Successful summer for Pageant, Festival

The Pageant of the Masters and Festival of Arts enjoyed one of its most lucrative summer seasons ever, board members learned at Wednesday’s annual meeting.

Revenues from the summer season have been tabulated at about $8.3 million, said Treasurer Fred Sattler.

Arts Commissioner Pat Kollenda, photographer Tom Lamb and board president Anita Mangels were elected to the Festival of Arts board of directors at its Nov. 8 annual membership meeting.

Out of the nearly 1,100 ballots cast — by about one-third of the Festival’s membership — three members were elected for three-year terms on the nine-member board.

Kollenda and Lamb join President Anita Mangels, Vice President Bob Henry, Treasurer Sattler, Secretary Carolyn Reynolds, Scholarship Chairwoman Ann Webster, John Hoover and Wayne Baglin.

Longtime board member David Young had announced his retirement this spring, after 52 years of service.

The balloting is bullet-style, which means that each ballot allowed voters to select the same candidate up to three times.

The votes were counted and announced by certified public accountant Jim McBride.

The meeting also touched on the past year’s activities and gave a preview of the Festival and Pageants’ 75th anniversary, “Young at Heart.”

The “Diamond Jubilee” is expected to last for two years; the first will focus on the anniversary of the Festival, and the second on the Pageant.

Pageant producer and director Diane Challis Davy said that the theme will reflect four factors: the Festival and Pageants’ anniversary, her own 50th birthday, the eponymous song by Frank Sinatra and a tribute to David Young.

Next year’s pageant will feature illustrations of Rip Van Winkle and Cinderella; sculptures of Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and the Little Mermaid; Saturday Evening Post covers; chess pieces; Egyptian art and more.

Two lifetime membership awards were bestowed on 15-year Pageant makeup artist volunteers Diane Babcock and Charlene Friend.

As is customary, Mayor Steve Dicterow addressed the members about the past year.

“This is a reflective time for me,” he said; the meeting was held the day after the City Council election, from which he had dropped out after mounting a truncated campaign.

He described the efforts of some members to have the Festival leave Laguna for another site like San Clemente, but ended the discussion with a strong statement.

“I think it’s fairly safe to say in the long run that the Festival is going to stay in Laguna Beach,” he concluded.

Dicterow noted that were the Festival “merely a commercial exhibition,” he did not think the bonds between it and the city would be as strong as they are.

This sentiment was repeated by several board members throughout the evening.

Mayors of the city automatically become ex-officio members of the board at the time they are elected.

Webster then spoke about the Festival and Pageants’ scholarship efforts. She noted that more than $3 million in scholarships had been given since 1971, and that $375,000 was given to students this year.

She added that recipients are required to come back to the Festival annually to interview and detail what they are working on in college.

Sattler then gave a presentation about the Festival’s finances. He noted an increase in 2006 of about $1.2 million in net assets, for a total of $5.8 million in total assets ($4.7 net). Revenue was at about $8.3 million. The results are unaudited at this time.

“It’s one of the best years we’ve had in recent history,” he said. He added that year-to-year assets were erratic prior to 2005, but have since stabilized.

Sattler also said that the level of cash and investments was down until last year.

A drainage channel and new production facilities kept capital improvement expenses at about $350,000 annually over the last two years; Sattler reported that the Festival will need in excess of $10 million in future years for anticipated capital improvement projects.

Mangels said that the Pageant of the Masters had comprised more than 60 sold-out nights, and that the Festival was again voted one of the top 10 art festivals in the United States by American Style Magazine, although it was in the top three the previous year.

She described added improvements for disabled visitors that complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as an electrical system overhaul, Pageant stage improvements and a new reading device for the hearing impaired.

Mangels noted that the city had sold residential parcels close to the Festival grounds, but that the Festival had negotiated with the city and does not expect to incur any additional deed restrictions due to the new neighbors’ proximity to the site that could affect performances.

She also confirmed that a stoplight will be installed in front of the Festival entrance in coming months.