Published: July 08, 2009 10:38 pm      

PAC thanks its supporters

Touts educational programs for youngsters

Ashland — Steve Gilmore said he sometimes tries to remember the seat he sat in when he saw movies such as “Gone with the Wind” at the Paramount Theatre.

The superintendent of Ashland schools and former mayor used to pay 25 cents to get into a movie there. He said preserving the facility is important so it can be shared with another generation.

“Our kids need more than ever in 2009-2010 to be reminded of their heritage,” Gilmore said during a Wednesday luncheon at the facility, now called the Paramount Arts Center.

The Paramount Theatre opened in 1931 as a movie house originally designed for silent films, according to the PAC’s Web site.

The PAC hosted Wednesday’s event to thank elected officials and other supporters for their efforts in helping the center succeed.

Attendees included city officials as well as state legislators.

Gilmore was the keynote speaker at the luncheon. He said the center has helped local schools with arts education by providing workshops and programs geared to children and by bringing some of those programs to the schools.

That’s important because children involved in the arts tend to score higher on tests and interact easier with their peers, Gilmore said.

Melanie Sweeney, the center’s education and outreach director, said about 75 percent of the programs the center puts on are education-based children’s programs.

Upcoming children’s programs include “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “And Then They Came for Me,” a play based on Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl.”

The center gets about 30,000 reservations for participation in the programs a year, but 25 percent of those include requests for scholarship money, Sweeney said.

She said she expects the number of people asking for scholarships to increase in the coming year.

Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, said he and the other state legislators in attendance want to know what they can do to help the center.

He said the PAC was an important element of keeping the area competitive.

Executive Director Kathy Setterman asked them to protect the center’s usual sources of funding, such as the Kentucky Arts Council.

Center officials also presented the 2009-10 season lineup of shows.

The lineup includes Le Grand Cirque on Feb. 20 and Rain — A Tribute to the Beatles on March 11.

KATIE BRANDENBURG can be reached at kbrandenburg@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2657.