Students warm up in the current theatre space at Monsignor McCoy High School on Oct. 13, 2022. (Photo Courtesy Bob Schneider)

By Chris Brown

On Oct. 21

Double donations on Match Day for McCoy theatre

Oct 16, 2022 | 10:00 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The stage is set for a big day for the Friends of McCoy Society and the push to build a theatre for the city’s Catholic school division.

Fine arts programs within the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education have grown over the years at the elementary, junior high and senior high levels. Helen Snortland, co-chair of the Friends of McCoy Society says it’s time for a theatre facility at the high school so they can keep building and provide more opportunities for students.

“When you have a theatre that’s available for practice you become familiar with that space and so when you’re presenting you’ve been in that space. It’s like home,” she says.

“And also when you’re working in a theatre daily the students are becoming familiar with the sound system there and the lighting the technical end of it, when they’re dancing they’re used to the feel and the size. So there’s all kinds of advantages. It just intensifies the program and helps a program to build.”

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Schools in the division currently have to stage their theatre shows at other city theatres, like the Esplanade, the Eresman Theatre at Medicine Hat College or the Medicine Hat Musical Theatre Playhouse.

The Friends of McCoy Society aims to build 280-seat theatre within a performance/athletics centre at Monsignor McCoy High School. It will be called the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis Centre.

Fundraising began in April 2021 with a virtual concert featuring alumni from the Catholic division. This past summer an anonymous donor gave $10,000 to the project and an opportunity for the much more.

“Our donor also offered on top of that that we have a 24-hour matching day where anything that came in within a 24-hour period they would double, they would match,” says Snortland.

Match Day is Friday, Oct. 21. Snortland says students across the division have been fundraising and bringing in money already, and are waiting until the end of the week to officially donate to have them matched.

Snortland says the Friends of McCoy Society hopes to have the theatre ready in time for students in Grade 10 this year to stage a show in before they graduate.

“And we’re hoping that we will reach alumni and community members too because we’re looking at this theatre going beyond just in the Catholic district, that it would be available for community,” Snortland adds.

If you would like to donate on Match Day you can drop it off at McCoy from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 or any other Catholic school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can also donate online through the Friends of McCoy Society page at canadahelps.org.