“Ragtime: The Musical” is what its producers call “an epic, devastatingly touching adaptation” of the E.L. Doctorow “Ragtime” novel.

You’re invited to join fellow Rotarians for a performance on Thursday, August 1, at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham, SRC’s annual summer theater outing as part of our “Summer Casual Calendar.” And, once again we’ll be having a pre-theater group dinner at Yianni’s at Chatham House, 29 Hudson Avenue in Chatham.

If you’d like to make your reservation now, it would be smart so tickets don’t run out. Debbie Brown, event coordinator, is the person to contact for both theater and dinner reservations.

The Berkshire Award-winning combination of John Saunders and Sebastiani Romagnolo will  join forces again to put their stamp on the show. Says Romagnolo, “The American Dream, different for each of us, is defined by our race, our class, our origins. ‘Ragtime’ is a gorgeous revelation of that fact. It reminds us that the struggle for equality is never finished and that ultimately it is our differences that make a stronger and better world.”

Jimm Halliday, who won a Helen Hayes Award for Best Costume Design for his Kennedy Center production of “Ragtime,” is handling the same chore at Mac-Haydn.

This is one of the first two “Summer Casual Calendar” events now on our July-August schedule. The other is our annual trip to Bruno Stadium at Hudson Valley Community College for a picnic in the pavilion followed by a ValleyCats professional baseball game against New York-Penn League opponent Lowell Spinners — a Boston Red Sox farm team — on Thursday, July 18. Terry Brewer again is coordinating that field trip, so please contact him ASAP to reserve tickets. Guests are welcome as always.

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The full “Summer Casual Calendar”

• July 11: Open
• July 18: ValleyCats baseball game and pavilion picnic
• July 25: Open
• August 1: “Ragtime: The Musical: at Mac-Haydn Theatre pre-theater dinner at Yiannis at the Chatham House
• August 8: Open
• August 15: Open
• August 22: Open

(Note: Events are not required to be held on Thursdays if another day of the week works better for a particular activity. )

As most of you know, in recent years the “Summer Casual Calendar” has been a mix of cookouts, pool parties, baseball games, summer theater performances, and other family-oriented get-togethers. Guests are always welcome, and it’s a good time to let potential members get to know us in a relaxed setting, or for you to personally contact members whose participation has been lagging to get re-energized with Rotary.

How, you may ask, do we come up with activities? It’s totally up to you, our members. Some organize field trips, some like to host a pool party and/or a cookout, some come up with other imaginative activities.

The key is planning well ahead so people with busy summer schedules know ASAP what dates to reserve.

As always, the club president coordinates the dates, with the help of the webmaster. For this summer, that means Phil Kellerman and Bill Dowd, plus anyone else President-elect Phil may designate. So, if you plan to get involved as an event organizer, the first thing to do is pick a date and let Phil and Bill both know what and when the event is so it can get a place on the “Summer Casual Calendar.”

Looking forward to your ideas!

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