Community Spotlight Community Spotlight: Theatre Honorary Fraternity Presents Awards at State College of Florida

SARASOTA — The State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) chapter of Delta Psi Omega (DPO), the national theatre honorary fraternity for community colleges, held its 49th annual awards banquet May 5 at SCF Bradenton.

Kenneth Erickson Jr., theatre program manager, presented nine “Bernie” awards for acting and technical achievement during the past season.

Jaelynn Clark, John David Dorsey and Summer Begalka were named Outstanding Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for their roles in “The Best of Everything.” Outstanding Ensemble Performance awards were given to Sabrina Bowen and Dorsey for their roles in “Anton in Show Business” and Clark for her role in “Thank You For Flying.” Begalka was named Most Promising Newcomer, and Kristina Klein and Andrew Gullion were honored with awards for Outstanding Technical Contributions throughout the season.

James Thaggard, box office manager and a former president of the Alpha Psi Omega theatre honorary fraternity at Auburn University, inducted Begalka, Gullion, Jonathan Lee and Tyler Rudolf into DPO.

Thaggard paid tribute to former theatre professors John W. James, who retired in 1998 but continues as an adjunct instructor, and M. Bernice Pepke for whom the awards were named. Pepke retired in 1996 but continued coaching SCF theatre students until she died in 2010.

“As proven by Mr. James and Mrs. Pepke, retiring from Studio 84 is not the end of the road; it’s merely the start of another chapter,” Thaggard stated before presenting Erickson with a treasure chest of 90 cards and letters from former theatre students. Erickson retires in June after 35 years with the college’s theatre program.

Also attending the ceremony were SCF theatre staff Dean Anthony, associate professor; Craig Smith, instructional assistant; Mlisa Manning, adjunct instructor, social and behavioral sciences; and Carolyn Zaput, interlibrary loan clerk; as well as several SCF theatre alumni.

From left: Jonathan Lee, Tyler Rudolf, James Thaggard, Summer Begalka and Andrew Gullion at the awards banquet.