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Shelton-Mason County Journal
photo by Natalie Johnson
Jamie Sutton, left, as Juliet, and Rahdy Graham,
as Romeo, recreate the famous balcony scene in
the SHS production of"The SeussifiCation of
Romeo and Juliet." /
0
By NATALIE JOHNSON program.
natalie@masoncounty.com The SHS drama program performed
the play to audiences at the Shelton
Performing Arts Center, formerly the
The Shelton Drama Department SHS Auditorium on Thursday, Friday
shook things up this year for its an- and Saturday last weekend.
nual winter play. The department pre- Director Chris Fawcett commented
sented "The Seussification of Romeo on the students' work before the play
and Juliet," a creative retelling of the started on opening night.
classic play by William Shakespeare. "The students have done a lot of
"The Seussification of Romeo and hard work," he said.
Juliet," written by Peter Bloedel and The students recited line after line
first published in 2004, tells the sto- of ear-bending tongue twisters, incit-
ry of Romeo and Juliet as Dr. Seuss ing laughter and surprise from their
would have. enthusiastic audience.
"Since the 'Seussification' wasThe drama department converted
published in 2004 it has become a the room at the Performing Arts Cen-
favorite of community and school- ter into a much smaller space to cre-
based theaters. Bringing it to Shelton ate an intimate "black-box" theater
seemed a good way to cheer up aexpericence, Fawcett said.
rainy mid-January," according to the A black-box theater is a relatively
new, experimental stage that involves
a limited number of props and actors
performing feet away from their audi-
ences.
"The actors are going to be right up
close and personal," he said,
And they were.
At times actors fell from "bumbal-
loon" (balloon-sword) inflicted injuries
in hard-fought battles between feud-
ing families "Capitulates" (Capulet)
and "Monotones" (Montague).
Twenty-one SHS students acted in
the play, with seven more helping out
as the technical crews.
Jordan Hanson and Hailee Keeffe
opened up the play as Narrators 1 and
2 and traded Dr. Seuss-themed ban-
ter and plot explanations throughout
See Seuss on page B-6
WHAT%CO()KIN'
HARSTINEISLANDNEWS
Woodworker
uses skills
to repair
historic map
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@ma,,~oneoun~v corn
Throughout Mason Coun-
ty there are buildings nes-
tled in stands of evergreen
trees -- in the hills or along
shorelines -- that defy the
passing of time.
The Grant School, now
the Pickering Community
Club, is one of those build-
ings. The club members, its
caretakers, work to preserve
their beloved building.
Last fall, they received
a $2,960 historical pres-
ervation grant from Ma-
son County to preserve a
1916 map case and maps
in the Grant School, a first-
through eighth-grade school
that was open until 1942
when it closed due to a lack
of demand for the one-room
schoolhouse.
Pickering resident Ernie
Harrell did the work to re-
store the map case.
"The case was in sad, sad
shape," he said. "It was a fun
project."
Harrell, who has a wood-
working shop near his home,
refurbished the case, taking
apart, rebuilding, stripping
and revarnishing every piece
of the intricate case. /
Journal photos by Natalie Johnson
Harrell, 75, has a deep Ernie Ha ell works to make a custom Native American-style fute in his
connection to both the school
woodworl ing shop. Last fall, he worked to repair an antique map at the Grant
and the Pickering area of
Mason County. His wife,School on pickering Road.
Marty, and he live on the
/
same land Harrell's great-
grandfather bought in 1906.
"My mother and two
uncles went to the Grant
School," he said. "My brother
- he's two years older than I
am - he went to the last year
of the Grant School in 1941."
Harrell's brother, John,
also still lives on the family's
original tract of land on Pick-
ering Road.
Harrell also built the re-
production bell tower that
now sits in the old Grant
School.
"That was a bigger proj-
ect - I built that on the shop
too," he said.
Harrell said he keeps his
"idle hands" busy on many
other projects in his wood-
working shop. In addition
to helping with community
See Pickering on page B-6
Harrell he lped restore this 1916 map
Pickering Community Club.
case at the historic Grant
School, now the
Thursday, January
19,2012
Community
Club is moving
into1
Iwas crossing the bridge the other
day and saw the gulls poised and
positioned. They were staggered
from one light pole to the other and
for whatever reason, they reminded
me of notes sitting on the musical
staff. There was a single on the in-
ward, then a single
on the outward fol-
lowed by a double
in-between followed
by two more on the
outward and three
in the inward and
a final single in the
middle. Doesn't that
sound like a song?
By MIKE I'm sure there must
CALLAGHAN be a continuing mel-
ody we all sing as we
pass back and forth
over our bridge.
A quick note about the senior lunch
at noon on Jan. 25, they will beserving
baked chicken and mashed potatoes.
The Community Club is moving
into that 100th year and there are a
lot of events, meetings and committees
that will need volunteers to make that
100th year a continuing success. Right
now the club needs a couple volunteers
to run the indoor/outdoor garage sale
to be held on March 31. This is a good
fundraiser for the club and if you have
time and want to help raise money for
the grand old building, this is a good
way to get started. Give Jeff Roberge
a call and let him know you want to
help.
The first program of the Inquiring
Minds series will be presented at 2
p.m. -- doors open at 1:30 p.m. on Jan.
29 in the community hall. The speaker
will be William Woodward. His work
as a cultural historian of the Pacific
Northwest brings him into contact
with artifacts of our everyday popu-
lar culture, sports, advertising, world
fairs, military culture, the mythic west
and consumer technology. As professor
of American History at Seattle Pacific
University, Woodward explores and
answers important questions about the
way Americans approach their physi-
cal security. His research has led to the
publication of numerous articles, chap-
ters and anthologies as well' as many
speaking engagements and interviews,
including one with popular historian
David McCullough for an article in Re-
sponse magazine. Woodward holds a
Ph. D. in American diplomatic history
from Georgetown University.
One of the ways we protected
ourselves is through the building of
forts. This means that homeland se-
curity is not a recent post-Sept. 11
phenomenon. During the Civil War,
key leaders worried about foreign
threats. They turned to massive fixed
guns atop fort walls to protect Ameri-
ca's three coasts. The first in Washing-
ton state were mounted at the mouth
of the Columbia River. Now many of
our state parks surround these long-
silent artifacts of past fears. These
will be one of Woodard's topics in his
See Harstine on page B-6
- Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page B-1
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