Editorially speaking…
Yes! It’s official!
The last airworthy Martin Mars water bomber is going to make one last flight, this one to the BC Aviation Museum in Sidney.
—Courtesy Andrew Waldegrave
It will takes months of preparation yet but we’ve been assured that the Hawaiian Mars’s final flight from Sproat Lake to Sidney will be well publicized so as to give everyone a chance to see her in the air for one last time.
Those who’ve been fortunate enough to have already seen her airborne, particularly when she was flying at low altitude, will appreciate the contradiction that, aerodynamically, a bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly. The Mars is so huge and so almost ungainly—streamlined, but much like a domestic goose fattened for slaughter—that she, too, seems unlikely to take to her wings.
But she does, of course, has, in fact, been doing so, off and on, for 80 years now. How many forest fires has she fought over that three-quarters of a century? So, looks aside, there’s no disputing her nimbleness in the air.
I’ve had the privilege of having her pass over just a few hundred feet above me, and it’s something I’ll never forget. The sound of those mighty engines, for one who grew up with and who has always loved the sound of multi-piston radials, is nothing less than spine-tingling.
I can hardly wait for the day of her final flight which I intend to witness at all costs.
* * * * *
I’ve long admired Maureen Alexander and company of the Malahat Mill Bay Historical Society’s proactive approach to popularizing history. They don’t just create museum exhibits and wait for the public to come to them, they go out and take history to the people.
Several years ago, Maureen had the idea of forming a theatrical company to enact historical sketches from local history. Several of their subjects, if I may be so immodest, were inspired by chapters in my series of books, Cowichan Chronicles, Vol. 1-4 (at the time, as there are now five volumes an Volume 6 is about to go to press).
One of the stories I wrote, ‘No Mercy for Camp 6 Sweetheart,’ the tragic tale of a young school teacher driven to suicide by malicious gossip, obviously registered with Maureen who is reviving the Seeds and Salt Theatre Company for this summer.
The story of the hapless Mable Jones will be a highlight of the production that’s a collaboration between Duncan’s Mercury Theatre and Shawnigan Players.
Maureen’s appeal for aspiring actors says it all:
SEEDS AND SALT THEATRE COMPANY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The Seeds and Salt Theatre Company is looking for 4 actors/actresses between 17 and 70 for the play Messages In The Dust that will depict real events from Vancouver Island’s history and will be performed in various locations in the Cowichan Valley. It is to be a lively, entertaining show. All ethnicities and genders welcome.
Previous theatre training preferred, but not mandatory. Ability to sing and/or play an instrument preferred, but not mandatory. There is going to be a lot of movement, so agility is a plus.
The play is written by Will Johnson as commissioned by the Mill Bay Historical Society and the director is Rien Vesseur, whom you might know from the Cowichan Valley Shakespeare Festival or as a director with the Mercury Players in Duncan (The Curious Incident of the Dog.., Tempting Providence, Tartuffe and many more).
AUDITIONS- will take place on Friday 05 April @ 8:00pm, Sunday 07 April at 4:30pm and Wednesday 10 April at 7:00pm at the Mill Bay Community League Hall, 1035 Shawnigan Lake-Mill Bay Rd.
These auditions will be carried out in workshop-style with careful guidance by the director to bring out your best performance. No need to prepare, scripts will be provided.
REHEARSALS – will begin as soon as we have determined a schedule with the cast. The show will run from the middle of July to the middle of August.
TENTATIVE PRODUCTION DATES – July 13, 14, 19, 21, 26, 27, August 3 or 4th
PRODUCTION LOCATION – Mill Bay Community Hall, Shawnigan Museum Hall, Forest Discovery Centre Duncan.
COMPENSATION/RATE – This is community theatre, not an Equity production. Some expenses may be reimbursed.
PROJECT SYNOPSIS – The one-hour long show without intermission will feature several true stories from Vancouver Island’s history and will be retold in a dramatic and physical style.
This is an opportunity to step back and look at our history in a new and exciting way, a chance to celebrate the forgotten, the humorous, the tragic and the sometimes not so heroic events of our past and the men and women, like ourselves, who made them happen. The show will stay true to what the performance challenges of a traveling show would be in the first half of the 20th century, using props repeatedly to convey a variety of different things and using what can be created with the actors’ own bodies and imaginations.
QUERIES? Contact Rien Vesseur at 250 510 1746 or mvesseur@gmail.com