The Drama class and the 2005 graduating seniors at Fort Frye High School have given a $5,000, gift to the Fort Frye High School Auditorium Fund.

The fund was established in 2004 with a gift from an anonymous donor of $25,000 for the purpose of acting as seed money toward providing air conditioning for the auditorium which is widely used by many groups in the community.  It is estimated that the total cost for the project will be between $75,000 and $100,000 dollars.

Numerous individuals and groups have supported the fund including the Muskingum Valley Area Chamber of Commerce with a generous $1,000 gift recently.

Cathy Sprague, drama teacher at Fort Frye has been instrumental in helping students with projects that have generated this most recent gift.  Revenues from plays and dinner theaters have gone toward the total and continued efforts to achieve the goal are expected.

The Marietta Community Foundation manages over 130 funds for individuals and organizations in the Washington County area.  Thus far in 2005, over $50,000 in scholarships have been awarded and nearly $300,000 in other funds have been granted.

The Marietta Community Foundation was created in 1974 and has assets in excess of $7 million and has since 1994 awarded over $7 million in grants.  The Foundation is overseen by a volunteer board of 11 members.