Anyone trying to reach the National Office staff in Syracuse is reminded that the USITT Office will be closing at 2:30 p.m. on Fridays (Eastern Time) until August 29. Messages may be left for the staff at any time, even when the office is closed.

To reach the USITT staff, dial 800-938-7488 and extension:

• 102 for Michelle L. Smith, Membership & Ad Sales Manager
• 103 for Barbara E.R. Lucas, PR & Marketing Manager and Sightlines editor
• 104 for Monica L. Merritt, Membership & Conference Registration Coordinator
• 105 for Tracy Davis, Bookkeeper
• 106 for Carol B. Carrigan, Administrative & Finance Manager

We wish you all an enjoyable summer.

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This year, the Minnesota Centennial Showboat is celebrating "50 on the Mississippi" with a very special Showboat Players Reunion. All former Showboat designers, players, managers, and friends are invited to an afternoon of theatre and an evening of river fun on Saturday, July 12. Special hosts for the day are University of Minnesota Showboat faculty Jean Montgomery, Lance Brockman, Charles Nolte, and Sherry Wagner-Henry.

First, see the current cast of Showboat Players perform The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Peter Moore and Vern Sutton. Following that, the party will board a Padelford Riverboat for a three-hour tour down the banks of the Mighty Mississippi for a once in a lifetime event with a special banquet dinner, an open mic to share special Showboat memories, a special tribute to Ms. Montgomery on the occasion of her retirement, and hours of old fashioned Showboat fun.

The Minnesota Centennial Showboat was inaugurated on June 26, 1958 in celebration of the Centennial anniversary of Minnesota statehood. A project that was funded jointly by the University of Minnesota and the Centennial Commission, the Showboat has presented a half a century of melodramatic performances and period music fare, and has served as a pre-professional training ground for theatre and music students at the University of Minnesota.

The Showboat Reunion is open to the first 200 guests, and the registration deadline is July 8. To register, contact the Showboat administrative office at 612-625-4001.

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The Long Reach Long Riders successfully completed their fifth annual charity motorcycle ride benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The ESTA Foundation's Behind the Scenes program.

This year's six-day ride started and finished in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 12 bikes encountered lots of sun, but also rain, sleet, snow, and hail. They rode an average of 239 miles a day and had temperatures ranging from 31 to 101 degrees. The highest point of the trip was at Lizard Head Pass in Colorado at 10,222 feet above sea level. For a complete listing of ride statistics, including the amount of Ibuprofen consumed by all riders (1,576 tablets), visit www.LRLR.org.

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Clyde Parker, longtime technical director for Arizona State University's Gammage Auditorium, has decided to retire. Mr. Parker is very active in the Desert State section and served as chair when it was first chartered. He has been a friend to many and a resource to all both regionally and nationally. He was always the consummate professional whether he was working on the latest Broadway bus and truck block-buster or a local school dance recital. For more information contact Erin at etduquett@aol.com, or Lisa Adamsen at lisa.adamsen@asu.edu.

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Robert Doyle, noted Canadian stage designer, costume historian, author, and teacher, was awarded the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civil award, for his contribution to Canadian theatre arts education.

Educated at Britain's prestigious Wimbledon School of Fine Arts, Theatre Division, Mr. Doyle returned to Canada where he created eighteenth century domestic and military clothing for the restoration of the Fortress of Louisburg which led to a teaching career at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan and Dalhousie University. During his 35 years as the creator of the costume studies program, he helped launch the careers of some 300 young theatre professionals, many of them heading the costume departments of Canada's theatres. He also was a stage designer for many of Canada's professional regional theatres.

In 1979 he created the designs for the Nova Scotia Tattoo which now, with Royal patronage, is an extraordinary indoor celebration of military and civilian history in Canada. Since his retirement from teaching in 1996, Mr. Doyle has written three books, Waisted Efforts, An illustrated Guide to Corset Making, in 1997, now in its second printing; Laundry, The Whys and How's of Cleaning Clothes in 1999; and With a Needle, a Thimble and 10,000 Stitches, The Art of the Tailor in 2005.

Mr. Doyle, who lives in Stratford, Ontario, is writing his fourth book, Costuming the Dance, and has written the outline for a full length ballet, Algonquin Suite, an ode to Tom Thomson.

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The article about the meeting of the OISTAT Technology Commission carried erroneous authorship information when it was first published. We thank Fritz Schwentker for his work on inviting the Technology Commission to meet during the USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Houston, Texas, and for creating the report of the event.

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