Top photo by Red Door Photography
The Bradford County Regional Arts Council honored Henry Dunn, Maggi Frawley and the Canton Independent Sentinel with the BEMY Arts Award at their ‘Scene One, Take Three’ Annual Fundraiser on December 3, 2015.
The Bradford County Regional Arts Council proudly announced the honorees of the third-annual BEMY Arts Awards at “Scene One, Take Three,” the third annual BCRAC fundraiser at the Sayre Theatre on Dec. 5. Winners included Henry C. Dunn for Patronage of the Arts, Maggie Frawley for Community Outreach by an Individual and the Canton Independent Sentinel for Community Outreach by an Organization.
From Mr. Dunn’s Award Citation:
In 1988, when Brooks Eldredge-Martin brought forth the crazy notion that the worn out and fading Keystone Theatre should be saved and restored to its esteemed place in the Towanda Community, he turned to his friend Henry Dunn to discuss the need to raise $55,000 to purchase the old building. Henry said he would help, but only if they committed to doing the full project. He then led the effort to raise almost $1 million to restore the theatre. As a major donor, Henry and Sarah Dunn, and Henry Dunn Inc. have donated more than $100,000 to the BCRAC, supporting capital campaigns at all three theatres. Above and beyond his generosity, Henry has served on the BCRAC Board of Directors for 27 years, serving as Chair of the Finance and Fundraising Committees, and most recently completing three years as Board President.
From Ms. Frawley’s Award Citation:
With a budding career in New York City that included live television, cruise ships and musical theatre productions, it was Towanda and the bright lights of the Keystone Theatre where Maggi Frawley chose to make her mark. Throughout her life in the arts, she used her love and experience to open avenues for her students and give the their own unforgettable experiences; even taking a group of small-town dancers to the stage at Lincoln Center with Mikhail Baryshnikov, after raising $4,000 for ‘Dancers Responding to AIDS’ and winning the Dancers Respond’s Studio of the Year competition. Maggi has a gift for bringing out rhe best in her students, encouraging parents to be involved with their children, and teaching her students to dance from “here up,” knowing that the joyful faces of students loving what they are doing is perhaps the most important part of a performance.
From the Canton Independent Sentinel’s Award Citation:
The Canton Independent Sentinel has been the cornerstone of the Canton community and surrounding area since 1871. The Sentinel has been a big supporter of the Rialto Theatre and through that, the BCRAC. Because the Rialto is not open every day, the Sentinel and its employees act as agents for the Rialto, selling tickets and promotional items from the newspaper office, displaying posters and providing advertising space at no cost, all as a service to the Canton community. The Rialto and the BCRAC are proud to be recipients of such generous support of the arts.
The BEMY Arts Award recognize those in the community who provide distinctive and sustained contributions to the arts and culture. The BCRAC BEMY is named in honor of Brooks Eldredge-Martin for his vision and commitment to community outreach through the arts. The awards are given in three categories – Community Outreach by an individual, Community Outreach by an Organization, and Arts Patron.
Nominations for the BEMY Awards are solicited from the community and a BCRAC committee chooses the honorees from those nominations. Nominations for the 2016 BEMY Awards should be directed to the BCRAC Office at the Keystone Theatre in Towanda.
About the Bradford County Regional Arts Council: Established in 1976, the BCRAC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and supporting a thriving regional arts community by advocating for the Arts, cultivating quality arts programming and preserving Bradford County’s historic theaters as venues for performances, community events and movies. For more information, visit BCRAC online at www.bcrac.org orwww.facebook.com/BCRAC.