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\u201cI just came down here so that I could be a part of what [my husband] was a part of and met Miss Alice Ratcliffe the first time I walked in the door,\u201d Saunders said. When Ratcliffe asked what Saunders did in college, she replied that she majored in journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe next thing I knew, I was chairman of the Public Relations Committee,\u201d Saunders said, \u201cAnd I really haven\u2019t left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saunders joined the SJCC team in 1979 and has been a staple of their programs ever since. While she loves music, however, Saunders\u2019 passion is in theatre \u2014 a passion that started long before she came to Tullahoma. She minored in theatre in college, and has long been going to live theatre performances, for more than simply the acting or the drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love the big screen, and I love to watch movies on the big screen. But there\u2019s something about having people \u2014 live people \u2014 in front of [me] that make me feel like I\u2019m a part of what they\u2019re doing,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cThe techniques they use, and the sets they use, and the costumes\u2014everything brings it all to life and brings it all together. I can remember going to [Tennessee Performing Arts Center] to see something with my husband, and he leaned over, and he said, “I\u2019m a little lost on the storyline. Can you help me?” And I said, “No, I really can\u2019t because I\u2019ve been watching them move the sets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While going to shows has become more difficult, Saunders still loves the feel of live theatre. SJCC is a perfect avenue for that, for her and many others. Saunders said that people from as far as Huntsville and Murfreesboro come to shows at the civic center, which shows that Tullahoma has an excellent quality of art to offer. \u201cThere are so many smaller places like this that have nothing to compare to what we have,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cWe have great arts here with fine arts and performing arts. And then our school system is wonderful with arts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with the SJCC, Tullahoma boasts the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center and the Beechcraft Heritage Museum, among other opportunities. In predictable fashion, Saunders and her husband have worked with the Beechcraft Museum as well, when it was still getting started as the Staggerwing Museum Foundation in 1973. Her long history of community involvement, Saunders said, stems from how much the Tullahoma community has accepted and supported her since she first moved to the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou just have to love the community you\u2019re in, and I love this community,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cIt\u2019s a community made of people who like to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tullahoma has volunteers who work everywhere from tutoring at schools to dog rescues, Saunders said, and that is one of the things she loves most about the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt makes you feel good to know that you have a community that\u2019s willing to help and to give,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I feel like this community does.\u201d GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Community-minded Colleen Saunders is a fixture of Tullahoma\u2019s artistic culture through the South Jackson Civic Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":10128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC_8539-1024x683.jpg\")