Janet Beach Memorial Fund
established at SPTC

Donations are coming in for a special memorial fund established in honor of a special patron of the arts who was vital to the creation and operation of the Santa Paula Theater Center. The Janet Beach Memorial Fund was established to honor the theater center’s “friend, advocate, founding board member and supporter,” who passed away last month, said Leslie Nichols, president of the SPTC Board of Directors.A Santa Paula 1997 Woman of History and fixture in many facets of the community, Janet died Thursday, January 13, 2000, after a sudden illness, at 71.“Janet was a founding member of our board and a dear friend to the theater as well as a supporter of many other organizations and schools in Santa Paula,” Nichols noted. “Because of her strength of spirit and commitment to both supporting the arts and to helping young people, SPTC felt that dedicating our production of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ to her memory seemed most appropriate.”Janet Beach devoted her energies to promotion of the arts, whether it be fine arts, music, or theater. She was not only a patron of the arts but a champion of them, spearheading programs that exposed students to arts programs - including creation of the Foundation for Youth that brings a variety of arts to the elementary school district - as well as promoting adult appreciation and patronage of same.The SPTC’s latest production is about a “young girl’s amazing strength of spirit and the never ending love she holds for her family as they face the horrors of the Holocaust. . .Janet embodied such strength and dedication to her family each and every day of her life,” Nichols added.