The Alberni Athletic Hall Association is reaching into the community’s logging past as it sets to raise funds for a new handicapped chair lift.
The association is hosting Good Timber: Songs and Stories of the Western Logger at the Capitol Theatre on April 20 and 21.
“This just played in Chilliwack and Vernon and it was a success,” association chair Larry Spencer said.
The production is a musical theatre revue celebrating BC’s west coast logging heritage and features pieces from logging scribe Robert Swanson.
The show is being brought to Port Alberni to help raise funds for a wheelchair lift at the Alberni Athletic Hall.
The $35,000 lift is slated to be installed in the main lobby of the new hall and come out on the upper lobby viewing area. The association already has $5,000 in seed money and is trying to raise the rest.
The logging performance uses 10 actors, who perform against the backdrop of old pictures and video depicting old logging scenes.
According to Spencer the production is well researched and authentic. There’s whistle punks, old yarders and “chewing snus”, Spencer said.
“It’s a bygone era — like the past stepping out,” he said. “I’m sure there’d be a lot of people in the Valley who’d remember that.”
Spencer saw the performance last year in Nanaimo and was struck by its authenticity and quality.
“I thought it was relevant to our logging heritage, and it’s really well done so you’ll enjoy it even if you’re not connected to the industry.”
Spencer has worked in the logging industry since the 1970s. He set chokers, worked in a tower and was a whistle punk.
“I missed that whole wooden tower steam train era,” Spencer said. “But I worked with guys who logged in the ’50s and remember that era.”
Tickets to the three shows — one on Friday and two on Saturday — cost $27 each and are available at Rollin Art Centre, Echo Centre and Somass Drug Store.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com
