Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 21, 2016 3A
Falls City works to
pave Bridgeport
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CORRECTIONS
In the Fall Sports Guide’s
Dallas football preview, a mug
shot of Jason Richey was
shown without identifying
him in the story. Richey is a
senior.
The story also references
Harrison Broadus, who now
plays for South Salem High
School.
The I-O regrets the errors.
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer is committed to pub-
lishing accurate news, feature
and sports reports. If you see
anything that requires a cor-
rection or clarification, call the
newsroom at 503-623-2373 or
send an email to
ementzer@polkio.com.
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WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
Sept. 13............ 84
Sept. 14............ 81
Sept. 15............ 83
Sept. 16............ 86
Sept. 17............ 62
Sept. 18............ 73
Sept. 19............ 68
RAIN
46
46
45
49
55
50
47
.00
.00
.00
.00
.72
.T
.00
Rainfall during Sept. — 1.07 in.
Rain through Sept. 19 — 23.23 in.
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
EmIly mENTzER/ Itemizer-Observer
Stephen Nielson and Gabriel Elmore play FBI agents interviewing Richard Penzak,
played by Andrew James Thornton, in Nathaniel Dunaway’s “Burn Barrel.”
BURN BARREL
Candlestick Productions puts on Appalachian mystery
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
RICKREALL — Find your-
self immersed in a world of
Southern intrigue at Candle-
stick Production’s premiere,
“Burn Barrel,” by Nathaniel
Dunaway, running Thurs-
day, Friday and Saturday.
Candlestick Productions
is newly formed by Western
Oregon University theater
students who wanted to
avoid the boredom that sets
in over late summer.
“After August and Septem-
ber, there’s just nothing for
us to do because it’s too late
to audition, because (shows)
run into the school year,”
said Gabriel Elmore, actor.
“This was a good way to fil-
ter out of the boredom.”
More than trying to keep
busy, the play gives the ac-
tors time to hone their skills
in all aspects of theater.
“When someone ap-
proaches you for a project,
you get excited to help out,”
said Andrew James Thorn-
ton, actor. “The more oppor-
tunities you get inside the
school, the more prepared
you are for outside the
school.”
While the production is
not affiliated with Western,
the troupe is making use of
WOU’s facilities.
Western’s theater depart-
ment loaned equipment to
help with putting on the
play, which will be at Rickre-
all Event Hall.
The play is about Richard
Attend the
production
Curtain is at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Friday and Sat-
urday, with a matinee per-
formance at 2 p.m. on Sat-
urday at Rickreall Event
Hall, 105 Nesmith Road,
Rickreall.
Tickets are $10, avail-
able at the door or by call-
ing 503-964-4826. Candle-
stick Productions will per-
form other plays if “Burn
Barrel” is well received.
The troupe will focus on
contemporary and new
plays.
Penzak, played by Thornton.
Penzak is interviewed by two
FBI agents about happen-
ings in the Depression-era
Appalachia.
“It’s fairly modern,” said
Stephen Nielson, actor. “It’s
set in 1999, but then it’s also
set in 1935. It’s kind of flash-
backy. It’s sort of — not ex-
actly a murder mystery, but
it’s sort of noir-esque.”
The play is inspired by
Dunaway’s grandparents —
both from the South — and
the bedtime stories they
shared with him as a child –
including one rather scary
story about a man and a
golden arm.
“My grandpa would say, sit
down and tell me a story,”
Dunaway recalled. “If the TV
had been on too long, he’d say
make something up for me.”
This is Dunaway’s third
play, but first one that was
commissioned.
“It’s a snappy play,” Niel-
son said. “Things happen
very quickly in this show. It
escalates.”
Sarah Cotter, who plays
both the primary caretaker
of Penzak and Una, an “enig-
matic country girl,” said the
play contains moments of
humor, too.
One of the challenges pre-
sented in this play is charac-
ters who are elderly in one
scene and in their 20s in an-
other.
“I create my own age in
my own space,” Thornton
said. “It’s a lot of internaliz-
ing that oldness. The hardest
part is finding the wisdom of
that age and trying to emu-
late it. As a 22-year-old, I’m
not quite there.”
The physicality of chang-
ing ages so quickly between
scenes — without the aid of
old-age makeup — is tricky,
Elmore said.
“It takes a lot of focus,”
Nielson agreed. “My charac-
ter, the one that I switch to is
in his 70s and had a stroke.
The left half of his body
doesn’t work, so trying to
find and do the physicality
for that without going over
the top, and being truthful to
it is an interesting chal-
lenge.”
The play is intended for
more mature audiences —
including older teenagers —
and contains adult language.
FALLS CITY — The Falls City City Council agreed to
send a letter to the Polk County Board of Commissioners
requesting the county pave Bridgeport Road.
Currently the road — one of two main routes in and
out of Falls City — is partially gravel, heavily traveled and
dangerous, according to residents who live on the road.
“Everyone who lives there (in Falls City) uses that path
occasionally,” said Bob Lamb, the Bridgeport Road resi-
dent who brought the complaint to the council. “It’s the
preferred route for people going south.”
Lamb said he’s taken his concern to the county, but
fears nothing will be done. He said taking the issue before
the council and having the city send a letter might have
more impact.
Another resident who lives near an s-curve on the
gravel portion of the road said that school buses and log
trucks frequently use Bridgeport.
“I have lived in fear for 20 years that a log truck would
meet a school bus right on that corner,” she said. “Thank-
fully, it hasn’t happened.”
What has happened, according to Lamb and other resi-
dents at Falls City’s Sept. 8 council meeting, is a lot of less
serious accidents, like cars careening into roadside ditches.
Falls City Mayor Terry Ungricht will work with Lamb to
write the letter.
Help map the
future of Dallas
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Community
members and the city of
Dallas are embarking on
making a road map for the
city’s economic future.
Development of Dallas’
Rural Economic Vitality
Roadmap began with a se-
ries of focus groups, the
last of which will be held
on Thursday.
“This phase is meant to
find out where we are in
order to determine where
we need to go,” said Greg
Ellis, an economic devel-
opment consultant for the
city.
The process, which will
take about four months to
complete, is facilitated by
the statewide nonprofit
Rural Development Initia-
tives.
The Economic Vitality
Roadmap program uses a
three-step process to con-
duct an assessment, iden-
tification of key initiatives
and implementation of a
plan.
A “community town
hall” meeting is scheduled
for Monday from 6 to 8
Learn more
What: Economic Vital-
ity Roadmap community
town hall.
When: monday, 6 to 8
p.m.
Where: Dallas Civic
Center, 945 SE Jefferson
St.
Of note: Refresh-
ments and social time
will be from 6 to 6:30
p.m. and the presenta-
tion will begin at 6:30.
p.m. at the Civic Center,
945 SE Jefferson St.
RDI Rural Economic Vi-
tality Director Mary Bosch
will present focus group
findings and lead a discus-
sion to set priorities.
“With this assessment
of the community and all
the outreach that RDI has
done, we are confident
that Dallas will see the
impact of this economic
vitality roadmap,” Ellis
said.
The Ford Family Foun-
dation provided 90 percent
of project funding, and the
city of Dallas covered the
balance of the $35,000
cost.
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