Today, on her 91st birthday, staff and friends gathered to dedicate the elevator at Hudson Hall to Ellen V. Thurston.
Thurston, who had served on the Hudson Hall Board of Directors on and off since 1996 and was, for close to two decades, the principal organizer of Winter Walk, was named Hudson Hall's first Director Emerita earlier this year. She made a substantial contribution to the capital campaign that enabled the final phase of the historic building's restoration to be completed in 2017. It was her original thought that a dressing room for the newly restored performance space might bear her name, but as time passed, it seemed more appropriate to dedicate the elevator, which the staff were already affectionately calling "The Ellenvator," to her.
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Left to right: Jennifer Thurston, Ellen's grandniece; Sage Carter, Hudson Hall general manager; Ellen; Tambra Dillon, Hudson Hall executive director
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With a ceremonial ribbon cutting this afternoon, the lift was officially dubbed the "Ellen V. Thurston Elevator." Gossips was honored to be present at the event.COPYRIGHT 2022 CAROLE OSTERINK
What a wonderful event for Ellen! Happy Birthday Ellen!
ReplyDeleteThe amount of influence Ellen has had on the growth of Hudson through the years has been outstanding. An elevator should be just a small token of her worth. Thank you, Ellen, for all you've done to make this a better place.
ReplyDeleteBetsy Miller