Day 7 -- Gratitude for those who go above and beyond!!!

Let's be honest: there are some people for whom saying THANK YOU just doesn't seem enough. People who are there whenever you ask -- sometimes BEFORE you ask. We've been truly blessed with volunteers like this.

Take Gail Vershoor, for example: former board member; nurse on call (oh the stories we could tell!); Healing Touch practitioner who offers free sessions for company members who need some extra help working through a backache, a headache or even just a challenging day; and concessionaire extraordinaire, she bakes, hosts and often manages our concession calendar. But wait. There's more! Gail has done everything from securing a dumpster to taking on management of the Joythi Jorgensen Helping Hands Scholarship Fund, a cause near and dear to our hearts, and the hearts of so many in McCall. AND, to top it all off, she is mom to Ben Verschoor who began working with us in high school as a student playwright (and actor) and recently graduated from Northwestern University's MFA Writing for the Screen and Stage program.

It's not out of the question for her to drop everything to bring a playwright to the ER with a migraine headache. (True story!)

Oh and did we mention that she is an all-around fabulous person and someone we adore? Gail is more than a volunteer (though she is that as well because she does it all for free!): Gail is family. Thank you, Gail!

And of course, there's Laura Williams. The photo on the right says a lot about this amazing lady. Here we come to take a photo of Laura, what does she do? Laura makes sure we get a great shot of the merch, even if it means hiding her lovely face. 

And here's the thing, an amazing thing: we didn't ask Laura to do this. Laura thought it all up and volunteered to do it ALL! She takes on the expense of creating the merch (which often includes tshirts, mugs, notebooks, hats and more!); transports it (did we mention that Laura, formerly of McCall now lives in California?); brings her swag truck at every event and then donates all the profits from this endeavor to Seven Devils!

We love our conference swag, and just wish we had a photo of Laura's lovely face so the next time you see her, you can thank her too!

The amazing Charlie Taber was with us right from the start. An avid and enthusiastic theater maker; he did it all! He was for many years the Alpine's tech guru and could fix, build, adjust, rebuild, invent just about anything. Charlie made stuff work.

Charlie was also known for his amazing skills at the grill. His salmon was the highlight of our annual welcome cook-out. Over the years, he worked with us an actor, technician and carpenter, he and his equally amazing wife, Thea Belecz, hosted artists and gave of themselves in numerous ways that - large or small - had enormous impact. 

​Charlie was also fighter. He continued to show up and work with us, even as he battled the cancer that - all too quickly and unrelentingly - spreading throughout his body. While Charlie was too ill to actively participate in the 2006 Conference, he did still manage to make it to every, single reading. One of his last trips to the Alpine was to see his daughter JoLynn play the leading role in student playwright Erin Falvey's Anything & Everything Concerning the Unsure Diagnosis of a Dead Girl. Charlie told us he wanted to hold on so he could be a part of the 2006 Conference. Two weeks after it ended, Charlie passed on. Even now, Charlie is never far from thoughts. Thank you, Charlie!

And of course, we must celebrate our gratitude for The Friends of the Devils. This self started group of McCall volunteers, organized by Amy Rush, has hosted numerous benefits for Seven Devils in McCall, raising thousands of dollars and serving as year round community ambassadors for the Conference. And now, there's even a Boise branch of Friends of the Devils volunteers, including playwrights Jenny Sternling and Dayna Smith. They organized the Boise benefit featuring Steve Eaton (mentioned above) in the Riverside Hotel's Sapphire Room. 

We are blessed to have friends like these, and so many more! The list of people who have gone above and beyond is so overwhelming that we could be working on this post for days and still not manage to thank all the amazing people who have come together in friendship and fellowship to make Seven Devils what it is today.