Items

• 
  2021-10-09

  The Challenges of Performing Arts During the Pandemic

  This is a short audio file that talks about what challenges I faced during the pandemic, including a performing arts that was shut down the day before opening night and then a successful fundraiser that raised $25,000.
• 
  2020-03-30

  Covid Parking

  I had a friend that kept telling me that the pandemic was fake. I told her that we needed to take it serious. When I took my daughter to the local urgent care for a doctors appointment, this was the parking lot scene. I just remember being blown away at the seriousness of the situation. The urgent care separated even those that came in for covid testing from the other patients, just to keep things extra safe.
• 
  2020-12-16

  Distance Learning Craziness

  Distance Learning was not for the faint of heart. My very social daughter struggled with distance learning because she needs people. This picture I posted on Instagram. Her teacher was a saint to be able to reach the kids even though he knew full well they were going a bit crazy at home.
• 
  2020-06-05

  Graduation Parade 2020

  High School graduation 2020 was one for the books for sure. My daughter was a part of the class that had to deal with all of the concerns about what graduation would look like. Our high school decided to have a graduation parade. For my daughter, this was the best possible way to have a graduation. My daughter, dressed in her graduation regalia and her brother, two sisters, and myself crammed into my little car and in a procession, joined a hundred other cars for Lassen High's graduation parade. We decorated the car and honked the horn as we drove by community members lined up on the streets. Teachers were stationed all along the parade route and waved at the students, they had not seen in months. The enthusiasm was contagious. Having a girl that has social anxiety, for her, sitting by mom in the car was the best feeling. As she got out of the car to walk up the stage, she was able to thank the school counselor who invested hours to help her graduate. It was certainly a graduation to remember, and hands down, my favorite graduation to attend.
• 
  2020-10-20

  A Public Performance in the Middle of the Pandemic

  For the last few years, I have coordinated an event called, Dancing for a Brand New Me. It is a fundraiser event that is designed to not only bring about awareness to domestic violence in Lassen County, but it is a fundraiser to help pay for the the mortgage of the shelter for victims. Last year was the 7th year that local "Susanville Stars" were partnered with local professional choreographers to dance three dances before judges similar to NBC's Dancing with the Stars. Our local stars are usually very active community members who spend about 5-6 months learning the dances, but they also fundraiser to get sponsors. It becomes a fun, healthy competition to see who can out dance and out raise funds with each other. Most of the choreographers have participated in the event for many years. It has become a community favorite, selling out tickets both nights the third weekend in October. In 2020, we had to come up with four different plans on how we would perform, because of the pandemic. Our plans included only performing a livestreamed show to relocating our event outdoors. Normally, the event is performed in the local Veterans Hall that is equipped with stage, lights, and sound. In September 2020, I wrote a proposal to public health outlining in detail how we would manage the event. It took weeks for public health to get back to us. But what they approved was that our event could be held at the local High School football stadium, we had to mark off 6-foot distance, require mask, and have screenings at the gate. We had hand sanitizer stations and we were instructed two things: limited seats (200 people) and whatever we did, when we live streamed to not show the audience. The article that I attached talks more about the event than the obstacle it took to put on the event. It is incredibly difficult to move sound equipment in and out of a football stadium every day for a week. It is hard to do a staged performance when you are surrounded by a dirt track. It is hard to have your dressing room be the football locker room. It was very difficult to make all of the modifications and changes that we did. But we did it. And it was an amazing event. Even though we weren't supposed to, we have about 400 people in the audience each night. Most did not wear mask and most were sitting very close to each other. Even one of the public health officials sat in the audience not following the "rules". The event raised over $25,000! Just two weeks after our event, many of the Halloweeen events led to a Covid-19 outbreak in our community and the cases rose rapidly. Prior to Dancing for a Brand New Me 2020, we had zero cases. After Halloween 2020 our cases skyrocketed for a small town. I saw that we happened to just squeeze in one performing arts event just in time before things got bad. I feel like we were lucky and it was probably why the event was so well attended. I have the newspaper article and my proposal attached.
• 
  2020-03

  Carla Dollar Oral History, 2020/03

  I was given the assignment to share a recipe I made during quarantine that started March 2020. However, the reality was that as an essential worker, I had no time to cook. And in my tiny, conservative town, we rallied together to support local business. We ordered more take-out foods during that time, to support our friends and family who owned restaurants, but also, just didn't have time to cook.
• 2020-10-14

  An Empty Theater

  Every year for the last 20 years, our community has planned, practiced, and performed a tribute to Broadway in a production called "Best of Broadway". We have a cast of over 100 local community members that sing and dance to 20 or so different Broadway songs. Our rehearsals are in an old Veterans Memorial building that comes to life during January to March with our songs, lights, and energy. The chants in the hall echos against the old walls, the stomping of feet on the stage threatens those downstairs, and the beat of the music pumps your heart. When one is in the hall, they are guaranteed to hear laughter in the back corner, a director shouting at the sound guy, and a piercing squeal in the speakers. The sounds in the hall define the busy enthusiasm of the cast and crew. However, this year, our production was shut down the day before our opening night due to Covid-19. The heartbreak of working for months on a show that was cancelled was devastating. After our annual production, we always have a day to clean and put our props and costumes away and clean the hall. But, this year, we just...left. The hall remains filled with our Broadway stuff. And when someone walks into the building, the silence of a show that was never performed is deafening.