THE EDEN VALLEY STORY (A 40TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES)
as told by Bette Lou Higgins, Artistic Director

PART 4

So -- a cast was assembled, a costumer hired, research began, scenarios were created, rehearsals began. At the park, the set pieces from the PEOPLE OF ‘76 were gathered, new props for our program were located or constructed and a site was for the village was located.

On the park’s end, finding the location was the trickiest part. They did not own a lot of land at the time and we all really wanted the site to be near the canal. It also needed a parking lot, bathroom facilities and some type of “backstage/dressing room” area.

Finally a location was chosen in Boston Township on a piece of property where people could easily stop and see the canal coming and going to the site, though not actually get to it during the program. BUT it was wide open with plenty of space to set up the village and to park cars. However, there were a few issues.

Did I mention it was “wide open”? It was so open, there were no trees to speak of and there were no buildings on it (as in no bathroom facilities and no “backstage/dressing room” area.

Other than some strange conversations about hauling in large trees from a tree farm, there was nothing to do about the tree situation.

To solve the other two problems, porta-potties were brought in for the public near the parking area. In a location to the rear of where the “village” would end, a wooden trailer was brought in to be the “backstage/dressing room” area and a porta-potty was installed for the cast. 1800s life at its finest!

1800's "Necessary Room"

To be continued ...