In September nearly 40 friends of the Tower gathered in the lawn of the historic Stover House on Mirror Pond and pledged their support of the new Stover Society Fund. The fund, named after longtime Bend civic boosters Byron “Dutch” and Ruth Stover, will underwrite the Tower’s growing effort to provide educational outreach and family programming at the theatre and in area schools.

Stover friends Harriet Langmas and Joan Steelhammer reminisced about how the Stover home, now on the National Register of Historic Places, was regularly the site of parties and recitals by local students and traveling celebrities. Following a challenge from Steve and Cynde Magidson to match their $2,500 contribution, the group stepped up and raised $6,500.

“The Stovers were beloved and influential leaders in Bend for decades, with an unsurpassed passion for young people, theatre and the arts,” said Tower development director Pat Roden. Dutch managed the Capitol Theater, coached youth football and represented Bend in the Oregon Legislature. Ruth was a charter member of the Allied Arts Study Group.

“The Tower Theatre Foundation is extending the Stover’s legacy by making educational outreach and family programming a priority,” Roden added. “This new fund is specifically for donations to take performers into our schools and bring students into the theatre.”

Projects the Stover Society Fund will support this season include school assemblies and workshops with performers from Pushcart Players (Cuentos Del Arbol), ArtsPower (Are You My Mother?) and Sign Stage (Stuart Little).

The public will be asked to contribute to the Stover Society during the Tower’s year-end fundraising campaign later this fall.

www.towertheatre.org