Community Corner
Meet the Amherst Citizen of the Year 2013
Tom Partridge was given the honor at the July 4th ceremonies on Thursday.
A dedicated member of the arts in Amherst has been named Citizen of the Year 2013.
Tom Partridge was given the award at the Fourth of July celebrations on the Village Green this afternoon.
Amherst Lions Club president Bob Flegal said that Partridge has dedicated many years of to the community and been a “mentor and friend to hundreds and hundreds of Amherst children and adults alike.”
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Partridge is a volunteer at the Milford Boys and Girls Club, an active member of the Amherst Chorus and an essential part of the Amherst PTA.
He has directed five PTA performances including Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, Annie, Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz. In total, these productions have brought in $80,000 for Amherst middle school and elementary students.
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Flegal said that Partridge dedicates countless hours to ensuring the success of each performance. He has also dedicated himself to the happiness of every single participant. For example, so many children wanted to be a part of The Wizard of Oz that Partridge actually formed three separate casts so they could all have a turn on stage.
The full speech from Bob Flegal:
In response to the Amherst Lions Club’s request for nominations for the Amherst Citizen of the Year for 2013, four names were submitted. Each in their own way were and are uniquely qualified to be named Citizen of the Year. Five Lions Club members acting as a selection committee had the unenviable task of determining the one individual who would receive this honor. After a lengthy period of discussion and dissecting of the nominating letters, one name finally stood out.
Our Citizen of the Year for 2012-2013 was born 67 years ago in Manchester, New Hampshire. Like many young persons in the 50s and 60s, our winner worked at small jobs, Cumberland Farms, golf caddy and a car wash, while attending Manchester Memorial Public School. Following a short stint in the United States Air Force, our Citizen of the Year returned to New Hampshire and began a 27 year career working in the accounting department of the Anheuser Busch Company in Merrimack.
During that 27 years our citizen earned a Bachelors and Masters Degrees in accounting at New Hampshire College. Following retirement from Anheuser Busch, our citizen entered a second career as a Massage Therapist and teaching Anatomy and Physiology at the Nashua Vo Tech. In 1987, our person competed in four IronMan Triathlons in Hawaii, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. Our person has two sons, Keith, a Social Worker, and Kevin, who has served in the Air Force for 19 years. Also, two granddaughters, Kess and Brooke. While all of this is nice information, it is not the reason we selected this person as Citizen of the Year.In 1980 our person joined the Amherst Chorus and to this day still is an active member. Shortly thereafter our person began a long and illustrious career supporting the Amherst Parent Teachers Association (PTA). First as a bit player, a dancing frog in the play “On This Island”. At that time, little did the Town of Amherst know that they had a bourgeoning thespian in their midst who would become a mentor and friend to hundreds and hundreds of Amherst children and adults alike.
Our citizen is quiet and unassuming and does not seek out the spotlight. Many of you may not know our citizen by name, but I venture that everyone of you has seen, admired and applauded with great gusto the work of this person. You have if you have seen the PTA’s theatrical presentations of “Fiddler On the Roof”, “Sound of Music”, “Annie”, “The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast”, and “The Wizard of Oz”. Our person directed each of these five musicals. By actual audit, these five plays resulted in the Amherst PTA reaping a financial profit of over $80,000 to be spent improving the curriculum and educational lives of our Elementary and Middle School children.
You might say O.K. So he directed five plays. So what. Well, it means that a year of our persons life was spent eating, breathing and sleeping the Play. Beginning 12 months before the first live performance, the Director is responsible for developing and implementing all activities and dates, including scenery development, auditions, rehearsals, and performances. The Director has the task of “blocking” every actors position and motion on stage. A daunting task when you realize how many actors there have been in these productions. At nine months until first performance, the intensive development of the scenery, choreography, and music begins followed in rapid succession by auditions, rehearsals and, finally, the performances. For “The Wizard of Oz”, there were so many children auditioning for roles that our person decided to have three separate casts of Munchkins so that no child would be told “You are not good enough to be in our play”. With three separate casts, our person’s hours spent for auditions and rehearsals was multiplied. But our citizen wanted each and every child to experience the joy of acting on stage in front of their family and the entire Amherst community.
I don’t suppose we will ever know exactly how many hours our person spent on each production, but a conservative estimate by the plays producers was at least 1000 hours per play. 1000 hours per production to bring joy and happiness to the children, adults and community of Amherst. As a reference point, 1000 hours is half of a year of a full time, 40 hour per week job. This as a volunteer.
Finally, while expending all this time and energy in support of our Amherst children and community, our citizen somehow found the time to provide equal support to the children of the Milford Boys and Girls Club. Oh, and don’t forget the over $80,000 to our PTA and our schools. With that being said, may I present to you the Amherst Lions Club’s 2012-2013 Amherst Citizen of the Year - DIRECTOR TOM PARTRIDGE.
The full speech from Bob Flegal:
In response to the Amherst Lions Club’s request for nominations for the Amherst Citizen of the Year for 2013, four names were submitted. Each in their own way were and are uniquely qualified to be named Citizen of the Year. Five Lions Club members acting as a selection committee had the unenviable task of determining the one individual who would receive this honor. After a lengthy period of discussion and dissecting of the nominating letters, one name finally stood out.
Our Citizen of the Year for 2012-2013 was born 67 years ago in Manchester, New Hampshire. Like many young persons in the 50s and 60s, our winner worked at small jobs, Cumberland Farms, golf caddy and a car wash, while attending Manchester Memorial Public School. Following a short stint in the United States Air Force, our Citizen of the Year returned to New Hampshire and began a 27 year career working in the accounting department of the Anheuser Busch Company in Merrimack.
During that 27 years our citizen earned a Bachelors and Masters Degrees in accounting at New Hampshire College. Following retirement from Anheuser Busch, our citizen entered a second career as a Massage Therapist and teaching Anatomy and Physiology at the Nashua Vo Tech. In 1987, our person competed in four IronMan Triathlons in Hawaii, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. Our person has two sons, Keith, a Social Worker, and Kevin, who has served in the Air Force for 19 years. Also, two granddaughters, Kess and Brooke. While all of this is nice information, it is not the reason we selected this person as Citizen of the Year.In 1980 our person joined the Amherst Chorus and to this day still is an active member. Shortly thereafter our person began a long and illustrious career supporting the Amherst Parent Teachers Association (PTA). First as a bit player, a dancing frog in the play “On This Island”. At that time, little did the Town of Amherst know that they had a bourgeoning thespian in their midst who would become a mentor and friend to hundreds and hundreds of Amherst children and adults alike.
Our citizen is quiet and unassuming and does not seek out the spotlight. Many of you may not know our citizen by name, but I venture that everyone of you has seen, admired and applauded with great gusto the work of this person. You have if you have seen the PTA’s theatrical presentations of “Fiddler On the Roof”, “Sound of Music”, “Annie”, “The Enchantment of Beauty and the Beast”, and “The Wizard of Oz”. Our person directed each of these five musicals. By actual audit, these five plays resulted in the Amherst PTA reaping a financial profit of over $80,000 to be spent improving the curriculum and educational lives of our Elementary and Middle School children.
You might say O.K. So he directed five plays. So what. Well, it means that a year of our persons life was spent eating, breathing and sleeping the Play. Beginning 12 months before the first live performance, the Director is responsible for developing and implementing all activities and dates, including scenery development, auditions, rehearsals, and performances. The Director has the task of “blocking” every actors position and motion on stage. A daunting task when you realize how many actors there have been in these productions. At nine months until first performance, the intensive development of the scenery, choreography, and music begins followed in rapid succession by auditions, rehearsals and, finally, the performances. For “The Wizard of Oz”, there were so many children auditioning for roles that our person decided to have three separate casts of Munchkins so that no child would be told “You are not good enough to be in our play”. With three separate casts, our person’s hours spent for auditions and rehearsals was multiplied. But our citizen wanted each and every child to experience the joy of acting on stage in front of their family and the entire Amherst community.
I don’t suppose we will ever know exactly how many hours our person spent on each production, but a conservative estimate by the plays producers was at least 1000 hours per play. 1000 hours per production to bring joy and happiness to the children, adults and community of Amherst. As a reference point, 1000 hours is half of a year of a full time, 40 hour per week job. This as a volunteer.
Finally, while expending all this time and energy in support of our Amherst children and community, our citizen somehow found the time to provide equal support to the children of the Milford Boys and Girls Club. Oh, and don’t forget the over $80,000 to our PTA and our schools. With that being said, may I present to you the Amherst Lions Club’s 2012-2013 Amherst Citizen of the Year - DIRECTOR TOM PARTRIDGE.
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