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City Beat
Anonymous donor gives $10,000 for curtains at WG School
Work continues on 'Little Theater' at middle school
By Chantal Lamers
A big donation to the "Little Theater" on the campus of Willow Glen Middle School has left the administration with their jaws dropped.
Just one week before students came back to school this fall, a woman came to visit middle school Principal Lois Allen and handed her a check for $10,000.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told Allen that she and her family would like to make the donation to the school's theater. But about the last thing Allen was expecting was a $10,000 check.
The money will cover the cost of new stage curtains for the theater.
"I was in awe that a family would be so in touch with our needs and so generous. I was beyond appreciation, almost speechless," Allen says.
Allen says that the theater has been under construction since May. However, construction workers have been busy making classrooms their first priority. She says the 320-seat theater is scheduled to be finished in October.
Allen isn't sure how many years the tattered, black-and-bronze stage curtains have been hanging. They have been taped, stapled and mended over and over again. "All the theater curtains are in pretty bad shape," she says.
Allen says the original theater chairs are being repaired by a theater chair restoration company. Now the wood will be polished up into a walnut-colored finish and the fabric will be a wild-cherry color. Over the years, several dilapidated chairs were removed, and not replaced, because they were broken and unsafe. She also says the chairs became very uncomfortable because of broken springs.
Allen says she's also hoping the school can raise enough money for a new sound and lighting system in the theater. The need to revitalize the theater had been discussed at PTA meetings, she says.
"There are a whole group of concerned parents committed to making the school the best it can be," Allen says. "They understand the school is old and it has needs."
"Somehow, because of all that talk and communication, the word got out," Allen says. "It reminded me once again how wonderful parents' commitment is and how they are so generous with their time and resources to support our school."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
