This is a blog that was included in my writing about 3 years ago. Since then I have become so surprised and elated to see so much volunteerism is here in Port Gamble and how far it can go and has gone, that I have included it here as a repeat.
Volunteer organizations can be so much fun to watch when they operate the way they should ... everyone is dedicated to the cause, not the money they make, and everyone basks in what little glory they get (their "fifteen minutes of fame" as Andy Warhol called it) instead of trying to make the big picture be of themselves.
I went to a rehersal of Neil Simon's play The Good Doctor when the new Port Gamble Theater Co. was preparing it for performance and I was nothing less than amazed by what I saw that a volunteer organization can do when it is run by a dedicated membership. From when I came until when I left, they told me all about what other people had done to help get them started, and very rarely did they mention themselves.
I took notes, but I wouldn't claim that those notes came anywhere near describing ALL the people that have been involved. I heard about major donations given by other theater groups (such as one in Port Orchard), which included lights, sets, costumes and much more, and I heard about other individuals who were especially strong in the "storage" or "manpower" departments.
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| The stage, seen from the back of the theater |
One worker was telling me about how they were attempting to add four feet to the front of the stage to make the experience more exciting for the audience. Was he trying to impress me? I should say not, He didn't even give me his name.
And in the middle of the list of helpful people is the crew from the maintenance dept. at Port Gamble, always on the ready to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It's well known that they treat the building with highest respect, they should, since they own it, but they have gone beyond that, making several improvements which have given the building an extra little sparckle.
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| New seating waiting to be purchased by volunteers |
To understand fully what the members of the Port Gamble Theater Co. had to do when taking over this setting, a little history has to be given. The area of the theater has not been used for anything since it was last used in the 1950's, I'm told, for the showing of movies to the employees of the mill town. Can you imagine what that would have been like to open the doors and see what was there, 50 yeas later? It would be like Indiana Jones discovering a lost arc after thousands of years.
But this group did open the doors, and started cleaning. For over a year now they have done their best to make that place more than just presentable, a benchmark they left behind months ago. I didn't stay with them long enough to find out how far they are going to go with the restoration, but I can see it is going to be a time consuming but very worthwhile production.
