Donna Lamb Award presented to Portal Players' Pam Aspinall

At left, Pam Aspinall receives the Donna Lamb Award at the 2011 NIZ Drama Festival banquet. (L to R) Mary Ann Naesgaard, Cindy Solda, Pam Aspinall and Peter Wienold.

Here is Portal Players' nomination submission for Donna Lamb award winner Pam Aspinall.

Portal Players Dramatic Society is pleased to nominate Pam Aspinall for the Donna Lamb Award because of the valuable contribution she has made to life in the Alberni Valley.  Pam was involved for a long time and devoted herself in a deep way to many aspects of theatre and the performing arts.  Also, she was particularly committed to the children and youth: “It's just so good for them,” says Pam with warmth and humour.  Working in a dedicated and collaborative manner, recognizing and celebrating the importance of people of all ages in the arts,  Pam Aspinall has been a trailblazer in community theatre.

Pam was one of a small group of founding members of Port Alberni's drama group in 1978.  Within the first couple of years, she was to direct a production of "Street of Dreams".  Over the years, she was active in many parts of Portal Players Dramatic Society operations, including acting, singing, directing, producing – including musical theatre - , costume-making and serving as long-term board member.  Pam was professional about her work and received awards over the years.  As a PPDS board member, she always encouraged involvement in the North Island Zone festival, where in 1984 she was awarded Honourable Mention for her work as director of "The Street of Good Friends".   Also, she won an award  for a One-Act play at the BC Seniors Games.  In 1981, she was honoured by the Community Arts Council of the Alberni Valley with their  “Excellence in the Arts'” award.  At the same time, she was always willing to roll up her sleeves for the benefit of the group:  she threw herself into various moves they went through, she operated the costume rental  to raise funds, and she was often caught cleaning the theatre to have it look its best for a rental.  In addition, as an example of her commitment, Pam corresponded at length with the author in England of one of the plays she was working on. 

One of Pam's great attributes was her dedication to  young people.  Her ability to develop talent  and instil desire in young people came from a belief in the valuable role theatre can play in an individual's life and in a community's intergenerational development. One Portal Players member, whose first theatre experience as a young teenager was  under Pam's direction in “Peter Pan”, says “I had no lines and was only an extra, but Pam made me and all the others feel as if we were just as important as the lead actors.”  This member was obviously inspired by Pam and is to this day active in many aspects of Portal Players.  There are others like this; in fact, many current active members including board members worked under Pam and were inspired by her to increase their contribution to PPDS.   In 1984, Pam had the wisdom to change a socially sensitive  scene in a children's production to one involving all animals. Then she proceeded to make costumes for these animals -- a giraffe, monkey, horse and dog!  In addition to the other types of productions she worked on, Pam directed and produced 12 pantomimes in 20 years, involving new people from the community each time and spanning generations.  A grandchild  of Pam's was in one of her productions.  During those days, she further involved children and families by inviting the group to hold their annual meeting at her home, finishing off with a lavish picnic for all.  To this day, Portal Players continues Pam's legacy by putting on pantomimes on a regular basis and by running several children's and youth programs. 

Pam's contributions also reached out and bridged what can sometimes be seen as a gap between the theatre, or arts and culture in general, and the broader community.   Of all the many costumes Pam designed and made, she specialized in historic costuming and took her period costumes out to various community events.   She was also active for years with the Port Alberni Orchestra and Chorus Society and Alberni Valley Musical Theatre.  As a point of interest, Portal Players is a beneficiary of funds left behind when AVMT had to close their doors.

2010 is the 75th Anniversary of the Capitol Theatre, and Pam still lives in Port Alberni & still speaks fondly of the people and groups that benefitted from her contribution.

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Anyone from the North Island Zone who has contributed to community theatre may be eligible for The Donna Lamb Award.

Any member from the NIZ can nominate a club, person(s), or sponsor that has contributed to theatre in any aspect. A club or person(s) need to send a letter in a sealed envelope with a brief history of the person(s) and why they are being nominated. The sealed envelope is to be addressed to the Chair of the North Island Zone, with a return address, no later than one week before the start of North Island Zone Festival. The Selection Committee will consist of members of the Zone Executive or will be by appointment of Executive. If nominations are received from the Zone Executives’ own club or community, they will not be part of the selection committee. The chosen award recipient’s name will be announced during the awards night of Zone Festival.

Who was Donna Lamb?
In Memory of Donna Lamb , 1932 – 1995
by Robb Mowbray, Theatre BC Past-President

On Thursday, September 28, 1995, Donna Lamb, who shared the 1995 Hamber Award with her husband Fred, succumbed to heart failure after a long battle with cancer.

She may have made a quiet exit, but this was uncharacteristic of Donna, a long-serving member of North Island Zone's executive. She will always be remembered as feisty and straight-shooting, one of the true characters in TBC history and one that started a long time ago.

Founding and honourary life members of Rivercity Players in Campbell River, Fred and Donna Lamb became almost permanent fixtures at the North Island Zone (NIZ) festival, having begun their involvement in festival productions thirty years ago. Last spring, Donna was paid tribute for directing her 25th consecutive festival play, a mark she was determined to reach despite her illness. It is a record, like Lou Gehrig’s “Ironman” streak in baseball that seems unbeatable. However Donna herself would surely have challenged all theatre versions of Cal Ripkin Jr. to step up to the plate and swing away.

There was much success over those 25 years, having gone to Mainstage with “Scene Development”, “Workshops Plays”, some zone-winning productions on Mainstage and Donna won NIZ’s Best Director award three times and was honoured with the inaugural Zone Recognition Award in 1993. She has co-chaired Mainstage. It remains the most financially successful Mainstage to date and left behind a legacy of pride for the club and community of Campbell River.

It is not just members like Donna that came back year after year, but also all the others they brought with them that helped to ensure to success of community theatre in North Island Zone.