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Date: 11/7/2023
MONSON — The Monson Arts Council presented volunteer Rich Dionne with the 2023 Feather In Your Cap Award on Oct. 27 to recognize his dedication and support toward the MAC theater program for nearly three decades.
Monson Arts Council President Peter Barnett presented the award in Memorial Hall before the first performance of this year’s theater production, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.”
The Feather In Your Cap Award began in 2022 to celebrate the return of the MAC theater program after tornado damage to Memorial Hall, where the shows are performed, halted the program, Barnett explained.
The award was named after Monson resident Phyllis Hull’s “A Feather in Her Cap,” the first production performed by the MAC theater program over 40 years ago, Barnett stated. In 2022, Hull was the first recipient of the Feather In Your Cap Award.
Dionne, this year’s recipient, was gifted the award for his help with the theater’s light and sound work, Barnett said. “He’s been working with the Monson Arts Council for almost 30 years since M-PACT, his employer, was downstairs and he came up and helped the theater here [in Memorial Hall],” Barnett said at the ceremony. “He’s probably the most giving person I have ever known and well-deserving of this award.”
Barnett highlighted that Dionne has been available to help at nearly every show’s performance and rehearsal since he first began in the 1990s, totaling “hundreds of hours over the years.”
Moving forward, the Monson Arts Council plans to continue giving the Feather In Your Cap Award annually, Barnett said in an interview.