Local President, Playwright and Producer (Your Federation)

Karen Fisk is the full-time president of ETFO’s Hastings-Prince  Edward  Local.  Today  she’s known in her community not just as the head of  the  702  member  local  but  also  as  a  playwright and producer.

Fisk wrote and produced Silent Hugs, a play about three young people whose parents are in the military. The play was staged at Belleville’s Centennial Secondary School on November 29, in recognition of United Nations Day.

“The play is about the cycle of deployment for  military  families and its impact  on  kids,” Fisk says. “The kids in it learned a lot, especially those not from military families.”

Fisk says she was looking for a way to show support  for  military  families  in  the  area.  A  visit to  CFB Petawawa almost  two  years ago helped her understand the turmoil that military families  and  their  children  experience  every time there is a  repatriation or a deployment overseas.

“That’s  when I  began talking about  doing something here,” Fisk says. She and Dr. Aruna Alexander of  the  United  Nations Association talked about bringing in a play. “We decided that there probably wasn’t anything and that we should do it ourselves,” Fisk recalls. She based the play, her first, loosely on a short story she wrote  for a writing class two years ago. Children's director and education advocate, Wendy Proctor, directed and local principal, Gail Brant, was the stage manager.

Come Play In My World was another part of the Silent Hugs production, which involved some 100 students aged four to 17. The production involved interpretive and cultural dances, folk  songs,  a  Russian   folk  tale,  and  a  flag- bearing ceremony. They played to a full house of 400 people. In addition, there were displays mounted  by  community  groups,  including the Trenton Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) and 8 Wing/CFB Trenton.

One of the positive outcomes of the event has  been  stronger  connections  to  the  community. The director, stage manager, and their assistants were all community volunteers. The MFRC was very grateful for  the show of support, Fisk says with satisfaction.