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PHOEBE COLLINS:
Hall of Fame 2003

1971 ushered in one of the most turbulent times in the history of Old Town Playhouse and the Traverse City Civic Players. It was Phoebe Collins, the first of our 2003 Hall of Fame inductees into, who presided over this amazing, difficult and rewarding time of transition.
From their early incarnation in the 60s the Civic Players grew steadily. They were uncharacteristically nomadic as they rehearsed and performed wherever they could. From 1960 to 1972 shows were rehearsed in unheated warehouses, the old airport building, churches and homes. Costumes were housed over a store on Front Street and sets were constructed mostly in Doug Hill’s warehouse and finished in the two nights of rehearsals allowed prior to opening night. Over the years shows were produced at the old school bus garage, at, what is now, Central High School and at the Park Place Dome.
Ahh…Those were the days!

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KEN PARKER:
2003 Hall of Fame

WITH A SONG IN HIS HEART

For Ken Parker, it was always the music that bewitched him, and along with it were the words. He founded the Antrim County News in Bellaire in 1947, where he served as not only owner, but also publisher, manager, editor and chief reporter. It was there that he indulged his love of words and continued later for 20 years as a reporter, editor and columnist for the Record Eagle. Many of you have seen and read his lighthearted, warm and often self-effacing columns in that newspaper over the years. They had a style about them that reminded us we were really just part of a small town, no matter how large this city had grown.

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