SCIOTO SOCIETY INC

The Scioto Society was incorporated in 1970 as a non-profit corporation. It dedicated itself to the cultural, historical, educational, and economic development of the tri-county area of Ross, Pickaway, and Pike. The principal impact area was designated as Ross County. The Society\u2019s goal was to help restore national awareness to the area surrounding Chillicothe, so that the area could assume its\u2019 rightful place in the history of the US. The first stage of that goal was realized when the premiere performance of the outdoor drama Tecumseh! was held in 1973. Over the years, the drama has been selected as one of the top 100 attractions in North America by the American Bus Association and it has received local, state, regional, and even national acclaim. Along with serving economically and culturally to the area, Tecumseh! serves as a tradition to many families and is the first live arts experience for many children in Ohio. Along with producing Tecumseh! the Society played a key role in developing the Scioto Valley Arts Council, and the Ross-Chillicothe CVB, the organization has sponsored concerts ranging from Symphony, Folk, Country; as well as Children\u2019s Theatre, Statehood Day celebrations, \u0026 Bicentennial events. On an educational standpoint, the organization has given lectures and talks to service clubs at the state, and national level. All offerings are done with the idea that the arts and humanities can and do serve as economic stimuli.

The Scioto Society, Inc. has a long, strong and proven track record of successfully producing events. In addition to Tecumseh!, the Society founded the Feast of the Flowering Moon in Chillicothe and produced it for many years. The Society founded the Ross-Chillicothe CVB and ran it for a number of years. In 2015, it began a small successful concert series. It has a strong institutional knowledge of how to mount events. Therefore, the strongest resource at its disposal is the tools and personnel which are already within its management system. \r\nThe script will be adapted from the Allan W. Eckert script for Tecumseh! Mr. Eckert was a celebrated Ohio writer who had respect for both Tecumsh the man and Tecumseh! the show. The Society has secured the blessings of his estate for the adaptation. The adaptation will be done by our artistic director, Jenny Male. Sets and costume will be designed and built by our design and technical team for the main show. \r\nSpecific performance dates will be determined by the schools, rather than by us. The Society endeavors to produce no less than 30 shows during the grant period, but 50 shows could be produced at no additional cost if travel arrangements line up properly. \r\nThe Society intends to continue this program past the grant period and is confident it will find additional funding avenues after it has produced a successful season.

For our primary audience, The Scioto Society will seek out all fourth grade students in the State of Ohio. Grade four social studies curriculum in the Ohio Department of Education is Ohio in the United States. A theatrical presentation will speak directly to the themes of Historical Thinking, Heritage and places and regions. The Scioto Society intends to serve all fourth graders in the State of Ohio.\r\nAs a secondary audience, the company will week out senior citizens centers, small performing arts series\u0027, church groups and other small groups where a small theatrical presentation can work and budgets are a serious consideration. With only 5 people traveling in the company, the cost to mount each performance will be very low and adding evening performers at such venues for a small stipend will help to reduce costs of travel. Many of the people in this target audience may not have the opportunity to travel to Chillicothe due to health restrictions. \r\nEvaluation will be done in a number of ways including surveys passed out directly to students and other audience and a count of how many free ticket passes come into the box office the following year. Ultimately, the goal is to expand awareness of this story and our summer production, so if attendance sees a bump during the summer after our first tour, we will have a good sense that it worked from that aspect. \r\nOur home counties of Ross, Pickaway and Pike counties will benefit directly from the rise in attendance at Tecumseh! Each dollar that is spent on tickets turns into $26 spent in our communities. Tecumseh! has generated over $200 million in economic activity over its 43 seasons and it kick started interest in historic tourism throughout the region. It continues to inspire others to preserve and promote the historic significance of the area by opening new attractions, writing new books and making significant capital improvements to other historic sites.\r\nThe story of Tecumseh! is an important chapter in the story of Ohio. He is considered by many historians to be one of Ohio\u0027s greatest sons and he should be celebrated as such. This project is a small investment which will create a large ripple effect impact on the interest level of the story of Ohio\u0027s early march to statehood and will encourage Ohio residents to seek out more information on the subject.

Audience growth over the years 2013-2014 was significant. 2015 as of July 1, is up 25%. With continued efforts, we expect to grow audience served by 30% over the next 5 years.