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Sara Dessureau, President |
Past positions include Board Secretary, Costume Department and member of Guild on the Go. She was also Stage Manager for two seasons at the Guild and the Lyric Theatre. Hailing from Albany, New York, and educated at the State University of New York, she started her career with Insurance Services Office advancing to the position of Senior Commercial Underwriter with Uniguard Mutual and Atlanta Causality. Since moving to Florida in 1995 she has served as a member of the Planning Board, Sign Commission and Board of Adjustment for the City of Cocoa Beach. Sara became active in the General Federation of Woman’s Club’s and has served as President for Cocoa Beach and Sebastian. She also served on the Board of the Space Coast Art Festival and became the Festival Coordinator. She joined Stor-All Storage in 2001 as Area Manager for Virginia and North Carolina prior to moving to Vero Beach. |
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Peter Peck, Vice President |
A past Board President, Peter has been a Guild actor since 1964, served on the playreading and social committees and worked on set construction. He has received Genie awards for Best Leading, Character, Supporting, and Cameo Actor, a 1974 Crowd Pleaser award and the Steve Stahl president’s choice award. A Navy brat, he has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in business. Peter retired from New Piper Aircraft as an executive engineer. He is married to Barbara, has 2 sons, is an elder and Sunday school teacher at First Presbyterian Church, and loves fishing, photography, model airplane building and flying. |
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Carole Lilli Strauss, Treasurer | Previously held positions include Guild President, Board Treasurer, Board Secretary and Chairman of Sound and Ushers. She has been an assistant director and producer for many shows; her Guild awards include the Jim Hindert award for backstage excellence and the Jacobus-Siebert-Hazen award for distinguished service. Carole has her doctorate in Clinical Psychology, is a licensed Psychologist, teaches at IRSC and has an active psychotherapy practice in Vero Beach. Previous employment includes corporate positions with Sears in marketing, buying, human resources and sales management. She has been an active volunteer at the Guild since she and her husband, Larry, moved to Vero Beach from Chicago 10 years ago. |
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Jim Kepler,
Secretary
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Jim, along with his wife, Debbie and daughter, Crystal, has been an active volunteer at the Guild since performing in the Guild’s production of Annie Get Your Gun. Along with ushering, working backstage and being onstage as a performer Jim has also directed the music for Hello Dolly and My Fair Lady for which he received the Bette Parfet Memorial Award for Musical Excellence. Before moving to Florida in 1992 he performed in many productions, mostly musicals, throughout high school, college, and in his home community theater, as well as church pageants and musicals. He now uses his Bachelor of Church Music degree by serving as Director of Music at Glendale Baptist Church in Vero Beach. As a professional hairstylist for the last 35 years he enjoys working as an independent contractor at Francesca’s Haircutters in Sebastian and helping in the community whenever the opportunity presents itself. |
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Jim Daly |
Since moving to Vero Beach in 2004, Jim has performed on the Guild stage and received multiple Genies. He has also performed on stage in Marathon and Miami. Born in Providence, R.I., he lived in Maryland, Hawaii, Ohio and Virginia before moving to Florida in 1995. Jim has an Associates Degree in Education from the U. of Cincinnati, has served in the Navy and has a 21 year career in real estate. He is currently the Marketing and Training Director for Coldwell Baker Ed Schlitt Realtors and lives with his domestic partner of 16 years, Michael O’Malley. They enjoy their new puppy, 3 cats and spending time with Jim’s parents, who are VBTG season ticket holders. |
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Jo-Ann Mattison |
Publicity and Marketing Chairman for several years, Jo-Ann has been a show producer and volunteers in the box office and with costumes and ushering. She also volunteers as a pink lady at IRMC. She has received several Guild awards including the Joe Paldi award for outstanding new volunteer, a Special Appreciation award, and the Jim Hindert award for backstage excellence. Her retirement from the Press Journal in 2002 marked the end of a 40 year career in the newspaper field. Growing up in Arlington, Vt., she acted, sang and danced in local shows. She and her late husband moved to the Vero Beach area in 1986; her children and grandchildren reside in Illinois. |
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Madelyn Rogers | Madelyn arrived here from New Jersey in 1981 and has been a Guild member for 20 years. Recently elected to the board, she is the longtime Social, Hair and Make-Up chairman and has performed in several "Holiday Shows" and also in "Our Town" with her daughter, Dana. Madelyn helped spearhead the theatre's renovations for the 50th anniversary and procured the beautiful landscaping outside from the Garden Club of Indian River County. She is the recipient of a Backstage Genie and two Special Appreciation awards. Madelyn began her career as a teacher, but has been a hairstylist for many years, owning her own shop in Sebastian for 16 years. She is self-employed at Talk of the Town Hair Studio, Sebastian, and at Oak Harbor, Vero. Her joys are painting, crafting, interior design, musical theatre and entertaining friends at home. |
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Larry Thompson | Born in Logansport Indiana and raised in Miami. Larry moved to Vero Beach in 1982. He has been employed at Indian River Blood Bank since 1991. He also is on the Board of Directors for Sunshine Physical Therapy. Larry has been with the Guild since the 1993-94 season and has worked both on stage as well as backstage and anywhere he can help. He as won three Genie Awards; Best Actor in "Other Peoples Money" and Best Supporting Actor in "Barefoot In The Park" along with a backstage Genie. Beside his Theatre Guild "Family", Larry has a son; James and daughter in-law Alexandria. Oh yeah, and Lucy his Black Lab |
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Pauline Wilson | Currently Box Office Chairperson. Pauline has been a Box Office Volunteer at the Guild since 1933. She has received the Jacoblls-Siebert-Hazen award for distinguished service, the Jim Ilindert award for backstage excellence and several offstage genies. She has been a law firm Receptionist-Bookkeeper and a Clerk in Small Claims Court. She has also been a member of Bela Sigma Phi sorority since 1962 and has served many times as an officer, on their board. Originally from Atlantic City, NJ, Pauline moved to Lakeland, FL in 1943 and to Vero Beach in 1957. |
Board Meetings: Open meetings are held the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. Suggestions are always welcome