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Champion of the arts
At the tender age of 2, Ruth Overton belted out a solo rendition “Angels we Have Heard on High” at her father's church in White Plains, N.Y.
She's been singing ever since, and for the past three decades has been a soprano with the Reston Chorale.
Her work with the chorale, both as a singer and champion, coupled with nearly two decades on the Reston Community Center's Board of Governors, earned Overton a 2008 Best of Reston award.
“I had no idea I was even in the running,” she said of the award, which she was nominated for by Leila Gordon, RCC's performing arts director.
Overton moved to Reston with her husband Gene and three children in 1976. Three more children followed; all six graduated from South Lakes.
Her commitment to the arts, as a singer and watercolor painter, inspired her to run for the RCC's Board of Governors in 1987, but her focus quickly opened to the other programs the community center offers.
“When you get on the board, your perspective changes greatly, you become not so singularly focused on the reason you thought it was good to join the board, but all the wonderful things in the community,” she said.
Part of that wider perspective included advocating for the community center's second location at Lake Anne Plaza nearly a decade ago, an effort that met considerable opposition from the community. Overton said the concern stemmed from the taxes associated with opening a second location.
Once it was opened, Overton said the community welcomed it with enthusiasm.
“It primarily focused on the arts but it has many, many uses now that was unforeseen at the time. When it opened it was so much more successful right away than we ever dreamed,” she said.
Overton's contribution to the chorale has gone well beyond her vocal range. She has served as chair of the Chorale's board on more than one occasion, but she is the proudest of what she's been able to accomplish in her current role as the grants coordinator and vice president of corporate development.
“This particular job I like the best, because a lot of what the chorale does depends on how much money we have to do it with,” she said.
In that role she oversaw the Jonathan Myrick Daniels Concert committee, which in 2004 commissioned a work that commemorated the civil rights figure. Her committee was able to raise $80,000 for that concert.
Most recently, she lead the steering committee for the chorale's “Foundations of Freedom” event that commemorated Jamestown's 400th anniversary.
Overton's spare time is spent with seven grandchildren.
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