{"id":141713,"date":"2024-10-17T12:50:04","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T17:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/?p=141713"},"modified":"2024-10-17T12:54:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T17:54:21","slug":"a-message-from-our-executive-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/uncategorized\/a-message-from-our-executive-director","title":{"rendered":"A Message From Our Executive Director&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ll never forget my interview with the team from GiGi\u2019s Playhouse, and the first impression that this place gave me.&nbsp; Even though it was quiet with no activity on site, the beauty and whimsical atmosphere of the Playhouse \u201chad me at hello\u201d. I could only imagine how different the welcome area, performance stage, gym, art studio and tutoring rooms would look when filled with participants and volunteers.&nbsp; I marveled at all that was contained inside the building I\u2019d driven by a thousand times, never giving it much thought. \u201cWhat a treasure\u201d, I thought.&nbsp; I knew right then that I wanted to be part of GiGi\u2019s Playhouse.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My first day at the office wasn\u2019t at the office at all, it was at the annual golf outing at Jester Park Golf Course on October 7<sup>th<\/sup>. It was a gorgeous day, and the perfect setting for a great event.&nbsp; Another sign that my tenure at GiGi\u2019s will be exciting and rewarding.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the biggest reward to date came this past Tuesday, when a full day of programming introduced me to a Playhouse filled with participants, parents and volunteers at GiGiFIT, GiGi\u2019s Kitchen and Music Makers. Even though everyone was meeting me for the first time, I was greeted with wall-to-wall smiles and handshakes, fist bumps and high fivers. And then lots of hugs when it was time to say goodbye.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not bad for my first week on the job.&nbsp; The best first week on the job I\u2019ve ever had. Yep, I think I\u2019m going to like it here.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m looking forward to meeting many more of the GiGi\u2019s family in Des Moines, and I hope you\u2019ll stop in to say hello very soon.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">John Claes&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Executive Director&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/files\/2024\/10\/John-Claes.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"493\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/files\/2024\/10\/John-Claes.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-141714\" style=\"width:198px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/files\/2024\/10\/John-Claes.jpg 493w, https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/files\/2024\/10\/John-Claes-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 493px) 100vw, 493px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ll never forget my interview with the team from GiGi\u2019s Playhouse, and the first impression that this place gave me.&nbsp; Even though it was quiet with no activity on site, the beauty and whimsical atmosphere of the Playhouse \u201chad me at hello\u201d. I could only imagine how different the welcome area, performance stage, gym, art&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":141714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/desmoines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}