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The Citizen, 2004-06-16, Page 1855 524-t , 40 EastSC, YOUR AFFORD HEALTH OLE OD STORE eaithward vr BCYCJINTE:0 4Tht v - THE BEST STEAKS - INCREDIBLE VARIETY OF FROZEN ENTRÉES -i.,, z . a ,4 *woe Than meals Making your life easier, one meal at a time. a. cc (.1) a. •.< -a s•-• 519.357.4499 vincents@scsinternet.com O eri • 1.866.264.4499 Across from the Wingham Post Office c") ci▪ ) - STORE-MADE SALADS - HAYTER'S TURKEY PRODUCTS - HONEY - Bruce & Sharon Vincent litieee tie &Attune* to #1? Stop in for all your camping & daytripping food needs ALL GOLFERS WELCOME! "2414efte lietgatmout Nee cued 9ouorili.e4 Pea* * Tournaments * Ladies' Night ' Tues./Thurs. * Men's Night - Wed. * Junior Clinics * Seniors' Day - Wed. * Golf & Dinner Specials C4C94.40G Jamestown Rd., Wingham 357-2179 www.wgcc@scsinternet.com PAGE 18. BLYTH FESTIVAL SALUTE. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16. 2004. Memories shared from the 15th anniversary They were younger then, when the Myth Festival celebrated its 15th anniversary season in 1989. Since then sonic of the people who played prominent roles in the early years of the Festival have passed on. Here are some of the memories recalled in the June 14. 1989 issue of The Citizen. When they cast their minds back to the early years of the Blyth Festival many long-time supporters remember the heat of the early pre- air-conditioned days. Helen Gowing was a member of the first board of directors and recalls that first opening night on July 9, 1975 when 400 people packed into the steam bath that was called Memorial Hall and people began sticking to the old varnish on the seats that became tacky in the heat. Melda McElroy remembers the heat of that first season from the performer's side. She was one of a number of local people who joined the small core of professionals in the initial Festival company to perform The Mouse Trap. Back stage the actors had to stand in the dark in the tiny space behind the set with hardly a breath of air in the heat and not even a chair to sit on while they waited for the opening curtain. It was like getting out of jail to make your entrance onto the stage she recalls. Luckily, the character she played died at the end of act one and she got to go home early. For Sheila Richards, the Brussels resident who has served two terms as president of the Festival, it was the heat that got her involved in the Festival. She and her husband There will be additional pleasures for those attending Saturday matinee performances at the Festival this summer: a farmers' market half a block away. The farmers' market, at the southwest corner of Dinsley and Queen Streets, just outside the Festivals "Writers' Centre", will operate from July 10 to Sept. 1 I from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will regularly have five to 10 vendors offering fruit and vegetables, maple syrup, honey, baking and meat as well as homemade crafts. The market was organized Wendell had just moved to Brussels about the time the Festival started and they had attended a few plays. She -recalls especially a production of The Blood is Strong when it was about 110 degrees in the shade and remembers watching attendance at the Festival drop as the heat rose. When a friend, Lynda Lentz who was on the Festival board, said the board was considering the major step of installing air conditioning, Sheila decided she wanted to be a part of raising the money for the job. The pair have, over the years, been the backbone of the Festival's fundraising effort. Fundraising is among another of Miss McElroy's early memories of the Festival. She recalls helping Anne Roy, the unpaid Festival administrator (and wife of Festival founding artistic director James Roy) go from door to door to try to scrape up enough donations to get the Festival off the ground. Doug Whitmore, one of the original board members, says his most vivid memory of that first season also includes money. When a budget of $9,000 to mount the first season was proposed by James Roy he thought they were crazy, Mr. Whitmore recalls. He felt they'd never do it. With the help of the local fundraising, a $2,000 grant from the Ontario Arts Council and the surprising success of Mostly In Clover the first-ever Festival hit, the Festival actually showed at $1,000 profit the first season. Part of the reason the Festival could turn a profit that first season was because it did without so much and because many volunteers gave following a successful one- day market last summer. - Both vendors and market shoppers asked if the market couldn't be a regular part of the Blyth experience so this past February vendors came together to see if there was suffi- cient interest to have a weekly market. When enough vendors indicated they'd like to participate, the search was on for a suitable location. • Several of the vendors already take part in the Goderich market early Saturday morning, then attend Blyth in the afternoon. up so much of their time. Betty Battye was one of those volunteers. Her son Mark was in Mostly in Clover and she was there to help change sets and usher and do anything that would help (she supervised the concessions for the first five years). Her most vivid memory is Ron Ferguson, technical director, lighting technician, stage manager and just about everything, controlling the lights through a series of dimmer switches screw-nailed to a piece of plywood. Mrs. Battye was one of those who opened her heart and her home to the theatre people. Miss McElroy recalls that because the only house available for the actors to stay in didn't have running water, many people loaned their homes to actors to shower and shampoo. She recalls with amusement loaning her living room to one cast member who used it for meditation for long periods each day. Mrs. Battye befriended actors who felt they were on centre stage not just when they were in the theatre but when they were on the streets. One of the big changes today, she says, is that the community seems more accepting of theatre people, not so resentful and distrustful although there is still some resentment, she said. Still, she said, there was never any doubt in her mind after that first opening 'night that the Festival would be a success. The reaction of the crowd that night made her certain things would only improve, she said. Today the Festival is a success not only in Blyth but with a reputation across Canada. The growth of that reputation is one of the highlights for Mrs. Richards. Memories that stand out for her along the way were the first day she and Lynda Lentz signed up 10 patrons in one day, a step on the way to the kind of acceptance that today sees hundreds of thousands raised to support the" Festival each year. She also recalls the big step the board took to take on the first addition at the north side of Memorial Hall at a cost of $318,000. That addition is also one, of the "scary" times Mrs. Gowing recalls. As for today, "the budget's really impressed me," she says with a laugh. She- is the only remaining hoard member who has sat-through all 15 seasons and seen the budget grow from $9,000 to more than $1 million. She's also impressed by the way there are always new goals for the Festival to shoot for. "I keep thinking, well, we've done everything," she says, but new ideas keep emerging. The improved technical standards of Festival productions impress Doug Whitmore. Where the entire crew that first season was one harried stage-manager-technician- carpenter-electrician, today some of the best designers and technicians in Canada are brought in and given set and costume budgets larger than the entire budget for the first season. Matinee visitors can sample farmer's market Get the Prudential Team working for you! k„,Prudential mummy Heartland Realty -Serving your residential, commercial, recreational and agricultural real estate needs. Also accommodating off-shore clients. 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