The Coldest Place in Oregon

Before the New Year comes, I thought I'd take the time to finally cap off the fall tour. The final week of Fall Tour was an unexpectedly eventful one, but it didn't start out that way. From Lake Oswego we headed southeast to Seneca. Since Seneca is on the east side of the Cascades, I was expecting something along the lines of Davenport or Ritzville. As we passed through John Day and began our last 30 miles of the journey, I was surprised to find myself rising in elevation and passing a "Now Entering Malheur National Forest" sign. Soon we were winding our way through forested mountains along snow covered roads, the vanishing edge of the icy road the only indication of the deep valley to our left. We climbed the pass and ended in pastures blanketed in white, a cluster of lights along the road ahead.

Seneca is a former company town of Hines Lumber that had a mill and rail line to process the area's abundant forests. The mill shuttered its doors about 25 years ago and is no longer standing, but the town has survived. The population has steadily dwindled, but Seneca has kept it's K-8 school going by importing students from John Day. It's a small school of five teachers, a secretary, a custodian, and about 50 or so students. Unlike most schools, Seneca boasts a gorgeous gymnasium. Entirely clad in wood donated by mill workers from floor to ceiling, the gynmasium is surprisingly warm and inviting. It's the kind of gym you'd expect to see in the movie "Hoosiers."

The town sits at an elevation of about 5000 in a wide basin surrounded by the hills and forests with a funny shaped peak aptly named Strawberry Mountain (it resembles an upturned strawberry) as the dominant feature. Cold is no stranger here. Back in the 1930s Seneca earned the title "coldest place in Oregon" for a marrow freezing temperature of -54 degrees Fahrenheit. The mercury didn't fall that low when we were there, but it did dip to about 10 below zero one night. That's cold enough for me.

Seneca is also a first time town. They've never had Missoula Children's Theatre before which presented some new challenges. First of all, none of the kids had experience with the particular demands of our shows. For many kids, the reality of putting on a show in one week doesn't hit them unless they've done it before. The necessary discipline and work ethic was severely lacking for the first few days. I probably had my least productive rehearsal thus far during this week. And not because these kids weren't capable, it's just that they'd never been pushed to do something like this. Roughly half of the kids had never done any kind of performing before. However, like always it seems, the show went great. The gym was packed-standing room only-and every kid stood on stage, said their lines, and had a successful show. It was a tough week teaching-wise, but still a good ending.

It was also a tough week because I ended up on my own halfway through. Due to an unexpected emergency, Mallory had to head home early leaving me to wrap up the week by myself. I never fully realized how much work this job is, especially a show day, until I had to do on my own. Thankfully, three of the teachers helped me in so many ways that the week was able to end on a high note, despite the circumstances. After the show, we packed the truck and in the morning I headed "home" to Missoula.

Spending a few days in Missoula with fellow Tour Actor/Directors and the home staff was a real treat after a long fall on the road. Before heading to Olympia, I celebrated my halfway mark (actually a little past) at the company Christmas party. After a preview screening of "The Little Red Truck" movie (wonderful film) and a catered dinner complete with entertainment, we headed down the street to the Union Club for karaoke. Fun, fun, fun. In a week, I'll be back in Missoula ready to head to Oklahoma City for the longest tour block of the year with a new show (The Little Mermaid), a new partner, and a new truck (F-150, baby). Happy New Year!