League of Historic American Theatres

Founded in 1976 by 42 charter theater members, the League (see web site) is a professional network of over 300 historic theatres throughout the United States and Canada dedicated to sustaining America’s historic theatres for the benefit of their communities and future generations. League members have driven the rescue and rehabilitation of hundreds of historic American theatres for more than three decades.

Teaching at the Annual Conference 2001, 2002, 2003, 2-day fundraising intensive seminar February 2004, 2005, 1-day 2006, 2-day 2007, 2008, 1-½ day 2009, 1-day 2011, 2012. Halsey and Alice North – joined by leaders in the field of historic theaters – have taught sessions on various topics in fundraising, board development, and planning at the League of Historic American Annual Conference. The sessions focus on practical and helpful information grounded in real life challenges and success stories.

Fellow teachers have included:

• John Bell, President & CEO, Tampa Theatre Foundation, Tampa, FL
• Gerri Combs, Executive Director, South Arts, Atlanta, GA
• Dan Hanifin, Relationships Director, Proctors, Schenectady, NY
• Chad L. Hershner, Former President & CEO, The Paramount Theater, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Director of Development, Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center, York, Pennsylvania
• John Leith-Tetrault, President, National Trust Community Investment Corporation, Washington, DC
• Paul Moore, Proctors, Schenectady, NY – Board member, Co-Chair of Capitalization/Legacy Campaign, Chair of Relationships Committee, and Chair of Legacy Society
• Philip Morris, CEO, Proctors, Schenectady, NY
• Janet Neary, Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland, OH – Life Trustee, ex-officio member, Board Executive Committee, and Campaign Volunteer Leader, Re-Imagine a Classic: A New Home at the Hanna Theatre
• Howell M. Palmer, Co-Founder, The Palmer Westport Group and Former President, The Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
• Susan Palmer, President, The Palmer Westport Group and Former Executive Director, Colonial Theatre Association, Pittsfield, MA
• Jim O'Connell, Executive Director, Wausau Area Performing Arts Foundation/ArtsBlock/Grand Theater, Wausau, WI
• Ellen Sax, Vice President, Community Relations, KeyBank NA, Albany, NY
• Heather Sherwin, Development Director, Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland, OH
• Deborah Smith, Executive Director, Newberry Opera House, Newberry, SC
• Dee Smolik, President, Plymouth Soundings, LLC, Loudon, TN
• Bob Taylor, Executive Director, Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland, OH
• Paul Westlake, Jr., Managing Principal, Westlake Reed Leskosky, Cleveland, OH

Comments about the 2-day fundraising seminar
February 20-21, 2004, included:
This has been the most informative, focused seminar on fundraising and planning. I enjoyed every moment. Practical, applied, and paced well. Timely and extremely useful information. Very well presented. I greatly enjoyed the handout sheets and PowerPoint technology display. I loved the interjection of stories to illustrate. Having 4 speakers was ideal, shifting every 20-30 minutes. The faculty was impressive – engaging and in command of the subjects they were discussing. All presenters were very knowledgeable! Excellent handouts and supporting documents. I found the illustrative gift range table very helpful. Software discussion was helpful. Loved the casebook! Role play broke it up well. Everything was presented in a very organized manner. Exceptional information & presentations. Very practical & useful! Very well put together. Very informative. The speakers were fantastic!!! Alice and Halsey work so well together, and so do Chad & Susan. Interaction wonderful. High marks across the board. I liked the amount of knowledge & experience & information from Chad on mistakes, things that did not work. Susan's contributions towards the unqualified success of the fundraising seminar were helpful and impactful for us novices who haven't attempted fundraising before. The seminar was TREMENDOUSLY helpful. The seminar was REALLY helpful, inspiring, and challenging. Well done! Excellent workshop. I learned so much. I would like to take Halsey, Alice, Susan, & Chad home. They were wonderful!