Templeton Performing Arts Center kicks off 20th year
September fundraiser is first event in series
–The Templeton Performing Arts Center (TPAC) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Festivities will kick off with a fundraiser consisting of a gourmet dinner and movie night on Saturday, Sept. 24, with other activities planned throughout the year. Tickets are $120 per person or $200 for two and are available at the TPAC Foundation website at TempletonPACFoundation.org.
The al fresco dinner, to be held at a private home in Atascadero, will include appetizers, entrée with sides, dessert, and wine. Live music performed by Sholly von Stein and Zach McCormack will accompany the meal. Afterward, diners will enjoy the Christopher Guest comedy Waiting for Guffman in the intimacy of the venue’s private home theater.
The evening commences at 5:30 p.m. with appetizers and wine, followed by the dinner and live entertainment at 6 p.m. The planned menu includes charcuterie boards with cheese, fruit, meats, olives, and crackers; an entrée featuring grilled polenta, tomato coulis, grilled sausages, and zucchini; a salad of mango and mozzarella with young lettuce and lemon champagne vinaigrette with mustard; and for dessert, a flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. (A vegetarian option is available upon request.) The movie will cap off the evening.
The Templeton community is proud of the performance venue, which was built through a combined effort of the Templeton Unified School District (TUSD), the community, and a $1 million state grant. The basic structure was finished in the 2002-03 school year, while a special committee took several more years seeking alternative funding to furnish the auditorium with seats and outfit it with sound and lighting systems.
Twenty years later, the TPAC Foundation and TUSD are in the midst of a fundraising campaign to upgrade and replace all the stage lighting with LED lights. “So far we have bought a new state-of-the-art and industry-standard light board, two new touchscreen monitors to fully utilize the vast array of features on the light board, and upgraded lighting circuits throughout the theater,” Foundation President Vicki van den Eikhof says, “We have also purchased eight CYC lights (of 16 needed). The groundwork has been laid and now it’s time to purchase the remaining LED stage lights!”
The TPAC is a hub for cultural events serving all the people of North County, as well as providing an institution for career and vocational/technical education for Templeton High School Theatre Marketing and Management students. It has a full orchestra pit, green room, full curtains, lighting, and sound systems. In this small, intimate setting of 330 seats, each spectator has an unobstructed view of the stage due to the steep angle of construction. Its design makes it ideal for presentations by musical, dance, and theatrical groups, as well as for assemblies, lectures, and forums. It’s unlike any other facility available in northern San Luis Obispo County. The TPAC is used by many different groups for a variety of activities, from dance recitals and performances to orchestra and band; school assemblies, plays, and musicals, to community events.
