Burlington County Times

Thespians get their own stage

By Wayne Browne, BCT staff writer

CINNAMINSON - April 21, 2000 - The Burlington County Footlighters will finally have a place of their own to smell the grease paint and hear the roar of the crowd after 62 years of playing on the stages of temporary homes. Founded in 1938, the thespian organization reached agreement with the Cinniminson Board of Education in February to purchase the former schoolhouse, now called the Playhouse, on Pomona Road for $205,000. Settlement on the property is scheduled to take place May 9.

Starting with its founding location in 1938 at Palmyra High School, where it put on four plays, the Footlighters were based at Riverton High School (1940-62), the former Barn Arts Center in Delran (1962-73), the Main Street Moorestown Theatre (1973-77), the Moorestown Middle School (1977-84) and the Playhouse (1984 to present). "It's exciting that we can finally have a place that we can call home and that we own;" said Playhouse director Pamela C. Grimme. "We've spent over $100,000 in this building and it would have been a shame if our lease was ever cancelled.

The negotiations with the school district were long and challenging, but in the end it proved to he very fruitful." Grimme said the group is especially grateful to the officials at Farmers & Mechanics Bank who are making the mortgage loan. She said the bank had extended the period for the mortgage commitment based on the theater group's longevity, responsibility and income-producing ability as a local, nonprofit organization with an all-volunteer staff that's dedicated to providing quality community theater.

Of the nearly $75,000 that has been raised by the Footlighters during the past 15 years for its building fund, $10,000 of that amount was raised between December 1999 and January 2000, Grimme said. For the past 15 years, a portion of the price of admission to each theater performance had been set aside for the building fund. Artistic director Lynn Johnson said the $10,000 amount was raised through a special appeal that was made to the Footlighters 450 members in December.
Bill Muldowney, president of the Footlighters board of directors, said that a number of fund-raising campaigns are currèntly under way, including a campaign targeting corporate donors.

Grimme. said an Angels for Posterity Plaque and a personalized brick campaign represent two other fund-raising activities.
"Anyone donating $500 or more will have his or her name engraved on our Angels for Posterity Plaque that will be placed on a wall in the Grand Court of the Playhouse on Tuesday. Also, a $100 donation will purchase a personalized red brick that will form a Circle of Stars surrounding our proposed coming-attractions sign," said Grimme. "This will be integrated into the planned Ruth Iversen Memorial Garden. All other contributions will be acknowledged in a public and proper manner." As the former publicity chairperson for the Footlighters, Iverson was in charge of procuring and mounting signs for all productions.

Johnson said the personalized brick concept was "borrowed" from similar fund-raising campaigns by the Riverton Improvement Association and by the Gloucester Lions Cliub.

For more information about the campaign, or to purchase tickets to George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion,' which begins April 28, the Burlington County Footlighters can be contacted at (856) 829-7144.