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07/03/2018 08:00 AMPat Bloomquist may be newly retired from her six years serving as a pivotal member of the Branford Community Foundation (BCF) board, but her passion to help community causes, and build community among Branford residents, continues.
That dedication will come full circle on Friday, July 13 when Pat helps BCF host Hometown Harmonies at Branford’s Owenego Inn & Beach Club. Pat and her husband, John, co-own the Owenego with members of John’s family.
Pat’s thrilled to talk up Hometown Harmonies, as a brand-new, community-wide party that will celebrate community while raising awareness and funds for efforts supported by BCF.
“I’ve been thinking it’s important to gather the community together so that everyone can learn a bit more about the Branford Community Foundation and what it is the foundation does. And on this night, it’s going to be a night in which we celebrate Branford as well as the work of the foundation,” says Pat.
Hometown Harmonies will also serve to celebrate community heroine and past BCF president and board member Eunice Lasala, who will be recognized for her impact on Branford.
“Eunice gives so tirelessly to the community and is involved in so many organizations. She is a role model to many,” says Pat, counting herself among them.
The community is invited to gather at the Owenego beginning at 5:30 p.m. on July 13 to enjoy all that Hometown Harmonies has to offer. Guests can contribute a pay-what-you-can entry fee and begin their evening with selections for sale from food trucks as well as a cash bar on the seaside grounds of the Owenego. Beginning at 7 p.m., with the assistance of BCF board member Colin Sheehan, the Owenego’s temporary big tent will host multiple live musical performances.
Audiences who enjoyed spring and summer musical theatre presented by Branford High School (BHS), Walsh Intermediate School (WIS), Tabor Arts Branford, and Shoreline Theatre Company (STC) will want to be there to hear many of the numbers re-visited by cast members of Shrek (BHS), The Little Mermaid (WIS), Peter Pan, Jr. (Tabor), Disney Magic Cabaret (Tabor), Hairspray (STC), and Aladdin, Jr. (STC). The musical entertainment is being coordinated and hosted by Sheehan, co-founder/director of STC and co-director of BHS and Tabor Arts Branford musical theatre programs.
The stage will also be shared by none other than Broadway star Donnie Kehr as well as several talented Branford performance alumni, including award-winning Broadway producer Greg Nobile (BHS Class of 2011).
“One thing I’m excited for with this event is that there will be so many connections,” says Pat. “When Colin was a young child, he received a grant for his organization, MusiKidz—so the foundation had trust in him to support him, and now look what he’s doing. And Greg, who is sponsoring a version of [his co-owned] Friki Tiki piano bar, as a young boy was recipient of a grant for the Lemonade Gang with Ryan [Pat’s son]. And now, Greg has started a [BCF] fund.”
“It’s just a terrific way of giving back,” Pat continues. “And those kids now are teaching the next generation of kids—not only about a passion for the arts, but a passion for philanthropy. So I think that’s what we’re going to celebrate that evening.”
She adds that many of the talented local adults who will perform that night graduated from BHS and are now working in the arts, and many of them were touched by BCF through the foundation’s support of programs such as the BHS choral and musical groups.
That’s just another example of the night’s community connections, Pat points out.
“Basically, everyone involved throughout the evening has been touched in some way by the Branford Community Foundation, even if they’re not immediately aware of it. Many of those [BHS] students also learned about giving back to the community through those groups, with performances like the ones at Woolsey Hall,” Pat says.
The bi-annual BHS Choir Woolsey Hall performances, arranged by now-retired BHS Choral Director Cathyann Roding, raised money for community causes. In another connection on July 13, Roding will be providing the musical direction for Hometown Harmonies. Of course, that’s not Roding’s only connection to BCF, Pat notes.
“When Cathyann, who taught so much to so many of our kids, retired, Colin organized the concert for Cathyann, and the proceeds for that concert went into a [BCF] fund for the Cathyann Roding Scholarship Fund.”
A long-time Branford resident who grew up in town, Pat and John have raised their four children (Ryan, Tess, Ellie, and Hanna) in Branford. Pat says it was her pleasure to join the BCF board as a way to give back to her community and to support BCF’s ability to make an impact on the lives of residents, including her own family.
“It feels great to be able to be a part of the organization and to give back,” says Pat.
In addition to BCF supporting the efforts of the Lemonade Gang for many years (which Ryan and Greg started at age six, and continued for well over a dozen years, raising funds supporting research of the Myelin Project and childhood cancers), BCF celebrated and supported Bloomquist’s daughter, Hanna, who was born with cancer and is now an up-and-coming local theatre kid as well as an active Make-A-Wish child and supporter of Camp Rising Sun.
In addition to her work on behalf of BCF, another way Pat helps to give back to Branford and beyond is by offering the Owenego as a venue for many non-profit and community program fundraisers. She says sharing the Owenego continues the legacy of her husband’s aunt and Owenego founder, the late Jane Rosenthal.
“It is our philosophy, and a philosophy shared and taught to us by Jane Rosenthal,” says Pat. “Jane absolutely loved the town of Branford and she loved the Owenego. Her members here were like her family and she loved sharing the grounds and her gardens with everyone. So it was very important to her to always give back, and that’s something that John and I and John’s brother, Frank, and sister, Jane, want to continue.”
Pat also is thankful for the continuing support of the Owenego’s staff for pitching in with each event. BCF Executive Director Liza Petra says Pat’s quiet passion and consistent efforts on behalf of the work of the BCF Board will be missed.
“Pat’s commitment to Branford has shone through her dedicated service on the Board of Directors of the Branford Community Foundation. She has advocated for a community event like Hometown Harmonies since she came on the board in 2012, and it is thrilling that she will see her dream come to fruition this year,” says Petra.
Petra also notes of Pat, “...in addition to her work on the [BCF] Development Committee, she helped to establish two legacy funds during her tenure: one for her husband’s aunt, Jane W. Rosenthal in 2013 after her passing in 2012, and most recently in memory of her father, who passed away in 2017.”
Pat says there is perhaps no better way to honor them both than by establishing BCF endowment funds.
“When Jane passed away, we decided it would be a great idea to establish a fund in Jane’s name to honor her,” says Pat. “She gave so much during her life, we thought it would be a great way to continue those efforts in her memory.”
In much the same way, when Pat’s dad, James F. Ryan, passed away in August 2017, her family established a BCF fund to memorialize his love of the town and his commitment to the Branford community.
“He was very involved in the town and in many organizations, and rather than choosing one, we decided that the foundation would be a great solution, because the foundation gives to so many of the organizations,” says Pat.
BCF President Stephanie Farber says she values Pat’s innate understanding of the importance of BCF to the community. She adds that Pat’s contributions, both on the board and as a resident, resonate.
“It’s been my great pleasure and good fortune to have worked with Pat as a board member of BCF,” says Farber. “Pat has shared her voice and passion to make sure that the town of Branford remains a wonderful community in which to grow up, or raise a family, or retire. I’ll miss seeing her at the board table but am sure that she’ll continue to do all she can to better our community.”
While she will miss working with the BCF board, Pat says she’s honored to have been a part of it.
“It’s a wonderful organization. I feel very honored to have served on the board and to have seen it evolve since I arrived to include Liza and a professional staff behind the scenes that’s helped the foundation to grow. There’s great energy on the board and I only see it growing stronger,” says Pat.
Hometown Harmonies takes place on Friday, July 13, rain or shine, at the Owenego, 40 Linden Avenue, beginning at 5:30 p.m. To learn more about “Hometown Harmonies,” or to RSVP, visit www.branfordcommunityfoundation.org.