• Local Seniors Invited to Register for National Talent Competition
• PAL Place Stratford is now a Reality, by Gordon Sherwin
• Report from the President, by John Banks
• The Gardens at PAL Place, by Allan Watts
• PAL Membership, by Jessica Bowles
• Supporting Cast, by Randi Patterson
• A PAL Testimonial, by Richard Fitzpatrick
• Our profound thanks to a dedicated member

Where can you read the articles listed above? In the PAL Stratford Newsletter for April, 2012.

Note from Amanda Ryan

A note from PAL Canada.

Stripping Wallpaper

Vic and Amanda Ryan are at PAL Place Stratford every day at 1 p.m. to strip wallpaper but have really only accomplished a small part of what needs to be done. A few volunteers have shown up to help but they would appreciate more help if you are available. Volunteers can just come for an hour or more. Every hour we put in will save our paying some one to do the work.

Gardening

Allan Watts is looking for help in several areas.

• weeding of beds,
• identification of perennials that are still coming up, and
• removing dogwood, sedum, and lamium.

Please let other PAL Stratford volunteers know about this. For more information, contact Randi.

Before pictures of the interior of PAL Place, Stratford -- 101 Brunswick.

We'll try to keep you updated as the work progresses. Will you be helping to strip the wallpaper?

Photos taken by Amanda Ryan.

Before pictures of the exterior of PAL Place, Stratford -- 101 Brunswick.

We'll try to keep you updated as the work progresses. Spring gardening is in progress.

Photos taken by Amanda Ryan.

We've just added videos to our website. Click the link at left to get to them. The same link now appears on every page on our website.

PAL Stratford Part 1 explains Pal Stratford's commitment to Caring for our Own by providing affordable accommodation, healthcare, and well-being to performing artists who may be retiring without the means to sustain themselves adequately. Viewers are invited to contribute to this worthy cause. Video footage was shot on location in Stratford, Ontario in 2010 during the performance of The Tempest, except for the opening shot of Rant Maggie Rant onstage in Carlisle, Ontario in 2011.

PAL Stratford Part 2 runs for about four minutes and consists of footage edited from a documentary program titled The Limelighters which had a running time of four, 45-minute episodes. It demonstrates the great success of PAL Place, Toronto.

About PAL Stratford: the case for support.

As we reward with our applause the artists who delight us, we often assume that success (and sometimes even celebrity) on stage, on screen, on the radio, in the opera house or in the concert hall brings with it some promise of security. In other words, we subscribe to the notion that someone who has “made it” in the arts can look forward to a reasonably comfortable retirement.

Unfortunately the reality is that few members of the professional and performing arts community are fortunate enough to become “stars.” Nor does even the highest degree of artistic success come with any guarantee of social, emotional and psychological support in years to come. The dedication demanded by a career in the performing arts can be all-consuming – with devastating results later on for those who find themselves isolated by old age, ill health, or disability from their peers and from the beloved profession to which they have devoted their lives.

PAL Stratford Part 1 explains Pal Stratford's commitment to Caring for our Own by providing affordable accommodation, healthcare, and well-being to performing artists who may be retiring without the means to sustain themselves adequately. Viewers are invited to contribute to this worthy cause. Video footage was shot on location in Stratford, Ontario in 2010 during the performance of The Tempest, except for the opening shot of Rant Maggie Rant onstage in Carlisle, Ontario in 2011.