This year, Hudson Hall’s annual Proprietors Ball on Saturday, May 5, was whimsically and lovingly dubbed the Great Gary Gala, in honor of the venerable venue’s founding executive director Gary Schiro. Schiro retired at the end of last year after being involved in the restoration of the old Hudson Opera House since the beginning of the project in 1992. Ever the showman, he left on a high note, handing the reins over to Tambra Dillon just after the total completion of those restorations. Last year’s ball was special, as it marked the grand reopening and renaming of the Hall, but this evening, with the drama of the unveiling having subsided, there was a unique joy in the air at Hudson Hall. It was an atmosphere of frivolity and appreciation for all Schiro has done for the building, Hudson, and the future of the local arts community moving forward. 

Gary Schiro and Tambra Dillon.
Theater artist Andrew Loren Resto and Hudson gallery owner Tom Swope.
Chuck Currie, Carol and David Nahon and Vern Bergelin.
Georgia Dent, Mattatuck Museum directer and Schiro’s husband Robert Burns, Jane Glucksman and Jack Perry.
George Lythe, Steve Corsun, Joe Ackiewicz, Dianne Hortmann and Kathleen Dooley.
A packed cocktail hour kicked off the gala.
Artist Judah Catalan, Dianne Townsend and Tony Albino.
Mary Ann Mailman, Alison Lankenau and Gun Nowak, founder of Face Stockholm
Mary Ann Mailman with Judith and Walter Flamendaum.
Award-wining local philanthropists Sheldon Evans and Martha McMaster with Hudson Area Library Director Emily Chameides and Hudson 3rd Ward Supervisor Michael Chameides.
Founder of the Second Ward Foundation Walter Sudol, artist J.D. Ervin, whose “Every Day People” project will soon be exhibited at Hudson Hall, and Lumberyard audience educator and dramaturg Melanie George.

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Jamie Larson
Jamie Larson