Joan and Margaret Fund

My cousin Doug McRae and I have recently set up a charitable trust fund to honour the memory of our mothers, Joan McRae and Margaret Carley. We have chosen, as the recipient of trust proceeds, the Peterborough Theatre Guild. The Fund is administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough and the prospectus follows...

Joan McRae and Margaret Carley

The Peterborough Theatre Guild (PTG) thrives on the support and talent of its enthusiastic volunteers. For many decades, that hard-working team included Joan McRae and Margaret Carley. The sisters-in-law left the limelight and footlights to others, choosing to share their expertise behind the scenes.

Joan McRae was a longtime volunteer and worked in several areas at the PTG, including backstage and props. She served on the PTG's Play Selection Committee, where she was able to draw on her extensive knowledge of literature. Joan was very acting as the Guild's representiative at the Eastern Ontario Drama League and, in 1988, received the EODL's Outstanding Service Award for her many contributions at that level.

Margaret Carley, like her sister-in-law, greatly enjoyed her years as a PTG volunteer. Among other tasks, she did props and was the Treasurer for a number of EODL and Theatre Ontario festivals. Possibly her greatest ongoing contribution was co-ordinating the PTG's ticket sales. This was in the pre-computer era, when all the seating requests and sales were done by cheque, mail and phone call. For long periods of time Margaret's dining table was a morass of incoming mail orders - all sorted and fulfilled with precision.

These two dedicated volunteers are being remembered with the Joan and Margaret Fund, administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Foundation. The mandate of the Fund is focused on 'skills development' at the PTG, both on and offstage.

Tax Deductible contributions can be made through the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough.