Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 8, 2017 7A
EmILy mEnTzER/ Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon University students will perform, “All in the Timing,” six, one-act
plays, in Rice Auditorium’s Studio Theater, a room that feels like a comedy club.
‘ALL IN THE TIMING’
WOU presents six one-act plays opening Thursday
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
Be ready to laugh
MONMOUTH — A young
woman, Dawn, seeking help
for a stutter, hopes learning a
new, universal language will
help her untie her tongue.
A man, Don, who has cre-
ated a universal language, is
eager to teach her.
The duo stumble on
words before finding their
groove — and true love — in
a short comedic play, one of
six one-act plays that make
up “All in the Timing,” by
David Ives.
Western Oregon Universi-
ty theater department will
perform the work Thursday
through Saturday. Curtain is
at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee
performance at 2 p.m. on
Saturday.
Each play revolves around
the concepts of wordplay,
interpersonal relations and
existential reflection.
What: Western Oregon
University’s production of
“All in the Timing,” by
David Ives.
When: Thursday
through Saturday at 7:30
p.m. with a matinee at 2
p.m. on Saturday.
Where: The Studio The-
ater at Rice Auditorium on
the WOU campus.
Admission: $14 for
adults; $8 for students; $10
for seniors and WOU facul-
ty and staff.
Of note: Friday’s per-
formance will include
American Sign Language
interpretation.
“The plays all deal with
the humor that results from
coincidental events in life
and odd intersections of
people and events,” said di-
rector Kent Neely in a press
release. “ We see three
chimps given typewriters
and told to write ‘Hamlet.’
Then there’s the creation of a
‘universal language’ that can
solve humanity’s difficulties.
And we see what happened
to Trotsky after an ice axe
was smashed in the back of
his head.”
The six plays, Sure Thing;
Words, Words, Words; Univer-
sal Language; The Philadel-
phia; Mere Mortals; and Vari-
ations on the Death of Trot-
sky, are unrelated. Each one
stands on its own, Neely said.
Neely chose the play be-
cause of the performance
space. It is the Studio The-
ater in Rice Auditorium, not
on the main stage. That
meant space was at a premi-
um. With six sort-of sketches
rather than one big perform-
ance, it allows actors to use
minimal sets.
The cozy atmosphere of
the studio creates a comedy-
club feel.
DDA seeks help from city
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — The Dallas
Downtown Association has
big plans for 2017 and asked
the city of Dallas for some
help in seeing those
through.
Mark Sturtevant, the pres-
ident of DDA, spoke to the
Dallas City Council during
the “public comment” por-
tion of Monday’s council
meeting.
He noted that the DDA
had a busy year in 2016,
completing the train mural
on Main Street downtown,
sponsoring a Christmas
bazaar, hosting an interac-
tive murder-mystery show,
and helping sponsor the cel-
ebration gathering for Blue
Garden sign re-lighting.
Sturtevant said the organ-
ization hopes to make the
murder-mystery an annual
event each October, and will
be co-sponsoring a down-
town solar eclipse party in
Au g u s t a n d d ow n t ow n
cruise-in.
He said that since joining
the group in September,
AmeriCorps Resource Assis-
tance for Rural Environment
(RARE) volunteer Emma
Guida has been key to the
Huffman
Pointer
success of the DDA. Guida
serves as DDA program
manager and will be on the
job for 11 months.
The RARE program, run
through the University of
Oregon, has encouraged
DDA to apply for a second
year.
Last year, the city of Dallas
helped the organization by
providing $22,000 to support
the program.
“You challenged us to
show you we had staying
power and skin in the game
before you committed to
supporting the RARE pro-
gram,” Sturtevant said. “We
done very well in that regard
and we were able to raise the
capital to fully fund the
RARE program this year.
“Now we have a growing
operational budget in excess
of $42,000. That doesn’t
sound like a whole lot of
money, but for a small or-
ganization, it’s kind of big.”
DDA will apply for grants
from the Ford Family Foun-
dation and the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation, Sturte-
vant said.
“In order to assure them
that we have community
support we would like the
city of Dallas to include in
the 2017-18 budget the sum
Rose
of $8,500, substantially less
than $22,000, to support the
RARE program,” he said.
Guida, who attended
Monday’s meeting, gave an
impromptu presentation to
the council.
“In the coming year, we’re
working on developing a
strategic plan for the DDA,”
Guida said.
She said that is important,
especially if the organization
is asking for grant support.
In other business, the
council:
• Approved a resolution
for a supplementary budget
containing a transfer from
capital projects in the
amount of $261,500 to
record the cost of purchas-
ing the former RadioShack
property and $350,000 trans-
fer from the general fund to
create a new risk manage-
ment fund, which allocates
for insurance premiums, de-
ductibles, claim losses and
other insurance-related ex-
penses.
• Approved a resolution
officially naming the pedes-
trian bridge spanning Rick-
reall Creek from the Dallas
Aquatic Center to Central
Bark, the city’s dog park,
after former Dallas parks su-
pervisor Ron Lines.
Wolfgang
Jones
Corrections posts ‘most wanted’
DALLAS — Polk County
Community Corrections lists
these individuals as “most
wanted” for February. Citi-
zens with information on
the whereabouts of any of
them can call Community
Corrections at 503-623-5226.
• Raymond William Huff-
man, born Jan. 11, 1964, 5-7,
180 pounds, brown hair,
brown eyes. Charge: Posses-
sion of heroin, delivery of
heroin.
• Carl James Pointer, born
June 3, 1966, 6-3, 185
pounds, brown hair, brown
eyes. Charge: Felon in pos-
session of a firearm, driving
under the influence of in-
toxicants.
• Joshua Michael Rose,
born July 9, 1984, 5-9, 209
pounds, blond hair, hazel
eyes. Charge: Fourth-degree
assault.
• Jeremy Wolfgang Wright,
born April 24, 1986, 5-8, 145
pounds, blond hair, blue
eyes. Charge: Third-degree
assault, first-degree mis-
treatment, possession of
methamphetamine, posses-
sion of heroin.
• Eric Clifford Jones, born
June 2, 1970, 5-11, 147
pounds, brown hair, brown
eyes. Charge: Eluding po-
lice.