all content for the website.

Thank you to all members for all of your contributions large or small and your continued faith in PSHA. Hopefully we will look back and only remember we conquered the upheaval of the pandemic.

Board of Directors

Barbara Damerel

President

Eileen Reilly

First Vice President

Susie Aguirre

Second Vice President

Benefit

Suzanne Hart

Third Vice President

Finance

Marybeth Rehman-Dittu

Fourth Vice President

Gifts & Grants

Lydia Rubin

Membership

Matt McIntyre

Secretary

Vikki Sung

Advisor / Parliamentarian

Jan Wiles

Benefit Chair-Elect

Lynne Graves

Hospitality

Sally Hazen

Instrumental Competition

Lani Moore

Music Mobile™

Barbara Lake

Youth Concert

Chini Johnson-Taylor

Provisional

Garrett Collins

Public Relations / Marketing

Cathy Hilton

Publications

Irma Miller

Season Tickets

Jenny Chiang

Treasurer

Honorary Members

Debra Qurtman

Archivist / Historian

Kathryn Hofgaarden

Gretchen McNally

Associate Representatives

Fran Biles

CRESCENDO for MUSIC and the ARTS

Katherine Watkins

Website Liaison

First Vice President

Eileen Reilly

First, I want to say what an honor it was to serve as 1^st Vice President this year and to say how lucky I was to have the following members who served our organization well this year as the Policies & Procedures Committee: Susie Aguirre (Benefit Chair), Lydia Rubin (Membership Chair), Barbara Damerel (President, ex-officio), Marilyn Anderson, Cathy Hilton, Merian Stewart (Elected Members) and Jan Wiles (Presidential Appointment). They faithfully attended the Zoom meetings that were held and had reviewed in advance the Issue Papers submitted to the Committee, as well as some other matters that came to our attention. I am grateful for their hard work both before and during each meeting, the care and respect they demonstrated in listening to each other’s opinions during deliberations and their attention to detail, all of which are so important when dealing with the documents that govern our organization. This was especially demonstrated with regard to the issue of expanding PSHA’s music support area to Los Angeles County with special consideration given to the greater Pasadena area—an issue that took quite a lot of our time and effort and resulted in a membership survey so that you all had the chance to weigh in on this important aspect of PSHA’s mission going forward.

Second, I want to say while I am looking forward to seeing you all in person at the Year End Celebration meeting, it is still a meeting and therefore, there will be a few minor, almost “housekeeping”, issues to attend to that day…apparently, a 1^st Vice President’s job is never done (insert a sigh)…but, I promise to be brief so we can get to the fun part—the Celebration!

And, finally, I wish my successor, Christine Upton, and her committee members the very best for 2021-22!

Benefit Chair

Susie Aguirre

With Memorial Day just behind us, I hope we all had time to reflect upon the bravery of our fallen soldiers and the ultimate sacrifice they made for our freedom.` Thank you to our heroes. One thing I’ve learned is there are silver linings after the storms, if you look hard enough, and for PSHA the silver lining is our resilience and commitment to move towards and in sync with our mission. Music heals the human soul.

As such, we are nearing the time to celebrate a fresh start at our new June Bloom: A Progressive Garden Party set for Saturday, June 19. This important fundraising event for Showcase also offers a time to celebrate YOU, our members, and the whole Pasadena Showcase organization for enduring the tough past year and springing back into life! I am happy to announce that this will be a sold-out event so we encourage you to purchase your tickets now, if you haven’t yet!

In addition to outstanding ticket sales, donations and sponsorship participation are well ahead of projections which is such a positive outcome for us. Thank you if you have already bought your ticket and/or donated. There is still time if you would like to participate.

Please consider attending and inviting a friend to admire three beautiful estates enjoy docent-led garden tours as well as enjoying a floral demonstration conducted by Drew Domenghini. There will be live music to delight at every home garden. Roe Fusion of Sierra Madre will provide refreshing beverages and tasty morsels for purchase. We are thrilled to welcome back the following Shops vendors:

Designer Sterling
JP Designs
The Treasured Accessory
Jacqueline B Clothing
Laurie Jo Designs
M & C Collective
Pacific Solar
Veronica’s Garden
Lavender Blue
SusieO’s
Green & Bisque Clayhouse

See you at our highly anticipated Garden Party on June 19!

Gifts & Grants

Marybeth Rehman-Dittu

On a glorious day in May it was my great pleasure to join my fellow Gifts & Grants committee members to participate in our annual Gifts & Grants reception held at the Shakespeare Club. We distributed checks in the amount of $250,000 to 57 worthy non-profit organizations--woohoo!! It was truly uplifting to hear from our recipients the difference PSHA has made (and continues to make) within our communities. I hope you were able to join in via Zoom to share in the event!

Although, unfortunately our President Barbara Damerel could not be in attendance, our First VP, and seasoned pro, Eileen Reilly masterfully chaired the event.

A most sincere thanks to Vikki Sung for arriving early to set up with flowers in hand as well as setting up our Zoom recording. Also special thanks to the following members: Britta Piotrowski for flowers and our libations, the smiling faces of Cathy Hilton and Marsha Seyffert at check-in, Linda Shen our resident paparazzi, Barbara Lake for getting all our ducks in a row, and our next great G&G Chair Undine Schwarz for bartending.

Also in attendance were Mary Jarrett and PSHA's first Gifts & Grants Chair Fran Biles.

Many thanks to those committee members who were unable to attend: Jenny Chiang, Yolanda Hamilton, Judy Tsai, Jan Wiles, Alice Lacara, and Barbara Lyle. A special shout-out to member Christine Upton for her support from deep in the heart of Texas!

Thank you all for letting me serve as Chair!!

Membership

Lydia Rubin

Thank you to those members who have paid their dues. For those who may have not received their dues card in the mail, or perhaps it got buried in a pile, please let me know and I will send you another one. Dues are payable on or before the June General Meeting on June 23, 2021. Request for a change in membership status requires notification by June 1. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to discuss your membership options, please feel free to contact me anytime. Please show your continued support by paying your dues on time!

If you haven’t already done so and would like to pay your dues by check, please indicate any roster and membership status changes on the notice and return it with your payment in the envelope that was provided to you.

Should you prefer to use your credit card, login to the Member Account page of our website. Scroll down to Products where you can pay for dues and season tickets. Then scroll down further on the menu to Update Contact Information to enter any changes for the roster and membership status.

With the cancelation of schools, the closure of our Showcase House and the restrictions on in-person meetings, Membership service and staffing requirements were impossible to fulfill. As a result, the Board officially waived all music, meeting, pre-staffing and staffing requirements for 2020-2021. I look forward to seeing everyone in person on June 19 at June Bloom and at the Shakespeare Club on June 23 for our Year End General Meeting at the Shakespeare Club.

In addition, the Board also approved an extension for the deadline of Provisional applications to December 31, 2021. If you know anyone who is interested in becoming a member or would like information about the programs we support, please have them contact me at 213.220.1568.

Though it has been a difficult year to navigate, the Membership team was committed to finding ways to keep everyone engaged and connected during quarantine. Although Zoom was not ideal for everyone, we hope that most of you found something entertaining in our entertainment lineup, i.e. our Halloween Stroll at Descanso, Holiday Concert with Greg Parker, Baking with Lani, John Moran Auctioneer presentation, Behavioral Finances, walking at Lacy Park, and Website Seminar with Cathy Hilton. I would like to thank the Membership team this year: Chini Johnson Taylor, Barbara Damerel, Yolanda Hamilton, Colleen Robertson, Ying Ying Lin, Lani Moore, Debra Qurtman, Susan Bermingham, Michelle Lembo, Nancy Maclean, and Linda Polwrek.

June Lacy Park Strollers (left to right):

Lynne Graves, Cathy Hilton, Helen Gipson, Pam Ragus, Sammy, Holly Shearer, Debra Qurtman, Lani Moore, Bowie, Vikki Sung, Twinkie, Irene Wan, Dotty Ewing, Lydia Rubin

Change your contact information?

Please notify Lydia Rubin at

perazarubin@yahoo.com

or you'll miss out on all the good stuff!

Advisor / Parliamentarian

Vikki Sung

Be sure to attend the Year End General Meeting on June 23 to congratulate the recipients of this year's Volunteer of the Year and Distinguished Service awards.

Ultimate Viewpoints:56

Ultimate Viewpoints:56 is officially closed. Benefit Chair Jill Fosselman and I, as 2019-2020 President, pivoted to a virtual presentation of the 56th Pasadena Showcase House of Design as a way to honor the commitment by our designers to stay and finish their renovations when the pandemic hit in early March. But the vast change from our usual physical tour did not jibe with our historic audience. Despite our efforts, ticket sales to UV:56 were less than stellar, but it was instrumental in giving our ticket holders a chance to enjoy the hard work of our designers and our organization and held back a deluge of refund requests. We were not without our supporters, however. One viewer wrote in our website Contact form:

"My daughter and I just finished the online Showcase Tour and LOVED it. We loved the designer comments, all the product information and floor designs."

Hospitality

Lynne Graves

The last General Meeting and Year End Celebration will be in person on Wednesday, June 23, starting at 4:00 pm at the Shakespeare Club. An email invitation has been sent to all members to enjoy this event.

We will be following the most current guidelines which the State of California will be updating on June 15. The meeting will be in the large ballroom with light supper on the Terrace. Unfortunately, Zoom will not be available for this meeting.

There is a plan for a group member picture between 5:00 and 6:00 pm. RSVPs are required. Any additional information will be sent, if necessary.

Public Relations

Garrett Collins

The PR Committee has been in full-swing promoting the upcoming June Bloom event. You can find featured articles in Pasadena Now, Arroyo magazine, in print in the Pasadena Outlook and the La Canada Outlook Valley Sun. Be sure to tune into ABC7 for a featured preview by our friend Adrienne Alpert, and an upcoming promo segment on KTLA5. Meanwhile, we are advertising online across Facebook & Instagram and seeing great engagement—tickets are almost sold out!

Interestingly, there are SEVEN former Showcase Houses on the market right now (1965, 1973, 1990, 2005, 2014, 2017, and 2020)! Pasadena Star-News has written a feature article about these past Showcase Houses, which ran in print and is viewable online here.

Associates

Kathryn Hofgaarden, Gretchen McNally

In light of this past year, we were so happy to finally be able to host an Associate Luncheon on May 19 at the Shakespeare Club. We had a great turnout (almost 40) and heard many positive comments about the ability to re-connect again. We are so grateful for our Associates and all of their contributions to the continued success of our organization.

JUNE BIRTHDAYS

6/3 Christine Upton

6/4 Susie Aguirre

6/6 Salpy Pontrelli

6/11 Jennith Knox

6/12 Dawn Bazler

6/12 Linda Massey

6/13 Michele Lembo

6/13 Ying Ying Lin

6/15 Susan Olsen

6/19 Nancy Cole

6/19 Kathleen Feely

6/20 Weta Mathies

6/21 May Miao

6/21 Barbara Voors

6/23 Diane Hatfield

6/25 Aquinas Fruge Lightfoote

6/29 Susan Barilich

6/30 Barbara Damerel

JULY BIRTHDAYS

7/2 Matthew McIntyre

7/4 Doris Christy

7/4 Jean Keatley

7/8 Susan Seitz

7/9 Ping Shih

7/12 Callie Hoffer

7/12 Donna Melone

7/15 Linda Polwrek

7/16 Sandra Renae Collier-Carter

7/16 Sharon Pelton

7/16 Martha Wetzel

7/17 Patricia Ellison

7/17 Janette Emamian

7/18 Georgia Coye

7/18 Mireya Asturias Jones

7/19 Erin Dundee

7/19 Muriel Newell

7/20 Holly Lake

7/20 Jan Tompkins

7/23 Nancy Kennedy

7/23 Rosanne Kusar

7/24 Marcia Kreditor

7/25 Wendy Crowley

7/26 Roxanne Hampton

7/26 Diane Manchee

7/27 Gerri Lee Frye

7/28 Gervel Sampson

Wishing You All a Very

Happy Birthday!

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Thank you for your time, effort, and dedication to PSHA