Twelve years ago several friends got together because they wanted to bring quality stage performances to the Park Rapids area.
Bob and Pat Light were two of eleven who met at home of Oscar and Pat Pederson to form Northern Light Opera Company (NLOC). Meeting in people’s homes, NLOC has grown into a sustaining organization bringing quality performances to the community of Park Rapids and beyond its boundaries.
This year the NLOC board members voted at its March 20 meeting to bestow the honor of President Emerita to Pat Light for all the volunteer work she has done for NLOC and her dedication to the organization. Pat Light served as NLOC president in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.
On Saturday, March 30 several NLOC board members vistied Pat at her home to present her with the Emerita award.
For anyone attending a NLOC production the past 12 years, greeted at the doors where Bob and Pat Light served as house managers greeting everyone as they walked into the theater. Bob and Pat elegantly dressed, made you feel that you were going to be treated to a special evening.
“Pat Light is a lady in the truest sense of the word, when she took the stage to make introductions or greeted people at the door in her formal wear, you just know you were witnessing something important,” said current NLOC president, Lou Schultz.
Not only were they greeters, but the Light’s were in the first NLOC production of “Trial by Jury” in 2002. They were also in “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and in “Oklahoma.”
Pat Light was one of several organizers of the NLOC fund raising galas, a community event to highlight upcoming NLOC productions. Not only did she organize, but for many years she helped with menu planning and with food preparation for the events.
“No matter how well done any event was, Pat added a touch of class on top of everything else,” Schultz said. “Her service to Northern Light Opera Company and the community of Park Rapids is unmatched.”
