The story of a little boy’s 1st trip to the theater

He is a boy, only 8 years old.

His name is George. He lives near the Artisan Center Theater in Hurst, Texas, but he never knew what was inside the place.

Not until now. And what he saw may change his life.

The Artisan is a community theater, now a decade old, that brings Broadway to Bellaire, the Bellaire Shopping Center, a run-down, nearly forgotten 1950s era strip that the theater has brought back to life.

The Artisan Center Theater was founded by Rick Blair and his wife DeeAnn. Recently, Rick wrote to Summer Santa, the all-volunteer children’s charity that helps thousands each year with no paid staff or overhead:

“From time to time, we have seating in a show that we simply know we will not fill through regular ticket sales. I do not like empty seats and will be happy to turn to you when that happens. I would like to donate these to Summer Santa.”

Summer Santa dispatched one its ace directors, Diana Reyes. Diana was offered enough seats for a half dozen families for a performance of Oliver! Diana announced a raffle drawing in front of the theater and invited families who live in the neighborhood and who had never been to a live musical before. Among the families that showed was a single mom and her son George.

George sat through the play, even after the intermission, when several families left early. (Because they never attended a live play before, they thought the play was over.) George heard Oliver say that legendary line: “Please sir, can I have some more?” And he listened to songs with iconic lyrics like, “I’ll do anything, for you dear anything, for you mean everything to me.”

Afterward, George told his mom that he loved the play. He told her how nervous he feels when he speaks in front of others. He asked his mom if she thought he could ever learn to do what those kids in the play did.

“Sure, maybe someday you can learn to do it, too.”

After the performance, Rick reported to Summer Santa:

“Last night we had a tremendous turnout for Summer Santa! For the first time, bringing in a group like this, it went very well. I so wish you could have been there to see the faces of these children as they experienced live theater for the first time. We are doing it again on Thursday.

“Diana created a raffle to invite them to show up – and show up they did! Over 60 people lined the sidewalk in front of the theater to win tickets to get in and to have a chance at winning a toy from the raffle. Unfortunately, we turned away about 30, but we’ve set aside seats for them tomorrow.

“I confess. I got a little weepy because I could see firsthand, the life-changing experience on each child’s face as the story of Oliver! evolved on stage. This may be one of the most inspirational moments in our history at Artisan Center Theater! If ever there was an audience of children watching children pretend to be hungry orphans that could relate, it was this group of children!

“Many of their clothes matched the costumes – only they were not costumes. All of us, including many in the audience, were deeply touched.

“We are going to embrace Summer Santa with open arms. The experience may go down as one of the most touching and heartwarming moments DeeAnn and I have had since creating Artisan Center Theater nearly 10 years ago. This is truly what we are all about.

“We are actively seeking donations to sponsor little children for our summer camps. Our Mayor, Richard Ward, has mentioned to me many times how much he wanted this community to become involved with Artisan Center Theater. He has felt, very strongly, that it will improve the entire area.

“Dora’s Pirate Adventure (our bi-lingual children’s production) has been sold out for every performance and many have been added to meet the demand. But Summer Santa is probably the most direct and effective way we have found to capture Mayor Ward’s vision of embracing the multi-cultural community surrounding Bellaire Plaza and Artisan Center Theater.”

Shortly, afterward, Rick and DeeAnn announced to their supporters the center’s new cultural arts partnership with Summer Santa: “It is anticipated that our relationship will include opportunities for the children’s theater and classes as we evolve. We are very excited to welcome Summer Santa and hope you will visit their website to learn more about this worthy organization. www.summersanta.org.”

Summer Santa thanks Artisan Center Theater at 418 E. Pipeline Road, Hurst, Tx. Visit them at ArtisanCT.com.

In a state where one-fourth of all Texas children live in poverty, and 1.2 million kids don’t have insurance, it’s hard to make a difference for everyone. But Summer Santa and Artisan Center Theater are working together now to help make smiles one child at a time.

And we can’t think of a better way to show what all of our volunteers and donors try to do:

“Sure, maybe someday you can learn to do it, too.”

“Sure, maybe someday you can learn to do it, too.”

You can make a difference, too.

Right now, Summer Santa is sending almost 300 area children who live within a few miles of George to nearby summer camps. These children could not attend camps without Summer Santa’s help. They were chosen by their school guidance counselors and nurses. Many have suffered from the loss of a parent this year, unemployment, divorce, or just plain bad luck.

Please help us help them. If you send a donation to Summer Santa Inc., an IRS-approved charity in its 16th year, every penny will go towards paying for a camp scholarship. Remember, we have NO overhead. Every $5, $10 or $20 will help pay for a day or more of day camp or sleep-away camps for kids like George.

The easiest way is to visit our secure online donations website for Summer Santa Donations here. We do not store your personal information. Or send a check to Summer Santa, P.O. Box 1773, Keller, TX, 76244-0123.

This message brought to you by Summer Santa, an IRS-approved non-profit, 2012 Chairwoman Cyn Choate and our Board of Directors. Meet the 2012 Summer Santa Board of Directors here.

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Go back to the main Summer Santa Home page here.

Watch Summer Santa videos.

Read about Pat Summerall partnering with Summer Santa.

Take a virtual visit with former Dallas Cowboys great Russell Maryland at the pancake supper he hosted for Summer Santa.

Summer Santa Co-Founder Brad Bradley honored.

Tickets now on sale for Summer Santa’s “Tribute to Love Concert” presented by Park Place Lexus: Sunday evening, Feb. 12, 2012

Everyone knows Summer Santa throws the best events. Let Summer Santa and Paul Salos, America’s Got Talent finalist, entertain and help you spread a little love for Valentine’s Day on Sunday, Feb. 12 at the Palace Arts Center in Grapevine, Texas. Paul Salos will perform a tribute concert to love and to Frank Sinatra. Mr. Salos will “seduce” the audience with Ole Blue Eyes’ style, charisma, popularity and, most of all, that famous voice. What a great date night this will be!

Watch this video of Mr. Salos at Paul Salos on TV. Mr. Salos has wowed audiences from Paris to Las Vegas performing Sinatra’s signature vocal and musical numbers. The evening for love will start at 6 pm with a reception catered by Cotton Patch Cafe in the Lancaster Theatre. There will also be a bar. At 7 pm, the concert will begin next door in the Palace Arts Center.

All money raised will benefit Summer Santa, the largest children’s charity in Northeast Tarrant County. Summer Santa provides area children with summer camp scholarships, back to school clothes, books/toys, seasonal soccer activities and medical physicals. We are an all-volunteer charity with no paid staff or office expenses..

Tickets are $50 and $75, and the price includes dinner. You can purchase them at SummerSanta.org.. The Palace’s ticket website is Concert Tickets. (Note that this site does not work on cell phones, but on desktop PCs.) Or you can call the Palace Box Office at 817-410-3100. HURRY because tickets are limited and going fast. If you have questions, please call us at 1-888-28-SANTA.

Here’s Proof That We Throw The Best Events

Summer Santa is all about fun. Yes, we help make smiles for children in need. But when it comes to our fun-raisers, we help make smiles for adults, too. Our events are talked-about, enjoyable and always original. Step back into our time machine and see what we mean:

Summer Santa Fun #1: Our previous concert celebrated Elvis. Click here to view photos and videos from our Elvis pre-concert party.

Summer Santa Fun #2: Dallas Cowboy Russell Maryland supports Summer Santa. Click here to view photos and videos from our special night with him.

Summer Santa Fun #3: Summer Santa partnered with football legend Pat Summerall to help create the pilot for a reality TV show. Click here to view photos and videos from that special day.

See you Sunday night, Feb. 12 at 6 pm!

Summer Santa, Elvis and the coolest house in Texas

By Dave Lieber/Summer Santa Co-Founder

Summer Santa, the all-volunteer charity that I co-founded in 1997, helped several thousand kids this year. But it was our toughest year ever. We sent 300 North Texas children to summer camps, but we ran out of money to send another 75 who applied.

So when you need more money, who can you call?

Elvis, baby!

On Nov. 4, 2010, Summer Santa held a VIP sponsor party at the amazing Westlake, Texas home of former Westlake Mayor Scott Bradley and Kelly Bradley, one of Texas’ most successful charity organizers. The Summer Santa board worked closely with the Bradleys to thank sponsors in anticipation of the charity’s big event, the Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010 Elvis concert at Grapevine’s Palace Theatre.

Even Elvis and Summer Santa were overshadowed by a house that is considered one of the architectural wonders of Texas. Originally designed by legendary architect Charles Dilbeck in the late 1930′s, the home is a regular stop on any Texas architectural tour. No other house is quite like it.

Paigebrooke is the name of the Bradley home designed by Charles Dilbeck.

Truth is, this turned out to be one of the coolest parties ever! For example, Pat Dilbeck, the widow of the architect, attended. She says the Bradley house is one of her favorites designed by her late husband.

It was a night of legends. Here is Pat Dilbeck (right) with Peggy Nelson, wife of the late great golfing legend and humanitarian Byron Nelson.

Peggy Nelson has a new book out called Life with Lord Byron (you can buy it here). At the party, she sat in the dining room and sold copies. Nelson then donated all the proceeds to Summer Santa. Thank you!

Nearby, artist Ty Walls, who designed the original Summer Santa logo in 1997 (it’s now a registered trademark), painted a portrait of Lord Byron that was up for bid.

This magnificent portrait sold to the highest bidder at the party — garnering enough money to send two North Texas children to summer camp in 2011!

Here’s a taste of all the fun. Food was catered by Chef Point Cafe, one of Texas’ most popular eating places. Chef Point is a gourmet restaurant inside a gas station. It’s been featured in the New York Times and on numerous TV shows. The owners, Chef Franson Nwaeze and Paula Nwaeze, brought staff and a Texas sized hunk of beef.

Chef Franson Nwaeze and Paula Nwaeze

The party was organized by Darla Dennison (left) and Shirley Schollmeyer. Summer Santa says they are the best party organizers EVER!

LongShot band played all night.

Members of LongShot band, from left, Frank Ritz, Kevin Trawick, Bobby Dreiling, Joe Gilley, Johnny Austin, Jack Gardner

Party hosts Kelly and Scott Bradley opened their home. Kelly was an original founding board member of Summer Santa in 1997

The whole point is to thank the sponsors of the Nov. 14, 2010 Elvis concert. These folks have generous hearts. They want to help the Summer Santa kids.

Our top sponsor is Crest Auto Group of Plano (from left) Dwain Kester, Jim Thayer and Mike Brosin

Cotton Patch Cafe owners Larry Marshall and Paula Marshall have supported Summer Santa for more than a decade.

Staffers from Cotton Patch, from left, Laura Snyder, Linh Marshall, Tommy Price

Here’s my fellow co-founder of Summer Santa, Judge Brad Bradley. This was his idea back in 1997. Little did he know that his idea would help more than 30,000 children with summer camp scholarships, toys for summertime play, back-to-school clothing and school supplies, free medical checkups and after-school programs.

Summer Santa Co-Founder Judge Bradley (right) talks to Doug Newton, leader of Rocky Top Ranch which takes dozens of Summer Santa kids each year for its horseback riding camp in Keller, Texas

Are you ready for a preview of Elvis (playing for the first time with LongShot)? Here he is giving the audience a sampler of his concert:

All for the kids who need help the most. Summer Santa works with a dozen area charities and six school districts in Northeast Tarrant County, Texas. Because our charity has no paid staff or physical office, the money donated goes STRAIGHT to the children’s programs. That’s what makes Summer Santa so special!

Pat Summerall Partners with Summer Santa

By Dave Lieber/Summer Santa Co-Founder

I love Pat Summerall, and I love Summer Santa. And the other day, the two joined together in a reality TV show.

I’m crazy about Summerall because he’s the best at what he does. There’s no better sports announcer in the past half century. And I loved the way he battled back from alcoholism and openly shared his struggle. Plus, he and his wife Cheri have hearts of gold.

For years, they’ve supported my Summer Santa charity, helping send kids to area camps who otherwise couldn’t afford to go. Here’s the sign we used on the miniature golf course for the charity event I ran for a decade.

I love Summer Santa because when we founded it in 1997, we dreamed of helping kids in the summertime, not just at the end-of-the-year holidays, with an all-volunteer staff where all money raised would go straight to the children’s programs. And all these year later, we’ve stuck to our goals. We help thousands each year with summer camp scholarships, back-to-school clothing, school supplies, free medical checkups, books, summertime toys and after-school programs. And all through volunteers! Not one paid staffer!

Here’s how the TV show came about. We have this new board member, Cheryl Dastugue, who knew some folks at a Southlake, TX production company who were working on a show. She talked to them about Summer Santa. The producers — Larry Pursley and Elizabeth Thome — said they were interested, but Cheryl wasn’t sure how far it would go. She contacted Summer Santa Board Member Diana Reyes, who is the co-chair of our annual toy drive. Diana took the ball and ran! Here’s Diana…

The producers at Imlight Entertainment, part of Imagine Media, told Diana they were looking for a playground that needed improvement. Diana told them she’d find a playground. And she did. On the Euless-Bedford, Texas border, there was an abandoned basketball court. The property had been for sale.

Diana visited the playground and asked one of the players to write a letter asking for the playground to get repaired. “I want this court to be redone because it could be such a good thing for the neighborhood,” Josh Bushman wrote. “It could create somewhere to hang out that isn’t somewhere you could get in trouble. I love this court and hope to see it renovated.” Well … the letter worked. The producers decided to use the location, and suddenly everything got frantic as preparations moved ahead at full speed.

On April 17, 2010 the pilot was taped at the park. The show is called “Pat Summerall’s Sports Angels,” and it’s basically “Extreme Makeover” with a sports twist. Pat finds a problem. He brings in his sports buddies. They help fix it. (Here’s the producers’ news release about the show.)

The pro stars included former Dallas Cowboys Raghib “Rocket” Ismail and Mike Kiselak and Nancy Lieberman, the greatest woman’s basketball player of all time. They were joined by other volunteers and donors to the project. The volunteers worked pretty hard all day, sometimes in the rain.

Diana was a crucial player in the show. She was the character who brought out the “Sports Angels.” Here’s a fantastic photo of her explaining to Pat why this park was the one.

Here’s Diana with Rocket (left), Pat and Mike Kiselak. They saw Diana as the hero that she is!

Diana made sure that Summer Santa got involved. She arranged for him to get videotaped handing out toys as a reward to the kid volunteers. Way to go, Summer Santa! That’s your television debut.

Afterward, Nancy Lieberman decided to donate 30 camp scholarships to Summer Santa kids this summer. (Gosh, we need it. We have close to 400 applicants for 300 spots at various camps. We’re going to have to say no to some because we’re running out of funds. But you can help us by donating here.)

Here’s a video of Diana explaining how she put it all together.

Summer Santa thanks Pat Summerall, the producers, the volunteers and Diana Reyes. Of course, Cheryl Dastugue gets credit, too. She’s a new board member, but she illustrates that when serving a non-profit or any cause, it’s important to keep your eyes open for opportunities that come your way. The goal is to tell the world what you do, and there’s no better way than on television.

For 14 years, Summer Santa has tried to be a sports angel to thousands of kids. Teaming up with Pat Summerall’s Sports Angels is one of Summer Santa’s greatest honors.

FINAL NOTE: A shout-out of gratitude to the entire Summer Santa board and volunteers, especially Summer Santa Chairman Sue Howery and her two predecessors, Lori Burr and Sherri Whitt, who built Summer Santa into the powerful force of good that it is today.

Russell Maryland of Dallas Cowboys Visits Summer Santa

Summer Santa’s all-volunteer staff debuted a new event — The Summer Santa Flipping for Kids Pancake Supper. We had no way of knowing what to expect. Here’s Summer Santa Co-Founder Dave Lieber’s photo blog of the event. And visit SummerSanta.org for great information about our all-volunteer charity.

Our Honorary Chairman for the event was former Dallas Cowboys star Russell Maryland who supports SummerSanta.org. This autographed ball was a big raffle item for the event. Watch the remarks by Russell Maryland at the event here.

Former Summer Santa Treasurer Sally Simpson and former Chairman Lori Burr (right) welcomed the many pancake lovers who attended. Burr was a key innovator of this new event.

Reggie Lyon (left) of Southlake greets Summer Santa. Mr. Lyon donated money to send two area kids to summer camp this summer. That’s two kids of the 300 we expect to send.

Even the press knows how to dress for a Summer Santa event. Thank you Southlake Journal for “coming in uniform!”

Russell Maryland was a big hit the moment he walked in.

Oh, and the good ladies from the Greater Southlake Women’s Society dropped by and donated a check for $5,000 for our summer camp fund. Wow!

Russell Maryland signs a Summer Santa football for Lauren Ward of Fort Worth.

A happy Lauren Ward with her souvenir.

Russell Maryland and Summer Santa Co-Founder Brad Bradley.

Joe King, leader of the great charity Kids Matter International, visited with wife Sandy.

Best-selling author Allison Bottke (left) and Sara Miller, a quilting author, greet Summer Santa.

Kris Segelstrom (left) former head of Summer Santa’s back-to-school clothing program, and Diana Reyes, head of the successful 2010 Summer Santa Toy Drive, worked the tables.

We kept track of our fundraising by counting pancakes. Every $250 donation meant another kid goes to camp. The pancake tower kept growing, and more kids get to go to camp.

Austin Lieber, son of Summer Santa Co-Founder Dave Lieber, has been attending and helping at Summer Santa event his whole life. He was born the same year Summer Santa was created in 1997.

Nelson’s got pretty crowded.

Russell Maryland ate a few pancakes and signed autographs all night long.

He was patient with everyone and answers all questions.

Russell Maryland even brought along another former Cowboys star, Tony Tolbert!

Summer Santa Board member Dan Holmes of Southlake (left) and Event Coordinator Lori Burr.

Summer Santa Chairwoman Sue Howery gave Russell Maryland our 2010 “Caring for Kids” award. Well deserved!

Summer Santa Co-Founder Brad Bradley Honored

By Dave Lieber/Summer Santa Co-Founder

The Bible says a prophet hath no honor in his hometown, but that’s not true for Summer Santa Co-Founder Brad Bradley. The Texas municipal judge was honored by Southlake Style magazine when he received its annual Community Impact Award at a funny roast on January 27, 2011.

Bradley is honored because of his legacy of wonderful ideas. He has been the founder, creator, originator of nearly 30 non-profit groups that have improved the quality of life in North Texas and especially in his hometown of Southlake. Bradley helped create the town’s chamber of commerce and its education foundation, to name a few.

His idea in 1997 to create a children’s charity called Summer Santa was highlighted during the evening by several speakers. And the final speaker was me, his Summer Santa co-founder, Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Dave Lieber

Summer Santa Co-Founders Brad Bradley (left) and Dave Lieber, the author of this blog

Here are excerpts of my remarks about Judge Bradley:

My name is Dave Lieber, and I’m The Watchdog columnist for the Star-Telegram, and I’m going to watchdog his butt tonight…

They talked tonight about the 28 non-profits that Brad has started, and that’s really why I’m here.

Cause everybody in this room believes in the power of the idea. I look around this room and everybody here is an idea person. Joe King is here from Kids Matter International. Mike Farhat, a bright businessman. Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes, who’s one of the best public officials I’ve met. There’s Roxann Taylor and Dan Holmes. I mean, you’re all idea people.

When Brad and Gary [who was Southlake mayor 20 years ago] got involved, Southlake was an idea. And now it’s grown into one of the greatest places in the United States of America. And I’m so glad we’re here tonight because the reason Southlake grew into a giving and caring community is because Brad Bradley helped set the tone for this town.

And I know this because one day in January of 1997 I got a phone call from Judge Bradley who said, “Meet me for breakfast.” And you know I didn’t know if I was in trouble.

So we go to Bailey’s in Hurst and he says, “I’ve got to tell you a story. My son Ryan, he went to volunteer at a charity for Christmas and they turned him away. They said they had too many volunteers. Then I see in your newspaper there’s an article and it says, ‘After the holidays, charities need volunteers.’ So they don’t have enough volunteers from January through November, just in December. And that reminds me of the kids who don’t have any presents from January through November. They just get presents in December. Everybody goes nuts with the Angel Tree. So what if we created a group that collected toys for kids in the summer and called it Summer Santa?”

And that was the idea. Just like that. And so I said, “Wow, I really like that. Summer Santa. Can I work with you on that?”

… He comes up with the idea. He’s around while we launch it. And still, 15 years later, whenever we need help from him, we call him for the big things. But we’ve got women, mostly from Southlake — Roxann was one of our founding board members — and we’ve got the Southlake Women’s Club and the National Charity League of Southlake and a whole bunch of other clubs in Southlake that I’ll get in trouble for not mentioning, and they all help us out.

So from that simple idea came this: services to 33,000 children, $640,000 in camp scholarships for 3,000 kids, $120,000 for 1,200 children for back-to-school clothing, 400 pre-camp and back-to-school free medical checkups, distributed 32,000 toys for kids in crisis through our partner charities.

[LONG APPLAUSE]

He had the idea. Southlake women made it happen. The reason why Summer Santa is here 15 years later is because of Southlake women. Yes, they’ve been helped by women in Grapevine, Keller and Colleyville and elsewhere, but Southlake women are the heart of the organization.

So multiply that times 28, and this guy’s tentacles, they reach everywhere, in every part of the city. And if you like Southlake, if you love Southlake, then you respect what Brad did. He and Gary – with the help of a lot of other idea people – created something special.

And I have never met anybody in my life who has a mind like he has. And I love him. Yeah, I’ll roast him and toast him, but all I can do is boast him, because he’s a genius.  God bless you, Brad Bradley. Thank you.

# # #

Summer Santa, which is one of North Texas’ largest children’s charities, was named “Best Way to Keep the Spirit Year Round” winner by the magazine for 2010, too. Thanks, Southlake Style and Mike and Nicole Tesoriero.

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