PROFILES

February 2021: Leslie Wood

Leslie Wood giving the masks to the superintendents of the schools

For February 2021, we would like you to meet Leslie Wood, a ‘movie buff’, whose favorite movie of all time is Casablanca. Leslie is a frequent and loyal patron of the Vickers Theatre.

In 2014, after years of living part-time in Harbert, Leslie and her husband Gary, made the decision to make New Buffalo their full-time home. In the short seven-year-time period, Leslie has made a lasting imprint on our community. She is on the Board of the League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass County. She is on the Board of Neighbor by Neighbor, a social service program that links people to food pantries, nutrition and housing programs, and a myriad of state and federal programs.

She is also on the Board of the Rotary Club. As a member of the Rotary Club, she is involved in the strategic planning and expansion of the literacy programs in New Buffalo and Three Oaks communities. During the Covid pandemic, she organized club members to sew face masks for 400 New Buffalo K-thru 5th graders and other school districts in the area. Leslie’s 40 years experience as a social worker in Chicago, Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois, has served as a guide for all that she does in our communities.

Over 10 years ago, her Harbert neighbor introduced her to the Vickers Theatre and the rest is history. According to Leslie, she loves the wonderful space of the theatre. She especially loves the welcoming and communal spirit of the Vickers, watching films that she otherwise might not see anywhere else. She finds the movies at the Vickers “little gems”. One such gem, her favorite, In A Better World, is a Danish film that won the Golden Globe and Oscar in 2011. It was only showing at the Vickers and a small movie house in California. She enjoyed this movie because it depicted the struggles between a father and son and how they stood up for their principles. Leslie frequents the Vickers on a regular basis and looks forward to the reopening. We are so lucky to have her as a patron. We can now all get to know her better.