The night went off without a hitch, thanks to months of planning and the work of those behind the scenes. And for the twenty-first year, the annual Innkeepers’ Dinner to benefit the Stratford Perth Museum brought the city together for a common cause – and a rollicking good time, too.
Kelly McIntosh, the museum’s general manager, said she began working on this year’s dinner about a week after last year’s ended and the support that she was shown in her first year at the helm reinforced her belief that people love the museum almost as much as they love to help out.
“There’s so many people willing to help and they want to be part of it – they just want to roll up their sleeves,” she said. “This is really the first time I’d taken the lead on an actual fundraiser for an organization. Normally I’m the artistic leader or I show up and speak, so this was an eye-opener of what it takes, and I’m so proud of it and excited about tonight.”
Having only lived in Stratford for 13 years, McIntosh calls the city a ‘really special and unique place’ where people take strong ownership of the things that make their community as vibrant as it is, one of which is the museum.
“I love everyone’s willingness to participate and help out, and it comes from the fact that there’s a place that cares about our legacy, which is what it comes down to,” she said. “This is a place that keeps your stuff and somehow translates and keeps your history, your identity and shows your life has meaning. I think that’s where the connection to the museum comes from, and for me stepping into it, I’m just humbly there and trying to do the best I can to help support the staff and be as loving as I can with the community.”
Giving McIntosh a boost was Tina Grasby, the chair for the Innkeepers’ Dinner committee. They may have been down a few volunteers for this year’s event, but Grasby said that didn’t stop them from doing a few tried and true ideas along with a few new ones. One of those new wrinkles was a live performance of the musical adaptation of Kroehler Girls; Dayna Manning has been working on the adaptation, and she along with McIntosh and a few others took to the stage to entertain the audience. That was something Grasby was enthusiastic about – almost as much as she was in talking about the work volunteers were doing to prepare for the big night.
“This is one of the museum’s biggest fundraising events and we know there has been planning for this since last year,” she said. “The day after last year’s dinner, we had this venue booked and the planning got started. We were down a few committee members this year so we had to step it up a bit, reaching out to local businesses for donations for the gift card wall and silent auction. Every year we try to do experiences rather than items because people like that better. It’s a big challenge getting those donations.”
McIntosh and the museum are appreciative of the help, given some of their goals. One of those will be opening at the end of November and in partnership with the Stratford Festival archives. It will take a look at how performers have taken risks with gender and exploring it in their roles on stage, and McIntosh is very much looking forward to the debut of that exhibit.
“We go right back to 1974 when Pat Galloway was the first woman to play Lorenzo de Medici, and go up to Martha Henry’s Prospero,” she said. “That’s something I’m looking forward to, and now that Rod Beatty is officially an artist in residence at the museum we’re excited about that. He’s working on a new show but he’s also bringing back the one-man version of Christmas Carol he did which was brilliant. But it starts with us embracing our community here at the dinner and celebrating our history.”
