A Dream Come True...

When the Phelps County Community Foundation, under the leadership of Bruce Hendrickson, made a strong commitment to raise the necessary funds to build a state-of-the-art performance center for Phelps County, a coordination committee was established. The committee, made up of representatives from city and county entities, proposed to set up policies and procedures for use of the center.

The committee began to meet regularly when ground was broken for the center. They researched policies and procedures from many other performance centers in the Midwest and began to formulate their own guidelines to oversee the operation of the center upon completion.

In 1999, a group of five individuals applied for and received an ArtsREACH Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to assess the cultural climate of our community. Sylvia Person served as chairman of this procedure. During this yearlong process, involving many people from the community, the consultant recommended that a non-profit organization be formed to oversee the programming and operation at the Tassel.

The Tassel is unique in that it was gifted to the Holdrege School District from the Phelps County Community Foundation and is therefore the property of the school district. The funds to build the center were the result of generous donations made by private individuals for a performance center and did not include tax money. It was established that the center would be available to the community as a cultural, educational, social, and entertainment venue.

The Tassel Coordination Committee became the Tassel Coordination Council, Inc. in 2001, a non-profit corporation. The Council also took the necessary steps to achieve a 501(c)3 exempt status from the IRS. Under the guidance of Ms. Vickie Lawrence, then President of the council, a fund drive began to finance the hiring of an Executive Director. Executive Director responsibilities entailed coordinating use of the Tassel for activities that are not school related.

In May of 2003, Ms. Vicky DeWald, a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, was hired as Executive Director. Her excellent organizational skills and expertise in technical theater management have led the Council in the establishment of many new procedures and plans for the future.

In June of 2004, Ranae Krajewski was hired as Executive Director. Also a University of Nebraska at Kearney graduate, Ranae's fine arts background served as further stimulus for the development of The Tassel once Vicky began grad school.

Rachel Morgan took over as Executive Director in the fall of 2005.  Since then the Tassel Coordination Council has begun presenting a season every year, presenting a children's community theatre every summer, and providing new and exciting ways for the community to become involved in the arts. 

The Mission of the Tassel Coordination Council is to make the Tassel a world-class venue that promotes and supports the performing and visual arts in South Central Nebraska. The goal, therefore, is to use The Tassel for performances, meetings and other types of events. It is the hope of the council that The Tassel can become the best performance center between Lincoln and Denver, as envisioned by the many citizens who donated funds to build the facility.