I am an artist. I have been doing theater since I was a child. I spent 20 years on the road with a traveling theater company both acting and directing plays. I also have a Masters degree in Theater Arts from Portland State University. In addition, I worked alongside several theater companies in Seattle, mostly as a writer, but I also did some acting and quite a bit of directing. I recently returned to Aberdeen, WA, looking around I saw many empty buildings and so many others that were in need of repair. I also saw signs directing people to other nearby communities and I thought to myself "No, we need to keep people here. What can I do to make a difference?" Several days later, as I spoke with people in my church congregation the idea was birthed. I saw Shakespeare in the park several times in Seattle. It drew people in. It would certainly attract tourists. Perhaps this could put us on the map, I spoke with the head of the local renewal movement. In addition to the renewal movement, he is getting people together to form an arts district in the community and I am part of that movement, as well. He gave me some ideas of where to look for money. He also introduced me to several locals who were also interested. I gathered together a board of people who are from our county.  We have grown to 8 people. We also have a Facebook page with over 100 likes. I set up a table at the local Farmers Market last summer to get the word out. We had an article in the paper and a local blog about what we are doing. I was also on local talk radio. We have had a few donations and we just got our 501 (c) 3 recently. I have heard lots of positive feedback. Many people are really excited about the idea and we are hoping to grow into presenting other kinds of work throughout the county. On Nov. 30th, we will be having a bake sale to get some funding. In order to get word out about the fundraiser I called the local radio station to have them make a PSA telling people about it. I announced it in church Sunday and I have been telling others about it. We also have recently put up a website and we hope to gather even more attention with that. We want people to come here. We will also be applying to local foundations and state grants. My board had the idea of having a Shakespeare workshop to introduce the actors to the language of Shakespeare. The idea is growing, and we are getting more and more excited to bring Shakespeare to our community.