A week of wonderful performances and professional adjudication at the Outlook and District Music Festival was marred by the theft of money from the door proceeds on its opening day.
At some point on Monday, April 1, approximately $475 was taken from the cash box. The first day of the festival sees a significant number of programs and passes sold, according to committee members, and the theft would certainly have an impact on the festival. President Sandy Stephenson remarked, 鈥淲e are just sick about this. Those door proceeds help us pay for the adjudicators and help fund scholarships. This is like taking scholarship money right out of the hands of our young people.鈥�
Nothing like this has happened at the festival before and the same procedures have been in place for years but this action has certainly caused concern for committee members. 鈥淚t is so unfortunate something like this happened,鈥� Stephenson remarked, 鈥渂ut we have had such a fantastic week and we look forward to many years of a strong festival. We have quite a number of new, young performers this year so the future looks great.鈥�
Stephenson added that after hearing of the theft, a local business owner reached out to the festival and offered to cover the loss. The festival is grateful for his support.
Music Festival scholarships and photos can be found in the April 11 issue of The Outlook.
