Talk About Clyde: Communities for the Arts' last concert is the same as the first: Toledo Symphony Christmas show
Communities for the Arts is bringing one last performance to the Clyde High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16, a Christmas concert by the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. After that, the organization will disband.
Admission is free, but a ticket is required for admission. Tickets are available at the office of the Clyde-Green Springs Board of Education Office, the Clyde Public Library and Hidden Pines Christmas Tree Farm on Limerick Road. Many tickets are still available.
Communities for the Arts began in 2006 after its first concert
Communities for the Arts was formed when the auditorium addition was added to Clyde High School. The first event was held in December 2005 with a first Toledo Symphony Christmas concert. They have chosen to end with the same entertainment as in their first show, a TSO Christmas concert.
The group formally organized in January 2006. With the help of local sponsors, the organization sought out affordable entertainment to perform in the new auditorium.
"Our events over the years have included many genres, from The Vogues, The Association to Aaron Tippin, Pam Tillis, Crystal Bowersox, to military bands, to ventriloquists, magicians, etc. ," said Nancy Greenslade, current group president. "It was always our intent to find quality entertainment to suit the diverse tastes of the communities we served. "
The CFTA board gave many hours of their time
Committee members stepped up to usher, man the box office and decorate the lobby for each performance. A member always went onstage to introduce the performance.
Depending on contract requirements, many times meals were provided to the performers.
If not meals, then whatever snacks and beverages they required, said Greenslade. Many of the acts required that workers were provided to help unload, set up, and load out after the performance.
Sponsor memberships were sold at different levels. Ticket sales were handled at the office of the Clyde-Green Springs Exempted Village Board of Education. CFTA worked hard to bring quality entertainment to Clyde, averaging six events per year since 2006. A free event was included in the last several years to make it easier for families to attend.
Those events included various types of family entertainment and were very well received, said Greenslade.
The decision to discontinue CFTA was a difficult one.
Attendance has declined since COVID
"We felt, however, that since attendance at events had decreased prior to COVID and had not come back to sustainable numbers since, we could not commit to booking events," she said.
"Much of our success was due to the faithful sponsors that we had over the years. Several of them have been with us since the first sponsor campaign. Unfortunately, we lost many due to the deaths of individuals and businesses closing. We are sincerely grateful and blessed to have such strong support as long as we did."
Nancy Hangar was the first CFTA president and continued in that office until she stepped down a couple of years ago. Greenslade has served as president since. Alan Binger has been treasurer since the inception of CFTA. Current officers are Nancy Greenslade, president; Ann Berenbaum, vice-president; Joan Gable, secretary; and Alan Binger, treasurer.
Jeanette Liebold Ricker writes about Clyde and Green Springs. Contact her at 419-547-8177 or by email at jlricker@ambt.net.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Talk About Clyde: Toledo Symphony to present free concert on Dec. 16
