Robert E. Gard Award
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2019 Honorees
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Previous Recipients
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| 1982 L. K. Boutin* (Des Moines, IA) 1983 Ruth Kenyon Tate* (North White Plains, NY) 1984 Emma & Alan* Bowlsby (Indianapolis, IN) 1985 Roberta Kendrick* (Minneapolis, MN) 1987 Peggy Greene* (Topeka, KS) 1988 Alice B. Rogers* (Memphis, TN) Hilda Greenquist* (Racine, WI) 1989 Mary Peckham* (Omaha, NE) Lil Williams* (Ardmore, OK) 1990 Dick Brown* (Des Moines, IA) 1991 Mary Dwyer* (Sheyboygan, WI) 1993 Firth Chew* (Spokane, WA) 1994 John Edmands* (Racine, WI) 1995 Ruth Cole* (Midland, TX) 1996 Holley R. Webster* (Wallingford, PA) 1997 Jean Mitchell* (Grand Rapids, MI) 1998 Dottie Griffith (St. Joseph, MI) 1999 Betsey Reeder (Memphis, TN) 2000 Jane Margison (Riverside, CA) Robert Montgomery (Bremerton, WA) 2001 Heddie Kent (Concord, MA) 2002 Paul Sturner* (Tonawanda, NY) Isabella Ward (Dover, DE) 2003 Charlotte Hall (Fort Thomas, KY) Fred Normand (Rome, NY) 2004 Tom Cowley (Ponca City, OK) Jo Pruden (Fort Shafter, HI) 2005 Hal Robinson (Royal Oak, MI) Sherman C. Ward, Jr.* (Haddenfield, NJ) 2006 Marge and Ted* Ressler (Dover, DE) 2007 Rosemary Green & Louise Carpenter (Ocala, FL) 2008 James N. Alexander, III* (Haddon Heights, NJ) Peg Brandon (Winter Haven, FL) Henry Pope (Walla Walla, WA) |
2009 Rae Cohan (Newport Beach, CA) *Deceased
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Carl and Jane Moore (Midland, Texas) are hailed as "amazing volunteers," who participate in many areas at Midland Community Theatre, and embody the essence of the important role volunteers play in community theatre. In fact, theatre brought Carl and Jane together – they met while acting in a 1995 production of I Hate Hamlet - and theatre continues to be a part of the glue that holds their relationship together. Both have a background in teaching theatre, and have filled many roles at Midland Community Theatre including playing roles, both large and small. Their volunteer work at Midland Community Theatre extends well beyond the stage, however. For the past decade, Jane and Carl have volunteered in the box office and worked backstage running props or dressing actors. Carl and Jane’s years of experience and teaching are an invaluable asset to other volunteers. When a new actor is feeling overwhelmed with a role, both Carl and Jane are willing to take time outside a rehearsal to go over a scene or song and provide support and guidance that makes the actor more confident and comfortable in rehearsals.
This award is named in honor of Robert E. Gard, because of his lifetime commitment to theatre at the grassroots level. He taught playwriting at the University of Kansas and at Cornell, became a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation, Humanities Division, and remained a fellow, and held numerous Rockefeller Foundation grants for many years. He later helped to found, with Professor Alexander M. Drummond, the New York State Playwriting Project, and helped to establish a statewide training program for New York State playwrights. In 1945 he received an offer to join the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, where he established the Wisconsin Idea Theatre Conference. He remained as director of Arts Development until, at age 70, he retired from all administrative duties. Gard founded the National Community Theatre Center in 1958 and conducted a national survey of the American Community Theatre in 1957-1958 for the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1967 Gard led a team, which surveyed the American Theatre for the National Theatre Conference. In 1967 he received the first large grant made by the National Endowment for the Arts for work with smaller communities.
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