Open Arms and a Grateful Heart
“The timing is perfect!”
“This is just what Estacada needs.”
“The stars must be aligned.”
Comments like these were heard across the community when the Oregon Symphony announced that Estacada had been selected for the 2006-2008 Community Music Partnership. The enormous impact this unique opportunity would have on our children and residents elicited goose bumps and, for the more sensitive, tears when word spread.
Although great things are happening in Estacada – we’ve either replaced or upgraded all five district schools, renovated our 1930s-era, 880-seat auditorium and built a beautiful new library with community room – we are still a small former timber town on a beautiful river that is over 30 miles from our region’s major cultural opportunities. Our demographics may be changing, but many of our students have never been to Portland and few have ever attended a Symphony performance.
We are also a town that knows the power the arts have in building community, and this is happening with the Community Music Partnership. Students are interacting with orchestra members through performances and musician visits to their classrooms. They’re writing about what they’ve seen and heard. Band members are being given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from and perform with world-class musicians. And those who have never attended a full Symphony performance will have the chance to do so as the entire orchestra packs up their instruments and plays for us, right here in Estacada. We will remember this for the rest of our lives.
The school district, city government and community organizations of Estacada welcome the Symphony with open arms and a grateful heart. We are all proud that Estacada has been recognized as a town that is ready to benefit from this immersion in the arts.
Jane Reid
Chair, Estacada Together
(Estacada Together is a presenting organization that focuses on bringing a variety of quality performances to the newly renovated Estacada Auditorium and the Estacada Summer Celebration.)
