A Letter From the Board

Dear Friends and Members of NPTG,

We thought it was time for you all to be updated on the building and our situation, moving forward.

First of all, now that the Cabaret is over, we are getting back to work at the building. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) many of the big quick fixes are done and there aren’t as many obvious projects, but we can always use help.

After the cabaret, there was clean-up from the rehearsals that were held there and an organization of all of our "tech" stuff that was returning from the Elks. Bill has stored all of the lighting and sound gear away in the closet off the "Memorial Room," and it fits quite nicely.

Jon is continuing work in his "Jon-John," and that is coming along, slowly but surely.

The upstairs bathroom is in nearly finished condition, thanks to Monica and Jane.

Nancy has put in many hours stripping the wainscoting in the activity room and much of that has been primed.

Thanks so much to all of "the workers," that have done so much, so far!

But, sooner, rather than later, our progress is going to come down to money.

As you may know, we received a "Facade Grant," from the city of Fitchburg. That means that we have a design firm working on planning and improving any part of our building that can be seen from the street. They will pay 75% of the costs, but we need to come up with the other 25%. It is a GREAT opportunity, but if we can’t allot much to the project, the scale of the improvement will be proportionate. We can apply for the grant again in the future, but there are no guarantees that we will be selected again.

The Cabaret, thanks to the cast, directors and the able business sense of the Storrs family, did well once again. But, the reality is that the phenomenal money that we raised with that, only paid the oil bill for the building this winter.

We also recently paid the invoice for the building and liability insurance and that came to another large sum.

It appears we will soon receive our equity line, which will pay for our major code improvements, but that of course, will result in another monthly bill.

None of this comes as any surprise, but we MUST survive to that point where the building can help us MAKE money!

Yes. Your money will always be accepted and we know it is not a good time for many of us to be giving it away, but you may be able to help in other ways as well.

Give us your ideas. Do you have any fresh ideas fund raisers, money making, raffles, etc? We are always looking for new ideas.

Give a service. We could use help with electrical stuff, plumbing, drywall, etc. If you have some particular ability, could you give some time?

Goods. This is a tough one, as we don’t want to become a repository for "stuff," but we could use building supplies, (lots of drywall) paint, etc.

Think about your connections. Do you know someone who could help us in any way? Does your company need to spend any amount of local grant money? Do you have a "matching gifts" program at your company? Do you have a good relationship with a merchant that might donate supplies?

NPTG now has over 70 members. That’s great and we are the biggest group we’ve been in years.

But, truth be told, 15-20 people work tirelessly to keep NPTG afloat. All we are asking is that the rest of you think about how you can help.

If you would like to make a donation, simply send it to:

NPTG
PO Box 1653
Fitchburg, MA
01420

We will send you a receipt for you tax records.

If you would like to help in any of the ways mentioned earlier or have other ideas you could share with us, either respond to this e-mail, contact a board member or send your ideas or comments to: nptg@hotmail.com

The bridge we need to build to an operating theatre is a relatively small one. We will appeal to the general public as well, but it is only right that we start that appeal with our members and supporting friends.

If we can cross that bridge and just make it to the exciting day that we open the doors of that building to the public, we all believe we can become a self-supporting presence in our community.

Thanks again to all who have worked at the building, supported the Cabaret or already made some financial contribution. But, clearly we need more support. Please find YOUR way to help.

Sincerely,
The New Players Theatre Guild Board of Directors

New Players Theatre Guild is state and federally recognized 501(C) 3 organization. All donations are tax deductible.