Tyler

By JACQUE HILBURN

Feature Writer

The Texas Rose Festival pays homage to Tyler's favorite flower, but putting a creative spin to the long-standing tradition seems to require generous amounts of creativity, commitment and cooperation.

Committee members working on Queen Grace Hartley Ramey's Coronation, scheduled for a Friday performance, began planning in February to establish a theme, refine the design, incorporate movements and set it to music.

After the last bow is taken and the curtains close for the evening, those who spend months preparing for the occasion say they emerge from the experience with more than a fleeting feeling of relief.

Amid the struggles and headaches, bonds emerge.

"We knew each other before, but we didn't know each other well," said Laura Waits, who co-chairs the coronation committee. "Now we're really good friends."

Nodding in agreement, co-chair Suzanne Curtis said, "Now it's like we finish each other's sentences."

In deciding a theme for the 2007 Texas Rose Festival, the women said the committee was comfortable using a topic with a universal appeal: maintaining a healthy environment.

"Nature's Majesty," was selected to reflect society's emphasis on protecting and nurturing the environment, said Mrs. Waits, adding, "You have to make sure whatever you do fits Tyler."

Mrs. Curtis said, "I thought it would be easy because it was so broad. It was fun thinking of things we could do."

The difficult part was narrowing the list of possibilities, the women said.



TALENTS, TRADITIONS

Lucinda Kittrell and Lynn Ramey have been lending their production expertise to the coronation efforts for the past decade.

The stirrings of their enduring friendship began after they each agreed to help out with the festival - the outspoken Mrs. Kittrell in a directing type role and Mrs. Ramey as the mastermind behind the dance moves.

Both credit an old friend and mentor, the late Al Gilliam, longtime director for the Tyler Civic Theatre and the original director for the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles, with helping cultivate their interests in fine arts.

The chemistry has been successful in pulling together shows and remaining friends at the end of the day.

"We put our strengths together," said Mrs. Ramey, a former Apache Belle. "Our paths don't really cross outside the Rose Festival, but when festival time rolls around, I always think of her. This is a fun time to be together and catch up, but it's also a working time. We have fun together, it's not all business."

They seem to serve in an often thankless role, filled with countless tiny details that can publicly make - or break - a production.

Both women appear to enjoy a challenge.

"The creative process is so fun," said Mrs. Kittrell, a real estate professional who has a theater background. "Acting is what I really love so it's fun to apply my craft with individual talent and a group of 10 to 12 hard-working volunteers."

After the committee comes up with a theme, work begins to create a full-scale theater production, complete with music.

Young participants gather briefly in the summer to learn the moves, but a full dress rehearsal is not conducted until the day before the event.

"That is their first time in the costumes," said Mrs. Ramey. "Sometimes we have to retool the moves."

Entertainment this year will be provided by individual vocalists and Tyler Junior College Apache Belles, who will perform two numbers.

Back for the 14th year, Fernando Vicencio and the Moondance Orchestra will perform upbeat tunes and traditional favorites. Holly Marsh is music coordinator. She's been finding and sorting through tunes for the festival's orchestra for the past six years.

"It's really a group effort," she said. "The committee comes up with the music and we try to locate it."

The search for the right combination of notes often leads to hours of listening and sorting through tapes, CDs and online music sites. There have been near misses along the way, she acknowledged, recalling a committee member's discovery in a second hand book and record store.

"We were lucky," said Ms. Marsh. "It was on vinyl."

SHOW TIME

The Queen's Coronation and Court Presentation is slated for the R. Don Cowan Fine & Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd.

Tickets for the 7:30 performance on Friday are $25 for balcony seating, rows E-FF; $30, main floor rows HH-NN; $40 balcony, rows A-D; $45 evening, main floor, rows C-GG.

Purchases may be made by phone at TRF Office at 903-597-3130 or faxing 903-597-3031. For online inquiries, go to www.texasrosefestival.com or e-mail info@texasrosefestival.com.

Set designs by Dallas' Winn Morton feature a garden, three dimensional gazebo, hand painted butteries, snowflakes and leaves.

The Duchess of the Rose Growers, representing autumn, will be wearing a gown that features vibrant colors of the season.

Dresses worn by Ladies-In-Waiting will include evergreens, flower, birds and elements of winter, spring and summer seasons. Duchesses, presented in five groups, will wear attire featuring components of water, landscaping, animal and insect life and the mysteries of night. Attendants' costumes will include three dimensional roses and velvet ribbons.

Coronation committee members predict the elements of nature will capture the spirit of the message.

Mrs. Kittrell and Mrs. Ramey said they plan to celebrate the occasion by honoring a tradition of their friendship.

As the curtains start to open on the matinee, they search out three open seats - one for themselves and one for Gilliam, who died in 1988.

"We pretend like he's there and likes what he sees," said Mrs. Ramey.