Ravinia 2026 Issue 6

Thank You, Maria Gac! Maria Gac (right) and Gina Cullitan (left) at the South Gateway in 2018 SINCE 1968, Maria Gac has been a welcoming face on Ravinia’s grounds, greeting concertgoers as an usher and a treasured member of the Guest Services team. Following the season, Maria plans to retire—along with her sister Gina Cullitan, a Ravinia sta member for around years—in a move she calls bittersweet. “I’m not even sure what life, especial- ly summer life, is going to be for me,” the longtime Glencoe resident shares. “Ravinia has been my life, my num- ber-one priority.” inking back to her earlier days, Maria says she took the job not just for the music, but for the venue itself. “A er that very rst summer I worked here, as I was going away to col- lege, I had tears in my eyes,” she recalls. “ ere was just a feeling that grabbed me—that ambience, that magic.” Maria still feels that magic today, even if much has changed: she’s worked at Ravinia through three major renova- tions, all sorts of operational changes, and the evolution of the full-time sta . “I think the kids of every single friend of mine have worked here,” she says. “All the people, all of the relation- ships I’ve built over the years—that’s the most important thing.” Maria met her husband here, the late Joe Gac, and her sister’s husband, Chris Cullitan, joined the Ravinia team a er the couple wed. “I even had my dad working in the parking lot years ago,” says Maria. “All of our kids have worked here, plus cousins and extended family.” While concerts featuring everyone from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Ramsey Lewis to Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristo erson are highlights, it is the people who have kept her here for ve decades, she says. “It’s been exciting to see the changes and how far we’ve come,” she says. “I feel fortunate and blessed.” For the past two seasons, she’s spent many of her working hours “saying hi to former sta members, friends from the past, donors, colleagues, everyone,” she shares. So will those who’ve come to see her smiling face each summer expect to see Maria enjoying Ravinia concerts in the future? She answers with one word: “Absolutely.” RAVINIAMAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 7 – SEPTEMBER 23 , 2026 24 PATRICKGIPSON/RAVINIA(SUNSET;GATEWAY)