BUSINESS PROFILE:
Name: Judy Walker
Business: Ticonderoga Festival Guild
Title: Executive Director
Years in Business: 37
Q. Briefly Describe Your Organization
A. We are a 501C Organization whose mission is to present and promote performing arts in Ticonderoga and its surrounding area. We offer free children’s programs throughout the year that include theater, music, stories,magic, and dance. We strive to educate, entertain and hopefully inspire our young audiences.
The Festival Guild schedules and sponsors free summer in the park concerts with a variety of music genre. These concerts are a favorite of our senior citizens and offer the a chance to see live, high quality professional concerts in their own town. Additionally we schedule other concerts throughout the year.Our community theater group the Festival Guild Players delivers a variety of theatrical productions during the year.
Q. What is your product or service specialty?
A. Live performing arts productions.
Q. How did your business get started?
A. A group of people in the 1980’s worked to bring an orchestra to Ticonderoga. Their first production was a performance of the Soviet Emigre Orchestra. Our area suffered from a cultural void with little to no cultural opportunities here other than what the Festival Guild provided. The cultural void exists to this day so over the years we have expanded to include children’s programming, a wide range of concerts and community theater.
Q. Why do you recommend people do business with you?
A. We offer a variety of cultural opportunities that are similar to professional performances found in large cities. Most of our programs are free or delivered at a very low cost. Residents would have to drive at least 50 miles or more to see the shows we provide here in Ticonderoga.
Q. What makes you the most proud of your business?
A. We are serving a population in need. We give our youth a great alternative to their electronic games by offering them live productions. We provide wonderful entertainment to our senior citizens here at our town community building for free – they don’t have to drive a distance or pay a lot of money to enjoy wonderful music. Our community theater organization has attracted a group of actors and production staff that has never been involved in theater before. They have successfully produced several plays that were hits with all performances sold out.
Q. What do you most want people to know about you?
A. That we are here to serve our community by entertaining them. That we do all we can to make each experience joyful. That we keep costs to a minimum. That our organization is run by a dedicated group of volunteers trying to improve the lives of our community.
Q. What is your key to success?
A. Hard work and a commitment to our mission.
Complete the following sentence: A really great day for our company is when…
“A really great day for our company is when our audience is entertained and delighted by what we have presented – that they leave asking when the next performance will be.”