A.

Organizational Information
1. Brief summary of your organization and a summary of organization mission and
goals.
The Friends of the Potlatch Library is a small, non-profit organization
committed to supporting and improving the Potlatch Public Library through local
volunteerism. During their two decades of community service, the Friends have
raised awareness in several attempts including the Summer and Winter Reading
Program initiatives, yearly fundraisers, and through organizing community events
such as an annual dinner theatre to promote the librarys goal of encouraging the
arts and culture in Potlatch.
2. Description of current programs, activities, service statistics, accomplishments
and strengths of your organization.
For over 100 years the Potlatch Library has been the cultural and educational
cornerstone of the Potlatch community. They provide a place where people of all
ages can gather to enjoy the unique Potlatch experience. As the primary support
organization for the Potlatch Library, the Friends assist the staff with planning and
executing the librarys programs, the most prominent being the Summer Reading
Program, the Winter Reading Program, and the annual dinner theatre.
The Potlatch Summer Reading Program, in partnership with the national
Collaborate Summer Library Program, encourages kids to continue reading during
the summer by creating a reading list of suggested titles and offering prizes and
gifts to children who complete certain reading goals over the summer. The Friends
also add their own local twist to the program by inviting speakers and performers
such as NASA scientists, magicians, and Reptile Man, a local herpetologist, to
demonstrate the wonders of learning while keeping kids coming into the library. In
contrast to the kid-focused Summer Reading Program, the Winter Reading Program
caters to the adults in Potlatch by concentrating on more challenging works and
inviting speakers such as local authors, poets, and musicians. Lastly, their most
beloved program is the annual dinner theatre, held at Potlatchs historic Log Inn
Cabin. The Potlatch Friends dinner theatre is a one night cultural event that
combines good company, great food, and excellent performers to create a fun night
for the whole family.
The Potlatch Library is the cultural and communal heart of the town, the
place where old and young come together to appreciate the arts and celebrate the
unique culture and history of this amazing community. By bringing in speakers and
performers who appeal to Potlatchs rural setting, the Friends increasing communal
support for the library while enhancing the arts and culture in Potlatch by
introducing them directly to the community.
3. Your organization's relationship with other organizations working to meet the
same needs or providing similar services. Please explain how you differ from these
other agencies.
The Potlatch Friends have a strong partnership with the Potlatch Arts Council,
another local organization which assists the Friends in planning the Potlatch dinner
theatre. The Potlatch Arts Council exclusively focuses on inviting artists,

entertainers, and musical groups to perform in Potlatch. While they do fill a muchneeded role in the Potlatch community, the Potlatch Arts Council only plans one day
events or performances, while the Friends of the Potlatch Library focus more on
organizing months long programs, such as the Summer and Winter Reading
programs, and on providing fundraising and other support specifically for the
Library.

B. Purpose of Grant
1. Situation
The primary problem facing the Friends of the Potlatch Library is the need to
secure a relevant entertainer geared towards the Potlatch community for the 2017
dinner theatre. As the Friends strategy for increasing community appreciation for
the arts and culture relies on providing entertainment relevant to a small, rural
town, the Friends have decided to hire Tim Behrens, star of The McManus
Comedies, a one-man show that lampoons hunting and fishing culture, to perform
at the dinner theatre. However, the Friends do not currently have the funds to pay
Mr. Behrens and cater the event while also having enough left over for their other
programs in 2017. To remedy this situation and provide the community-based
entertainment that Potlatch needs to encourage the growth of local arts and culture,
the Friends request a $3000 grant to help cover the costs of Tim Behrens fee.
2. Specific Activities
The Friends of the Potlatch Library seek $3000 to pay for Tim Behrens
performance fee during the 2017 Potlatch dinner theatre. While the dinner theatre
also includes promotion, catering, and set-up, the Friends and the Potlatch Arts
Council will cover these costs with donations, volunteer labor, and the two
organizations budgets.
3. Impact of Activities
Tim Behrens is one of the best solo acts in the entire Inland Northwest, with a
hilarious act focusing on fishing and hunting. Securing him as the dinner theatres
entertainer would ensure turnout for the event is high, fostering a love for arts and
culture in the Potlatch community. Mr. Behrens long track record of impressive
performances combined with a subject matter that speaks directly to the unique,
rural culture of Potlatch guarantees a successful event sure to attract community
members to what will truly be a celebration of small town culture.
The Friends are estimating a turnout between 30-50 people for the
performance, roughly the same amount as in years past. Despite appearing to be a
relatively small turnout, 50 people out of a town of 800 actually represents a high
percentage of community participation and is the largest amount of people the
Friends could service.
C. Evaluation
1. How will you measure the effectiveness of your activities?

The Friends intend to measure the effectiveness of the dinner theatre by

counting the number of people who attend, passing out surveys asking attendees to
evaluate the quality of both the performance and the rest of the event (the food,
the venue, etc.), and by soliciting suggestions for what future performances should
focus on. In doing so, the Friends will measure both qualitatively and quantitatively
the level of interests Potlatch has in Tim Behrens and his small town comedy act.
This will enable the Friends to either book similar performers for future dinner
Theatres or to seek out different acts that might better appeal to the Potlatch
community.

2. Define your criteria (measurable, if possible) for a successful program and the
results you expect to have achieved by the end of the funding period.
Ultimately, the success or failure of the 2017 dinner theatre will be based on
the level of interest the event generates in Potlatch arts and culture. Therefore, high
turnout and high satisfaction rates from the audience are the primary criteria for
measuring a successful dinner theatre, as they would indicate the Potlatch
community participated in the event and had an enjoyable evening. By the end of
the funding period, the Friends hope to have increased community interest in the
Potlatch Library and the arts and culture in general, paving the way for more
successful events in the future.
3. Who will be involved in evaluating this work (staff, board, constituents,
community, consultants)?
The main evaluator for this event, as it is for all community events, will be
the community members who attend, and this is the group the Friends are going to
pay the most attention when planning for future dinner theatres. The Friends will
also hold a meeting to discuss amongst themselves what went right and what they
need to fix, as well as to consider suggestion from both the community and the
Friends for entertainers to invite in the future.
4. How will evaluations be used to improve your program?
When they begin evaluating the dinner theatre, the first thing the Friends
intend to do is review how many community members attended the event. If they
fall short of their expected attendance or fail to do as well as they hope, the Friends
would likely take this as a signal to either completely change the format of future
dinner theatres or to cancel the event.
Assuming that a good number of people attend, however, then the Friends
intend to use the feedback from the members and from the community to decide
whether or not to invite Tim Behrens next year or find someone else, what food and
drinks to serve, whether or not they should change the venue, and how to better
organize and advertise the event in the future.

Budget for Tim Behrens

Payment of Performer:

$3,000

Event Center:

In-Kind Donation

Food for Event:

$1,000 Donations

Promotion:

$150 from Art Council

Set up and Labor:

Volunteers, organized by the

Friends

Cost to attend:

$15 to $20 per person

Names of Corporations, Foundations, and other

grant sources being solicited
None at this time, addition costs will be covered by the budget of
the Potlatch Arts Council, the Friends of the Library, as well as
donations.

The Friends of the Library Board

Judy B. LaLonde, Chair and Clerk
Term: 2013-2017
Rochelle Smith, Vice Chair
Term: 2015-2019
Nancy Sprague
Term: 2015-2019
Jen Root
Term: 2015-2017
Ivar Nelson
Term: 2015-2021

Key Staff
The Friends of the Potlatch Library work very closely with the
library itself. Donna Shanaman and Donna Quiring, the librarian of
Potlatch and a member of the Friends of the Potlatch Library, have
been planning this event and coordinating the movement behind
the Dinner Theater. The choice of the performer was made by the
board of the Friends of the Potlatch Library because of the unique
needs of the community. They both live in Potlatch and
understand that the community was lacking family friendly
entertainment that would allow adults to come together and

laugh over a common topic such as hunting and fishing, which is

what the performer specializes in.