Photo by Heather Forrester

Enduring Melody

Eleanor Watson Lewis Shares Her Memories of the Panama City Music Association’s Early Days

The year was 1941. Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. The United States was attacked and would enter into World War II. It was also the year that the Panama City Music Association kicked off. Today, almost 70 years later, the association is still going strong, providing entertainment and culture to Bay County.

Eleanor Watson Lewis was one of the first members and presidents of the association. Now 94, Lewis is still active and is one of its oldest living members.

“I remember my mother taking me and my sister to Montgomery (Ala.) for an overnight trip so we could see (Broadway actress) Ethel Barrymore perform,” Lewis says. “That was just one experience that led me to a college major in the dramatic arts.”

The Panama City Music Association stands for music and culture in the local community. The goal is to provide world-class entertainment at the lowest possible price. The group began by staging performances at Bay High School with a capacity of 400 seats, but now it has expanded to a 3,000-seat house at the Marina Civic Center — quite a feat for a group that is run almost entirely by volunteers.

Bay Life Magazine’s Lee Gordon recently caught up with Lewis to talk about how things have changed since 1941 and what she expects for the future of the association.

BL: How pleased are you with how things have progressed with the Panama City Music Association since its beginning in 1941?

ML: Actually, the Panama City Music Association evolved over the 68 years from a very small but energetic group called the Friday Music Club. The club had only 12 to 15 members, and I was invited to attend because my sister, who had studied at Juilliard (school of performing arts), was the leader of the group, and we met at her house. The main objective of the group was to do something for the city and something for ourselves.

BL: The association has come such a long way since 1941. How do you see it 50 years from now?

ML: As the world gets even smaller in the next 50 years, I can see our programs expanding to the point where we’ll present musical arts from every country in the world and every state in the United States.

BL: What does the association mean to the community?

ML: Culture — pure and simple. Panama City has even been listed as one of the 100 best small communities for culture in the United States, and the Panama City Music Association has had a large impact in that selection.

BL: What or who was the best performance you ever saw, and why?

ML: One of the more ambitious programs we wanted to present was on March 2, 1967. Pianist Van Cliburn was our choice, but the $6,000 fee exceeded anything the association had presented. The board voted down the idea as being not financially prudent for the times. A few of the members felt strongly that the money could be raised. A second vote was made, and Mr. Cliburn did perform in Panama City.

BL: The Panama City Music Association is a nonprofit group and sells its season tickets for reasonable prices. How have you been able to be so successful for so long?

ML: We have one paid part-time liaison to the Marina Civic Center who works from her home. All of the rest of our work is completed by our volunteer board members (a total of 30, including the officers).

Unfortunately, the economic slowdown has had an impact on us too. We don’t have the office overhead, but we do pay the Marina Civic Center to issue our tickets, and we pay rent and technical fees that amount to $45,000 per year. Quality isn’t cheap, and our intent is to continue (to maintain) the quality of our programming.

If you would like to become a sponsor or make either an operating fund donation or a contribution to the Panama City Music Association Endowment Fund, call (850) 236-1260.