History:

 

It all started in the training room of our local Wal-Mart store; we were sitting around brainstorming ideas for our next fundraiser for Children’s Miracle Network (the organization Wal-Mart raises money for). We wanted to do something new, something unusual and something that would raise a lot of money. You see we already tried all of the usual stuff like throw a pie in managers face, a dunk tank a couple of times, clowns and balloons, putting management in jail (well actually a dog kennel) they couldn’t come out until they raised a certain amount of money, management on the roof, we turned our manager into a human sundae (one of my favorites! Thanks Lee), pot luck dinners, bowling tournaments, you name it we tried it! Then out of the blue Deb said how about we do a play? I remember laughing and thinking there is now way that is totally impossible! Well obviously we didn’t let that idea go by the waste side. We spent time brainstorming ideas on how we could do it? Who? What? When? Where? Cost? Then there was the final question would management let us do it? Suz said yes and before I knew it I had agreed to research it and make some phone calls.

Andy Sands was my daughter’s music teacher at school so that seemed like a logical place to start. I asked him if he would be willing to direct a show for us because we didn’t have a clue how? He thought about it for a few days and finally called me back and agreed. It was amazing everything that was involved scripts, royalties props, costumes, and of course a cast. I agreed to produce and Richard agreed to help with anything else he could. We decided that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz would be our first show. Mainly because there was this girl that worked at Wal-Mart and we felt she looked just like Dorothy. After talking with her about it okay begging her she agreed to do it. So we had the idea, the producer, the director, Richard, and the leading lady now what? We knew we wanted it to be a cast of Wal-Mart employees so we posted a sign by the time clock and held auditions. We were able to cast all the main characters from Wal-Mart employees we were so excited. Then we thought what about all those munchkins? Well it was Mr. Sands to the rescue he spread the word at school and we recruited our own children and their friends everything was a go! We scheduled rehearsals 3 nights per week for the summer and held our first show in November. Since Wal-Mart covered almost all of our expenses and the community donated supplies we were able to raise and donate $4,465.00 to Children’s Miracle Network. Oh and I mentioned the name before we called ourselves the Wal-Mart Miracle Players. We were the only store in the history of Wal-Mart to pull of a fundraiser of that magnitude. YAY US!

When that show was over we quickly learned that we would be doing this again you see the community was demanding it! So we decided we would be doing Disney’s beauty and the beast and since this show also had a large cast we decided we would open this one up to the community and the response was amazing. It was then that we decided we were no longer the Wal-Mart Miracle Players but we were now the Sterling Miracle Players, it was truly a community effort.

It hasn’t always been easy, finding rehearsal space, keeping everyone involved interested, finding funding etc. etc. However, we defiantly have the drive to keep this going. Which brings us to the present; our hopes and dreams are larger than ever we have decided that raising money for CMN was wonderful but now we want to do more for our own community. We still want kids to stay as our primary focus and we want to do more than 1 show per year. We have want this to be an on going effort, get more people involved and start a scholarship program for students wishing to continue their education in music or drama.

SMP is no longer a Wal-Mart sponsored program based on a Donation from Frank and Gloria Walsh. Now we are our own organization and will continue to do shows as a non-profit. We will continue to help needy and worthwhile charities within our community and we have developed a great relationship with our local schools. Becoming what we truly want this organization to become won’t happen over night but it will happen because; the one thing we have learned so far is… WE are kind of like our first show the Wizard of Oz. We have found the brains, the heart, and the courage, we are still looking for our home and we saved a life oh and there can be miracles when you believe.

We invite you to help change a life either by participating in a show or donating to help keep this program alive! Thanks for visiting this site and I hope you too will choose to become a miracle player in your community!