MEET BOARD MEMBER JOHN MCLAUGHLIN

This past December I joined the Board of the Sioux Empire Community Theatre. For sixteen years, my wife and I sponsored the Tantara Festival of One-Act Plays held in the Edith Mortenson Theatre at Augustana University. When that run ended, I looked for a spot to continue my interest in theater. I had served a three year term on the Orpheum Theater Board but wanted something closer to the production side like I had experienced at Tantara. A couple of conversations with SECT Executive Director Robin Byrne, a meeting with Chair Rick Weiland, and an application reviewed by the entire Board, and voila, I was part of SECT.

By no means am I a classic theater person. I have no background in acting. That’s not entirely true. I was a shepherd in Miss Pitts’ Kiddie College Christmas play in Decatur, Alabama in 1957. In case you remember it, I was the skinny redhead in the borrowed bath robe. My interest in theater was spurred by my girlfriend’s, later to be my wife’s, rapt enjoyment of live productions. During the Tantara Festival’s run, I directed some twenty one-acts. This process taught me the challenge of making what happens on stage look natural.

Giving back to Sioux Falls and building the community via great theater and great opportunities for local actors drives my involvement in SECT. My favorite tasks as a Board member are greeting the audience in the lobby before a production and helping build a solid financial foundation for this organization. When you combine talent and treasure, great theater grows; Sioux Falls has both, so let’s get them together.

In my non-artistic life, I have had a career in the education arena. Many years ago, I started and ran a high school in Nashville that is still in operation today and later I was a tenured professor in educational administration at St. Cloud State University. Currently, I am the managing partner at McLaughlin Advisors and also serve on boards and advise companies around the country involved in alternative education, special education, and applied behavior analysis. I am an avid birder and I write almost every day. But no plays. At least not yet.