Tulsa Town Hall Receives Significant Gift
By TRACEY NORVELL
Contributing Writer
ANNIVERSARY KICKOFF: From left, Tulsa Town Hall board members Sonnie Martin and Beverly Smith and board president Lynda Brownson join long-time contributor Bob West at the Performing Arts Center for the kickoff of the Tulsa Town Hall 80th anniversary legacy season.
TRACEY NORVELL for GTR Newspapers
Bob West was taken aback when he entered his office to find Tulsa Town Hall Executive Director Kathy Collins holding two oversized balloons, and he good-naturedly said, “I’m not 80!”
“Oh, but we are!” replied Collins, referring to the nonprofit’s 80th anniversary legacy season.
West has been a long-time annual contributor to Tulsa Town Hall. News of its milestone prompted West and his family to make an additional gift of $250,000 to the organization’s endowment fund. The gift, given in memory of the late Sandra West, pushes the fund balance over another notable number: $1 million.
“This is an incredible gift that will ensure the sustainability of Tulsa Town Hall for years to come,” comments Lynda Brownson, board president. “Sandra was a beloved member of our board. Bob has honored both Sandra’s memory and Tulsa Town Hall with this generous donation and underwriting the cost of a speaker each of the past eight seasons.”
“Sandra loved Town Hall and understood the challenges of bringing outstanding speakers on a limited budget. I hope this gift will inspire others to support Town Hall with endowment contributions,” West says.
In honor of its 80th anniversary, Tulsa Town Hall has established a planned giving account for deferred contributions by board members, ticket subscribers and the public. Dedicated to opening minds and stirring curiosities, Tulsa Town Hall presents guest speakers who are diverse and provocative, as well as experts in their fields.
The 2014-15 season opened with Jessica Fellowes, niece of Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. It continues Nov. 14 with best-selling author Bill Bryson. Best known for his warm and witty way of transforming everyday happenings into amusing anecdotes, Bryson tackles any subject from travel and the intricacies of the English language to the history of home to events that happened in the year of 1927, the subject of his latest book One Summer – America 1927. Bryson is presented in collaboration with the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, Tulsa, where he will be speaking on Nov. 13. Ticket information for that event is at myticketoffice.com.
Updated 10-27-2014
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