Morton Hosts Double-Header of Fun

From Tow Mater and chainsaws to ruby slippers and flying monkeys, the tiny town of Morton has some big fun planned this month.

The 70th annual Morton Loggers Jubilee will take place Aug. 9-12 while the Roxy Theater summer production of “Wizard of Oz” will overlap with a run starting Aug. 3 and running weekends through Aug. 12.

The Loggers Jubilee is arguably the largest happening for the town of about 900, drawing between 8,000-10,000 visitors each year.

Festival volunteer Sunny Evans, whose parents, Sonny and Linda Mettler, head the festival, said the motels are all booked at least eight to 10 months ahead and the rest of the visitors camp all over town.

“People kind of migrate in for it,” Evans said. “Tuesday or Wednesday they start rolling into town and then it just grows and grows and grows.”

The 70th year of Jubilee kicks off an effort to salute the longstanding supporters of the event with a theme of “Loggers’ Jubilee: Living History... our 70th celebration”. Former standout competitor and long-time jubilee supporter Kelly Stanley has been chosen to serve as this year’s grand marshal.

“We’re really trying to have it dedicated to those who have been a part of Jubilee for a long time,” Linda Mettler said.

Another celebrity expected to join the Jubilee fun is a life-sized Tow Mater from the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars.” He will be part of the parade Saturday and following the parade visitors can have their photos taken with him. Linda Mettler explained the character is owned by a nonprofit organization and a portion of each $10 photo sold will benefit Loggers Jubilee.

If you’ve never attended Loggers Jubilee, the Mettlers agreed that the grand parade, logging competitions and street dance are musts. But Sonny Mettler said one of his personal favorite events is the lawnmower races, which take place Friday evening.

“They’re crazy,” he said. “They have some amazing engines in these little things. It’s like NASCAR but with lawnmowers.”

Another exciting addition to this year’s events will be the unveiling of the event’s own American flag. In years past, Uhlmann Motors donated the use of their flag. But this year the Jubilee committee will unveil their own 30-foot by 60-foot flag. At retirement, the flag will be folded for storage by a group of Armed Service personnel from Fort Lewis.

The main event of the logging competitions draws competitors from all over the world to go head to head in events such as: springboard; single, double and obstacle buck; stock saw; hot saw; underhand chop; and both Jack ‘N’ Jill and Jill ‘N’ Jill. Perhaps one of the most loved events is the speed climb where contestants scramble both up and down an 80-foot spar tree in times ranging from 18-20 seconds.

“It’s these things you don’t see anymore, that you don’t usually get to see,” Linda Mettler said.

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

Though it may not exponentially increase the population of Morton, the Roxy’s annual summer production is also a tourist attraction in its own right, said Lynne Olmos, who is directing this year’s production of “Wizard of Oz.” Olmos said theatergoers from Morton and surrounding areas usually flock to their summer show but they have also heard from many people who plan trips through East Lewis County to coincide with the annual production.

“A lot of people come out for our summer musical,” Olmos said.

Presented in by Centralia College East and the Fire Mountain Arts Council, this year’s production of “Wizard of Oz” will tell the story straight off the silver screen. Based on the classic motion picture of the same name, “The Wizard of Oz” tells the story of Kansas girl Dorothy Gale, played by Alesha Calleson, who goes through a tornado and lands in the fantastical world of Munchkinland.

Trying to find her way home, Dorothy encounters the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Heather Burnley, and the Good Witch of the North, played by Fiona Thornton. She travels the yellow brick road, trying to reach the land of Oz and find help returning home from the Wizard of Oz, played by Fred Schwindt. She finds help along the way from her new friends the scarecrow, played by Rebecca Byrd, the Tin Woodsman, played by Tanner Jones, and the Cowardly Lion, played by Bruce Roberts.

Olmos, a theater teacher at Mossyrock High School with more than 30 years experience both on and off the stage, said she had been wanting to do the show for years. She said she liked that it was a family-friendly story that really seems to have a universal appeal.

“A lot of people will be drawn to ‘Wizard of Oz’ because it’s something from their own childhood,” Olmos said. “It’s a huge undertaking but we really like to do shows that bring out the family and this one is.”

The challenges of this particular play include: working with a cast of nearly 30 ranging in ages from 5 to senior citizens; large-scale musical numbers; as well as working cinematic elements such as explosions, flying monkeys and witches brooms and a tornado into a small theater space with no fly space. Olmos said this show will include their first use of a trap door, some magical fire and explosions and some other new uses of the space.

“Every show we get into our heads that we want to do something a little challenging and this one is definitely going to be a challenge,” Olmos said.

While many of the elements of the play are still being worked out, Olmos said she has a strong, musical cast and a story that is sure to please audiences. In the end, she said she is proud of how the show is shaping up and believes it will be a blockbuster.

“This is going to be one of those plays that if they miss it, they’ll be sorry,” Olmos said.