Hoo Hoos Hardiss Workman (Will Phay) and The Grand Snark (Milt Shrader) stand at attention, while a vile villain, Mia Louse (Shareen Strauss) intimidates the heartbroken heroine, Phoebe Song (Lin Kessler) in a scene from this year’s melodrama “Who’s a Hoo Hoo or The Snark Stops Here.”
Somewhat loosely based on history, the production is an annual tradition of McCloud’s Heritage Days Celebration.
In honor of this year’s melodrama chronicling McCloud’s early days Tom McCann Hoo Hoo Club, the club’s international president will visit the town to see the show this Friday, Aug. 14, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Melodrama Playhouse upstairs over the McCloud Heritage Junction Museum, on Main Street.
Other performances are scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 15 at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Players in the melodrama include Chris Bartlett as Lowell Blow, Jowe Bravo as Bert Lakin, John Kessler as a hero, Beth Steele, Micaiah Bartlett and Nicholas Benedict as Workman family members Winnie, Les and Noel.
The melodrama is written and directed by McCloud’s own Annette Spitsen and is a fundraiser for McCloud’s Heritage Junction Museum, which sponsors the show.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children under 12. They may be purchased at the Heritage Junction Museum and the Heart of the Earth Jewelry Store.
For more information call 964-2558.
Yes folks, there is a real Hoo Hoo Club
Guest article by Annette Spitsen
Founded in 1892, the international Fraternal Order of Lumbermen, commonly known as the Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoo, was and still is a social and service organization for those who make their living in the timber industry in one way or another.
A recent rule change now allows women members also.
Hoo Hoo had a peak membership of 13,000 in the 1950s. It was conceived in Arkansas on a cold January evening of 1892 by five lumbermen who were waiting for a delayed train. To distinquish themselves from other orders, they decided to war against conventionality and superstition. Their mascot was the black cat, and in honor of the cat’s nine lives, nine held a prominent place.
They had a national meeting on the ninth day of the ninth month beginning at nine minutes after nine. They had nine national officers given unusual titles such as “Jabberwock, Scrivenoter and Grand Snark,” adopted from Lewis Carroll’s “Hunting of the Snark.” Dues were $9.99, etc.
McCloud’s local chapter was chartered in April of 1926 under the name Tom McCann Hoo Hoo Club. Bert Lakin served as the first president. This Hoo Hoo club was very active in community service, holding carnivals and minstrel shows as fundraisers. Their many achievements include pushing to get Highway 89 paved, working for better mill safety conditions, and turning a dump into a large park complete with playground equipment.
