Sonora, CA…The Sonora Area Foundation has announced Sierra Repertory Theatre as recipient of the 2017 Irving J. Symons Community Impact Award, an honor this year accompanied by a grant of $40,000. The award is presented by the Irving J. Symons Foundation for Tuolumne County, a supporting organization of the Sonora Area Foundation.

Selections are normally announced at the end of year, however the 2017 award was presented early in honor of the imminent retirement of SRT founding members Dennis and Sara Jones. They will step down on July 31 after 37 years at the helm of the company, with Dennis as producing director and Sara as managing director.

“Sierra Repertory Theatre exists today thanks to the vision, effort and sacrifice of founders Dennis and Sara Jones and it seems fitting to give them this award in Irving’s name,” said Bill Polley, president of the Irving J. Symons Foundation. “As Sonora Area Foundation would not exist without Irving Symons, Sierra Repertory Theatre would not be here without Dennis and Sara Jones.”

In a joint statement, the couple thanked the Sonora Area Foundation “for this profound honor.”
“Our greatest wish as we retire from Sierra Rep is to leave the organization in good health, so that it may continue to thrive and serve the community for many years into the future,” they said. “This gift helps tremendously in that objective. SRT will use these funds to pay for the artistic expenses of producing the great theater our audiences have come to expect — wonderful artists, terrific sets and costumes, and other production expenses.”

Dennis and Sara Jones were among Sierra Rep’s five founding members, all veterans of the University of the Pacific’s summer stock program at the Fallon House Theater in Columbia.

“I was 23 when we started and Dennis was 33, and we’ve always loved what we do,” Sara said.
Their first show was presented in 1980 in a converted warehouse in East Sonora. Fellow co-founder Doug Brennan continues to work with the company as stage manager, while David and Kathryn Kahn left in 1982 but remain friends.
Since its inception, Sierra Rep’s mission has been “to produce a broad range of theatrical literature at a quality equal to any theater in the state; to pay artists and staff a living wage, and to make a vibrant contribution to the community’s economy, culture and spirit.”

Dennis Jones, now 70, will continue to direct and design one or two shows each year for Sierra Rep. Sara Jones — still below retirement age — will soon begin a search for the second job of her life.

“I’m hoping to find a wonderful new home to share my skills,” she said, with possible options including accounting, payroll, human resources and other areas of talent she has developed over nearly four decades as a theater company manager.

She added that the couple intend to remain living in Tuolumne County. “We’re not going anywhere,” she said. “We feel so lucky to have spent our lives here.”

Replacing them at the top of the organization on Aug. 1 will be Scott Viets as producing artistic director and Becky Saunders as managing director. Viets has served as the company’s artistic director for 15 years, while Saunders has been with SRT over many years as an actor, director and stage manager.

“The next few years will be about efficiency and sustainability, while bringing SRT fully into the 21st century,” Viets said. “I am honored and humbled to have been one of those chosen by Dennis and Sara Jones to ensure that this incredible institution they created continues to not only survive but thrive for all generations, now and into the future.”

The Sonora Area Foundation has a long history of support for Sierra Repertory Theatre, for such projects as youth and community programs, funding additional guest artists and core support.

Past recipients of the Irving J. Symons Community Impact Award include the Center for a Non-Violent Community, Tuolumne County Archives, WATCH, Children’s Holiday Party, Smile Keepers, WINGS Fund, We Care Sober Living, Interfaith Community Social Services and Catholic Charities.

The Sonora Area Foundation, along with its supporting organizations, the Irving J. Symons Foundation for Tuolumne County and Symons Family Fund, has assets of about $43 million and awarded more than $23.5 million in grants since 1990.

For more information, call 533-2596 or go online to www.sonora-area.org.