NEWBERRY — The Newberry Opera House Foundation recently received a $25,000 grant from the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. According to a letter from retired Rep. Walt McLeod, the grant was made possible thanks to multiple State House officials.

“This $25,000 grant was authorized by the 2016-17 State Appropriations Act. Senator Ronnie Cromer, a member of the State Finance Committee and a subcommittee chairman, was instrumental in securing the enactment of this grant, I worked through Representative Bill Herbkersman, a House Ways and Means Committee subcommittee chairman, to secure the enactment of this grant,” McLeod said.

So how will the Newberry Opera House utilize the $25,000 grant money? Micah Decker, Marketing and PR Donor Relationships director, said they will use it for local marketing.

“Basically, our traditional advertising campaign is statewide, and we have realized, with Molly coming in wanting to go into a different direction, paying homage to Newberry and wanting Newberry to be involved with the Opera House, because this is Newberry’s Opera House,” she said. “It is more than just a name. We are hoping this is a place they can call home, because after all, the citizens of Newberry do own the Opera House.”

This means they will cultivate the local tourism market, whether that is newspaper, magazine, billboards and just being more of a presence in Newberry.

The Opera House will still market outside of Newberry, because Decker said one of their jobs is to bring people from various distances to Newberry to help cultivate the local economy and bring people to energize the city, but she says they also need to remember the Newberry residents.

While they are still developing how they will do this, Decker said they want to use a billboard to advertise what is going on at the Opera House so people in Newberry might attend.

“For some reason, … our backyard has not received the publicity we do for other areas. There are so many kids and parents that will travel to Columbia or Greenville to go to the same type of performance they can get here,” Executive Director Molly Fortune said. “We have tried very hard in the last year to make those (performances) very kid friendly. We talk straight to the kids, tell the kids to tell their parents to turn their cell phones off. At the end of the day it really goes back to we want our kids to come back, we want them to love Newberry, we want them to raise their own children here. We have got to give them a reason.”

Decker added it is the next generation that is going to propel the Opera House and Newberry into the next century.

Fortune said McLeod has always been great with providing the Opera House with a funding stream to encourage spending within Newberry.

“He really believes in the Opera House being the economic driver and wants to make as much available as he can and make sure Newberry is surviving and striving, and the new generation comes here and wants to grow and wants to support the Opera House, and the arts,” Fortune said.

So why are grants and donations crucial to the Opera House?

“We cannot sustain ourselves. We are in a situation where we cannot sustain ourselves just on ticket sales alone. One, because we are such a small market and acts have gotten expensive. So we rely on donations to help fill that gap, then we rely on grants to help us with publicity type aspects that people may not want their money to go toward. They may really want their money to go toward the acts,” Fortune said.

Decker added that money for general operation support are the hardest dollars to raise. Fortune said it is like building a house — you put most of your money to the foundation, and a lot of people do not want to do that, and then the house falls in.

For the Opera House, ads are the foundation.

Decker said they will make sure every dollar is used for the greatest use. One way they will do this is by going out and speaking with the community.

“Every ticket we sell we ask how they heard about it, so we can re-direct our marketing and our advertising and make sure we are being smart with our dollars,” Decker said.

Usually, when someone from Newberry attends a performance at the Opera House it is because they are on the mailing list and have received a brochure, which means they have probably visited the Opera House at least once.

Decker said they are probably going to do some social media polls in the near future, targeted toward Newberry County, to figure out how locals get their news.

“This is their home. We want to welcome you back to the Opera House, it is your Opera House. As we embark on our next 20 years, we want to be one of the places to play. If you have not played in Newberry, you have not played in South Carolina,” Fortune said.

Senator Ronnie Cromer and Rep. Walt McLeod present a grant check for $25,000 for the Newberry Opera House Foundation to Molly Fortune, executive director of the Newberry Opera House, and Phill Spots, chairman of the Newberry Opera House Board. The grant was given to the Newberry Opera House from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. The $25,000 grant was authorized by the 2016-17 State Appropriations Act.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_DSC_0872.jpgSenator Ronnie Cromer and Rep. Walt McLeod present a grant check for $25,000 for the Newberry Opera House Foundation to Molly Fortune, executive director of the Newberry Opera House, and Phill Spots, chairman of the Newberry Opera House Board. The grant was given to the Newberry Opera House from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. The $25,000 grant was authorized by the 2016-17 State Appropriations Act. Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer

By Andrew Wigger

awigger@civitasmedia.com

Reach Andrew Wigger at 803-276-0625 ext. 1867 or on Twitter @ TheNBOnews.