SANGER — Sanger resident Kay Goodman has put a love of satire to work helping others.

Goodman recently finished writing a collection of songs for the 21st Live From Collin County Roasted and Toasted musical comedy show, which generated proceeds for five charitable agencies.

DRC/Gary Payne

Kay Goodman holds up programs for some of the musical comedy shows she has written, as a quilt given to her to commemorate her work is displayed behind her on Friday at her home in Sanger. Goodman writes political satire lyrics for shows that are staged to benefit charities.

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Titled “Economy Follies: Gawking at Our Winter Blunderland” and featuring musical numbers poking fun at personalities in today’s headlines, the show was staged at the Courtroom Theater in McKinney.

Goodman paused last week to talk about the annual fundraising effort and her ongoing creative role, referring to a collection of programs from past productions.

Through the years, the variety show has grown in size and scope, but Goodman said the intent of the cast and crew remains the same.

“Keep your eye on the prize,” she said. “We’re going to do some good things for some great people.”

The board of directors of Live From Collin County chooses the recipients of the show’s proceeds each year, after evaluating applications filed by various agencies, Goodman said.

“The agencies are chosen based on the worthiness of the project,” she said. “Most are children’s charities. This year was a tough year. We had lots of applications.”

The people who work on the show are all volunteers, Goodman said, and many have been part of the production for all but one or two years.

Some cast members have teamed up for a series of murder mystery presentations staged at Lantana, and those shows also benefit charities.

“It’s the same group of loonies,” she said with a smile. “We’ve done six murder mysteries now. We like to work together.”

Goodman had no estimate of how much the shows have raised, but she did say that the group has raised as much as $100,000 over a two-night run.

“The show has become a tradition,” she said. “We have a loyal following, and quite a few people from over here [Denton County] have started going.”

When asked how she first got involved in the project, Goodman said it was a “fluke.”

“I was on the board of the Mental Health Association, and we needed a fundraiser quick,” she remembered. “We put on a show in three weeks, made $10,000 and thought we had gone to heaven.”

Goodman, a speech therapist and educator by profession, said she enjoys the creative process of crafting catchy songs.

“Satire is my first love,” she said.

Goodman said she usually has no shortage of subjects when it comes time to write the 25 to 28 songs needed for each production. “Especially not this year,” she said. “This year was so ripe. There were too many issues to ignore.”

A glance at titles such as “Bail-Out Blues,” “Palin by Comparison,” “Trans-Texas Horridor” and “Any Good Moose Recipes?” shows which issues provided some of the material for this year’s show.

“We’re equal-opportunity satirists,” Goodman said. “I think laughter is the best medicine. We try to get people to lighten up a little bit.

“I do try to stay true to the facts, and we’ve only had to apologize twice in 21 years.”

Goodman and her husband, Bob, live on land that has been in her family for more than 100 years.

“My childhood was spent here,” she said, adding that her school career began at what is now Texas Woman’s University (then Texas State College for Women).

“I went there from nursery school through sixth grade,” she said.

She graduated from Denton High School and TWU. Her family once owned a department store on the east side of the Square.

“The Williams family owned a store in the county for 100 years,” she said.

Kay and Bob lived in Plano for 23 years, and she helped launch CITY House, an emergency teen shelter, while teaching in Collin County. The couple came back to Denton County 20 years ago and are active in many community activities, including United Way. She is a longtime member of Arc of Denton County and is its community liaison. She also is active in TWU activities, including the local and national alumni associations, and recently completed a term on the university’s Board of Regents.

“Serving on the TWU Board of Regents was perhaps one of the most exciting things I’ve done,” she said. “Returning home and paying back — that school did so much for me.”

Another major interest for her is the Cumberland Presbyterian Children’s Home.

“I ‘termed out’ of service on their board but hope to rejoin it soon,” she said. “It is a logical transition, considering my years of work with CITY House in Plano.”

Kay and Bob Goodman are active members of Blue Mound United Methodist Church, and her other interests include the Denton Benefit League and the American Association of University Women.

The couple has two daughters and a son.

“All are in help professions,” Kay Goodman said. “The kids started volunteering early.”

Goodman said she plans to continue putting her love of satire to good use in the musical comedy shows.

“They’ve already booked the theater for next year’s show,” she said. “We just keep on keeping on.”

LES COCKRELL can be reached at 940-566-6887. His e-mail address is lcockrell@dentonrc.com.