Collins Wins Prestigious State Theatre Award

The newly established Fredric Blumberg Distinguished Volunteer Award was given to Pat Collins of Geneva at the Theatre Association of New York State Festival in Batavia, NY. He is the first recipient of this award, given to him on November 22. The award is for volunteers under 65 who have faithfully served community theatre for 15 years or more. Collins, professor in the Education Department of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, helped to found the Geneva Theatre Guild Youth Theatre in 1986. In 1998 he helped to found the Nancy Curvin Playground Players jointly sponsored by GTG and the Geneva Recreation Department. He served on the GTG Board of Directors for over 15 years, was President for two terms, and for 23 years has volunteered in many capacities. For many years he directed the Geneva High School Drama Program also. Several of Pat Collins’ courses at the colleges have benefitted the youth of Geneva by producing children’s plays on campus and by holding after school workshops to help college students discover the power of drama and to pass that on to the children who participated. Most recently Pat has been instrumental in advising the construction and equipment for the black box theatre in the new Geneva Community Center and directed GTG’s “Mad About Theatre” to inaugurate this new space. The award was created in honor of Fredric Blumberg, the first President of the Theatre Association of New York State.