Polk County Education
12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 6, 2016
Children’s theater keeps local tradition alive
By Jennifer Halley
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — “Ready!
And act — hold on.”
Rob Harriman bolts off
stage and grabs a chair from
somewhere behind it, yank-
ing it onto the otherwise
empty platform.
By now, kids are piling
onto the stage.
Harriman’s voice bellows
out commands and sugges-
tions, his deep tone a stark
contrast to the soft voices of
children.
As the children move
around the stage and run
through a rehearsal of “Jolly
Roger and the Pirate King,” a
production of Apple box
Children’s Theater, the
empty stage comes to life.
It is a sight to see: Harri-
man in his director’s chair
on the grass, scurrying
things down on a script,
shouting out commands —
albeit kindly — and kids,
belting out lines, laughing
and smiling.
Welcome to rehearsal
night at Western Oregon
University’s outdoor am-
phitheater.
Harriman established
Apple Box Children’s Theater
with his wife, Barbara, who
is the company’s production
manager. As a child in the
late ’70s, Harriman acted in
JENNIFER HALLEY/ Itemizer-Observer
Apple Box Children’s Theater participants rehearse a scene. Children will perform Thursday through Saturday.
summer plays put on by
Western Oregon University,
then known as Western Ore-
gon College, Barbara said.
Professor Don Weiss was in
charge of the company.
“When he passed away
seven years ago, we had a
memorial for him,” Barbara
said.
She added that the seed
money from the memorial
helped to start Apple Box
Children’s Theater, a compa-
ny currently in its sixth pro-
duction.
Outdoor theater is not as
common as it used to be,
and the Harrimans said they
are happy to bring it back.
Funding for each produc-
tion — one each summer —
is provided for by Polk
County Cultural Coalition. A
budget of $2,500 sounds im-
pressive, but after costumes,
stage props, lighting, sound
systems, and everything else
that consists of making a
successful production, there
is not a lot of wiggle room.
“None of us are paid,”
Barbara said. “It’s all volun-
teer.”
Parents of the children
acting in the plays are the
most helpful, she added.
They help paint the props,
make costumes, set up
sound systems and overall
work to create a fun envi-
ronment for the theater
company.
The children acting in
Jolly Roger and the Pirate
King range from second to
eighth grade.
Henry Doellinger, a soon-
to-be fifth grader at Mon-
mouth Elementary School,
says he has worked with
Apple Box Children’s Theater
before, and that he enjoys
being in plays. His younger
sister, Olive, is also in this
summer’s production. Both
children play pirates.
Sarah Wabra, also a soon-
to-be fifth grader, says she
gets “really nervous” during
the plays.
“I think, ‘oh man, what if I
mess up?’ But at the end (of
the play), I’m like, ‘oh that
was a piece of cake,’” she
said.
Savannah Smith, a 12-
year-old going into the sev-
enth grade, said that memo-
rizing lines could be diffi-
cult. “But once you do it for
the thousandth time, it gets
easier,” she added with a
laugh.
Jolly Roger and the Pirate
Queen, a play of love and
swashbuckling pirates, of
swords and treasure, with
children bringing it to life,
opens Thursday through
Saturday, 7:30 to 8 p.m.
“Bring a picnic basket,”
Barbara said, and enjoy.
Paul Doellinger, grandfa-
ther of Henry and Olive, was
there supporting his grand-
children, watching from a
chair on the grass.
“Rob gives this a lot of
time and energy,” he said.
Falls City School District has ‘painless’ budget
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — Creating a budg-
et for a school district wouldn’t
ever be considered easy, but for
this year’s plan, Falls City Superin-
tendent Jack Thompson character-
ized it as “painless.”
That is in no small part due to Falls
City School District officials having
the opportunity to add staff and pro-
grams, rather than cutting them.
Falls City Elementary School is
adding a teacher to separate the
growing seventh-eighth grade
classroom into single grades. The
school’s reading specialist will be
moving to full-time, which means
another teacher will need to be
hired to take over her third-fourth
grade class.
“The elementary school is going
to look a little different next year,”
Thompson said.
Falls City High School will have
a new face as well, a part-time ca-
reers class and electives teacher.
Thompson said having the addi-
tional position will allow more
class variety in the schedule.
“We are really limited on elec-
tives,” he said.
The district and employee
unions also agreed to a 6 percent
boost to what the district is paying
for staff insurance costs, the same
increase as the last two years.
Next year’s total budget is $7.3
million, but it includes $4 million
proceeds from a facilities bond
and state grant to build a new
gym/multipurpose room at the el-
ementary school.
A vote in May failed to pass the
bond by votes and the district lost
the grant, but the Falls City School
Board voted to put the bond on the
ballot again in November.
The bond amount will be the
same as in the spring campaign,
$1.30 per $1,000 of assessed value.
“We have the same need,”
Thompson said. “We were being
honest the last time.”
Thompson said the move is con-
tingent on the state approving the
district for the $2 million grant.
Falls City was high on the list in the
last grant cycle based on the need
for a new facility, and Thompson
said that situation hasn’t changed.
“We are hopeful that we will get
it again,” Thompson said.
The district should know with-
in a few weeks whether the state
will approve its application. If
not, the board will not proceed
with the bond.
In a departure from past prac-
tice, the district passed a one-year
budget instead of a two-year plan.
Thompson said the schedule the
district was on didn’t follow the bi-
ennium budget the state uses,
meaning the exact amount of
funding for the second year is un-
certain when the budget is adopt-
ed. That, plus bringing in a new
business manager compelled the
district to switch to passing a one-
year budget instead.
Whether the change is perma-
nent is yet to be decided, Thomp-
son said.