Four months later, she underwent transplant surgery and received a kidney that was given to her by Vaughn. Paone remains amazed at how this whole series of events evolved.<\/p>\n Since September 2005, Paone had appeared in the cast of Church Basement Ladies, playing Mrs. Vivian Snustad, in the comedy based on the book Growing Up Lutheran, by Janet Letnes Martin \u201968 and Suzann (Johnson) Nelson \u201968. While Paone had lived with reduced kidney functioning since birth, it worsened into renal failure, and her doctors put her on the transplant list.<\/p>\n Paone turned down out-of-town gigs, and a friend told her about the Fiddler<\/em> production, a show she had done as an Augsburg student and loved. When she got to know Vaughn, he asked about her illness.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I need a kidney,\u201d Paone said offhandedly.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you can have mine,\u201d Vaughn replied.<\/p>\n Paone took this as purely a casual remark, but Vaughn persisted. He told her he would contact the clinic. Preliminary tests showed him to be a potential match, to be confirmed with a battery of testing. They became close friends.<\/p>\n Four months later, Paone\u2019s regular check-up indicated she had reached a crisis point and would have to start dialysis until a transplant became available. After Fiddler<\/em>, she and Vaughn had gone their own ways, and she thought he might have reconsidered. She set a date for dialysis.<\/p>\n But the very next day, Vaughn contacted her with news that he had finally been able to schedule the battery of tests. He asked how she\u2019d been. She told him honestly, and added, \u201cIs that kidney still available?”<\/p>\n \u201cI just started crying,\u201d Paone says. \u201cThe timing was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n Vaughn was a good match, and on November 27, after several heart-toheart talks with him, Paone received the kidney he donated. She says he told her that the true gift she could give him in return was her good health.<\/p>\n Paone\u2019s recovery went remarkably well, and she was back on stage in the winter, continuing her role as Mrs. Snustad in Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping<\/em>. She and Vaughn have remained in close touch since.<\/p>\n What Paone now faces are thousands of dollars in medical bills, with few resources to cover them. A month after surgery, several friends in the theatre community began talking about a fundraiser, and a planning \u201cposse\u201d formed, including several Augsburg classmates. Katie Koch \u201906, assistant to the director at the Guthrie Theater, knows Paone well and served as coordinator.<\/p>\n The \u201cKidney Kabaret\u201d played at Augsburg on April 21, with many actors and musicians stepping forward to donate services, time, and talents, which also included technical support for sound and lighting, and event decorations.<\/p>\n A silent auction offered more than 125 items from theaters, restaurants, churches, sports teams, and radio stations. The program acts were all friends, co-actors, and colleagues of Paone from past theater productions. WCCO\u2019s Frank Vascellaro and Dale Connelly, from Minnesota Public Radio, co-hosted the evening.<\/p>\n Special guest Dr. Mark Odland, Paone\u2019s transplant surgeon, was introduced, along with staff from HCMC\u2019s kidney transplant program. Vaughn was recognized and lauded for his gift of life to Paone.<\/p>\n More than $15,000 was donated, and the Janet Paone Transplant Fund was set up at U.S. Bank with the help of Auggie classmate David Young \u201982. Sponsors for the event were Curt Wollan and TroupeAmerica, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and Augsburg.<\/p>\n Following her kidney transplant in November 2007, Paone faced thousands of dollars in medical bills, with few resources to cover them. Within a month, friends in the theatre community began talking about a fundraiser, and a planning \u201cposse\u201d formed, with several Augsburg classmates stepping forward. Katie Koch \u201906, assistant to the director at the Guthrie Theater, knows Paone well and served as committee coordinator. Dorian Chalmers, fellow Church Basement Ladies actress, organized and ran the silent auction. Others included Deb J. Pearson \u201983, Darcey Engen \u201988, Kari Logan \u201982, Doug Flateau, and Linda Twiss, at TroupeAmerica.<\/p>\n The \u201cKidney Kabaret\u201d played at Augsburg one night only on April 21, with many actors and musicians stepping forward to donate services, time, and talents, which also included technical support for sound and lighting, and event decorations.<\/p>\n The silent auction offered more than 125 items from theaters, restaurants, churches, sports teams, and radio stations. Items included a bicycle purchased to donate by employees of Penn Cycle, a Minnesota Twins bat signed by Joe Mauer, a bowling evening with the Church Basement Ladies in costume, air time with Ian and Margery on FM 107.1, and quilts, photos, and baskets from Paone\u2019s childhood neighbors and church, Abiding Savior Lutheran in Mounds View.<\/p>\n \u201cDonations even came from people who didn\u2019t even know Janet, but saw something advertised or on a call board,\u201d Chalmers mentioned.<\/p>\n The program acts were all friends, co-actors, and colleagues of Paone from past theater productions, most recently from Tony \u2018n Tina\u2019s Wedding and Church Basement Ladies. WCCO\u2019s Frank Vascellaro met her at Tony \u2018n Tina\u2019s Wedding and was happy to co-host the show with Dale Connelly, co-host of the Morning Show on The Current, and parent of a theater student at Irondale High School, where Paone has directed theater for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n Highlights included the Church Basement Ladies cast, Those Lutheran Ladies, fingerstyle guitarist Tim Sparks, opera singer Andy Wilkowske, and Irondale theater students, coached by Paone. The show ended poignantly with a reprise of Vaughn and Paone singing \u201cDo You Love Me?,\u201d as Tevye and Golde.<\/p>\n The reason for the evening was not forgotten, as special guest Dr. Mark Odland, Paone\u2019s transplant surgeon, was introduced, along with staff from HCMC\u2019s kidney transplant program. [Janet Paone \u201983 (center) with kidney donor John Vaughn reunites with the Hennepin County Medical Center kidney transplant team, led by Dr. Mark Odland (back row, third from left).] Vaughn was recognized and lauded for his gift of life to Paone. He continues to advocate for donors and encourages others to make the same decision.<\/p>\n More than $15,000 was donated, and the Janet Paone Transplant Fund was set up with the help of Auggie classmate David Young \u201982, branch manager at U.S. Bank\u2019s St. Anthony Falls Office. (The fund is accessible at any U.S. Bank office.) Sponsors for the Kidney Kabaret were Curt Wollan and TroupeAmerica, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and Augsburg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Betsey Norgard Photo by Paul Nixdorf In a summer 2007 community theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof, Janet Paone \u201983 played Golde. Golde\u2019s husband, Tevye, was played by John Vaughn, a Northwest Airlines pilot. Four months later, she underwent transplant surgery and received a kidney that was given to her by Vaughn. Paone <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-stories","tag-fall-2008"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7892,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937\/revisions\/7892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Janet](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/10\/paone1.jpg\" "\\"paone1\\"")
In a summer 2007 community theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof<\/em>, Janet Paone \u201983 played Golde. Golde\u2019s husband, Tevye, was played by John Vaughn, a Northwest Airlines pilot.<\/p>\n![\"Dorian](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/10\/posse2.jpg\" "\\"posse2\\"")
![\"Paone](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/10\/john.jpg\" "\\"john\\"")
![\"Janet](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/10\/HCMC.jpg\" "\\"HCMC\\"")