Neighbor Aid 2010

ShareNet Food Bank’s largest fund-raiser is under-

way. As of Nov. 16, the effort had

raised $13,164. Watch for an appeal in your mailbox with the Neighbor Aid logo. Donations can be made directly to ShareNet, P.O. Box 250, Kingston WA 98346. ShareNet is located at 26021 United Rd. off Bond Road. The food bank is open Tuesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5-7 p.m. Tuesdays.

KingstonCommunityNews.com Vol. 26 No. 12 • December 2010

Kingston • Hansville • Indianola • Port Gamble • Little Boston • Eglon

COMMUNITY NEWSKingston Community News18887 Hwy 305, Ste #700Poulsbo, WA 98370

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDKINGSTON WAPERMIT No. 22

ECRWSSPOSTAL CUSTOMER

A COUNTRY CHRISTMASHoliday happenings abound in

Kingston and Port Gamble.PAGE 15

STORY BY TAD SOOTER PHOTOS BY BRAD CAMP

The projectionist left everything when he walked out of the Port Gamble Theater some 60 years ago.

Film boxes and light bulbs still clutter the work bench in the tomb-like projection booth above the theater floor. Empty reels hang on lead-lined walls and a solitary shoe occupies a side table.

It’s as though he stubbed out his last Lucky Strike, sauntered through the heavy door, past the “No Smoking” sign and into a lost chapter of Port Gamble history. The twin projectors still point vacantly at a stage that’s been lifeless for decades.

This fall, however, the long-vacant the-ater is being reborn.

Kingston theater troupe Roving Players is staging a production of “A Christmas Carol” in the theater in December, likely the first live performance in the hall since the 1940s.

The production could help buoy Olympic Property Group’s plans to reopen the the-ater permanently this spring.

“Every day it seems to gain a little life,” Port Gamble manager Shana Smith said.

No one is sure exactly when the curtain closed for good on the Port Gamble Theater, but the projectionist did leave a clue.

When Port Gamble staff inspected the booth they found a film reel still loaded in a

projector. The film was corroded and fused with age, but one segment was salvaged — a clip of Fred MacMurray pitching war bonds to a bygone audience.

“That’s how we dated it,” Smith said.The theater occupies the top level of

a long, yellow building, across the street from the Port Gamble General store. Famed Seattle architecture firm Bebb and Mendel designed the building, which was con-structed in 1906 for about $12,000. The price included fixtures for a barber shop, post office and sets for the theater, accord-ing to Port Gamble archives.

The theater entertained mill workers and their families with live shows and movies. What theater troupes passed through Port Gamble in those early days is a mystery. The theater was operated by an indepen-dent company, so Port Gamble doesn’t have records.

The second act

Theater returns to Port Gamble

SEE THEATER RETURNS > PAGE 6

A production of “A Christmas Carol” will open the doors to the Port Gamble Theater in December for the � rst time in six decades. (Inset) Scott Snively directs the Roving Players cast and plays the part of Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s Christmas classic.

Neighbor Aid 2010

ShareNet Food Bank’s largest fund-raiser is under-

way. As of Nov.

Helping hands