By Sara Strong
As the final act of Sally McFadden's life came to a close, the Luverne theater matriarch was honored nationally for her contributions.
The American Association of Community Theaters made her the recipient of the Spotlight Award after she died of cancer in November 2001. The certificate came in time for the celebration in which friends and family honored her life.
In the nomination letter to AACT, Nan Karr-Kaufenberg wrote, "Her dedication to theater impacted Green Earth Players for over 20 years. Sally insisted that Green Earth Players Community Theatre strive for excellence and professionalism in the productions of a variety of shows. She promoted the idea of educating the audience by producing dramas and lesser-known plays, which provided challenges and growth for the directors, actors and stage crew."
AACT gives about a dozen Spotlight Awards a year, and nominations are reviewed by committee members from across the country. AACT leaves the criteria fairly open but stipulates that the Spotlight Award recognizes outstanding dedication, service or contribution to theaters. The award acknowledges that those contributions made significant impacts on the quality of community theater.
On the set
McFadden was active in other aspects of the Luverne community, but theater was her passion.
Carole Achterhof was at her side when they started Green Earth Players in 1978.
Achterhof said she'll miss her as a friend and mentor. "Oh, we had so much fun. ... We competed for a lot of the same roles, which were usually sexually-frustrated middle-aged women. Either she got the part or I did, depending on the director."
Achterhof said, "We prided ourselves on being on the outer peripheries of the community rather than the inner circle, and we had a lot of fun with that."
When Achterhof's life became too busy to include much involvement in theater, McFadden stayed with it.
"She was devoted to it," Achterhof said. "She was married to the Green Earth Players."
Karr-Kaufenberg reiterated that in her nomination letter. "She stayed with it until the very end, attending the Green Earth Players dinner theater production the day before her final hospitalization."
But more than an apt theater leader, those close to her say she was a great person.
McFadden was busy with other aspects of her life, like raising five children, when Achterhof first came to town in the 1960s. That's when the two first became friends before they became partners in community theater.
Achterhof had two children and a husband who was still working in Duluth. She was lonely in a new town when McFadden called one day to offer her a cup of coffee.
"Sally was my best friend in Luverne," Achterhof said. "She was a nice, open, sharing, generous person."
She recalls many times of laughter and bonding within the GEP group. Another friend, Linda Dummer, said she'll remember McFadden as a sweet woman.
Achterhof said McFaddenÕs presence at her home on Spirit Lake will be missed.
For the woman who was so closely tied to the world of drama, the last days of McFadden's life reminded Achterhof of the movie "Beaches."
When she spent a long weekend on Spirit Lake, Achterhof saw her color wasn't good and she feared the end was near. "She was strong for all the people around her," Achterhof said. "I miss her."