|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
BROWNSVILLE – It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
The Camille Lightner Playhouse has just received a $25,000 donation from the Lightner family in response to the Meet Camille event late last month.
“It’s very important, and the fact that it came from the Lightner family is just ten fold,” said David Salinas, marketing manager and board member at Camille.
The Meet Camille event last month highlighted 60 years of theater at the Camille Lightner Playhouse. The show featured an impressive performance of pieces spotlighting songs presented at the venue since its opening in 1963.
Everyone enjoyed the performance, but what everyone didn’t see was a private event in the DeStefano Room before the show.
“We invited primarily the Lightner Family and dignitaries and people that have helped us in the past 60 years,” Salinas said. “We had proclamations read from the state, county, and local governments about us reaching that milestone of 60 seasons.”
John and Sue Kinch, who have been with the Playhouse from the beginning, received the Volunteer of the Year award by the Texas Network Theater.
The Lightner guests included Camille Lightner’s son Larry, aged 81, his wife Sue, their daughter Kristin and her children.
“This was the first time the grandchildren and the great grandchildren had seen the legacy of Camille,” Salinas said.
A portrait of Camille Lightner shows her wearing a broach.
“That is the exact same broach Kristin Lightner was wearing,” Salinas said. “It was handed down, and it was very touching. At the end of the evening, they were almost in tears.”
They were so touched they sent a much-needed $25,000 check, which will help renovate the DeStefano Room, Salinas said.
