The Kitsap Forest Theater is a beautiful place situated among a forest of many different variety of trees and wildlife with several creeks running through the property. Did you know that the theater property (owned by The Mountaineers) is surrounded by the Rhododendron Preserve (owned and operated by The Mountaineers Foundation - not affiliated with The Mountaineers)? There are over 460 acres of pristine forest being protected for new generations of outdoor lovers. The Rhododendron Preserve includes "Big Tree", one of the biggest old growth firs on the Olympic peninsula and is worth the short hike to view it.

Those of us who have been involved keep coming back because of the beauty and peacefulness of this special and magical place. Since "mother nature" has her way with this property, there is much work to do before each play season to prepare the grounds and buildings for the actors, production staff and audience. 

Last weekend Brian Lindvall, co Kitsap Cabin chair, spent all day washing all 44 mattresses from our bunk house (Cascade) in preparation for our first Kitsap Rehearsal weekend at the theater. Previous to that, several cast members (David Gordon & Purcelle Harris) helped Nancy Estill and Brian remove many screws that were sticking out of the 2" x 4"'s on the men's side of Cascade after the damaged wallboard was removed. The cabin is now ready for overnights for our cast and crew.

Some of the roofs on the buildings down at the theater are leaking and in need of repair. So far, we have had two work parties to deal with this huge job. Thanks to Scott Baker, Josh Brown, Craig McCoy and Gardner Hicks for taking the lead on this project. And thanks to Olivia Hickerson for helping (with her pickup) to take a bunch of trash and used roofing to the dump. Last weekend Scott and Josh cut out a large rotten part of the roof and replaced it with new plywood. We have scheduled a third roofing party on Saturday, April 21st, and could use more help.

Also, last weekend Gardner Hicks (Theater Chair) and David Jensen raked all of the audience seats in the theater. Gardner Hicks has been the super volunteer who  has cared for the theater and the theater trail for over 40 years. David Jensen has taken over the task of maintaining the Theater Trail and we thank him for "stepping up" and continuing the long standing tradition of volunteerism at the theater. And we thank Gardner for his continued contributions to the care of this majestic theater.

We also continue the work on our new yurt. We found used oak flooring for the yurt, and it took three days of work to load it, unload it, and grind off all of the nails and staples sticking out of the wood. Thanks to Craig McCoy, Josh Brown, Brian Lindvall and Trey Morgan for help with all of that grinding. And thanks to Gail Foster and Nancy Estill for help in cleaning and stacking the flooring.

We are always looking for help around the property and with building and painting sets. Please consider volunteering your time and energy in the coming months. During shows, we need volunteer ushers and parkers to help - and you get to see the show for free. It is a great way to be an important part of the team.

We are a community of outdoor and theater lovers and there are lots of opportunities to join us and help out in whatever area you are able. Contact us for more information and/or to volunteer. Thanks! 

On November 30th, Craig McCoy spent the day filling in the electrical ditch and spreading gravel around the site. We now have electricity ou=t to the site, and gravel walkways all around. The deck and ramp are almost finished, and Craig put gravel right up to the shed, so we don't need any stairs.

We still need to figure out what lighting fixtures we want for the outside and inside of the yurt, and we will need to complete the electrical wiring to the yurt. We are also researching floor options since we now just have a plywood floor. 

We are hoping to have everything finished and ready for occupancy by the spring.

Thanks to the many volunteers, and our contractor, Mac Smith, for all of the work to get us to this point. We are excited about all of the possible uses in the coming years.

We had a productive two days at the Kitsap Yurt site this week. On Friday Craig McCoy and his tractor dug the 100' trench from the main electrical box to the yurt site and he also prepared the site for the shed we bought off of craiglist. Thanks, Craig!. Mac Smith, our contractor,  worked on the ramp to the yurt.

On Saturday we had three different projects going at the same time. Kalen Spees, Brian Lindvall, Jimmy Paulsen and Gary Spees split all of the wood at the yurt site (2 cords worth) and stacked the wood in the wood shed. This was an all-day project, using a nifty electric splitter that Jimmy borrowed for us. Thanks, guys!

Scott Eby laid all of the pvc pipe and electrical wire from Toutle (the flush toilet building) to the yurt, and did all of the electrical connections at either box (a 10 hour job). Thanks, Scott!

Then three wonderful guys delivered a shed to us and spent 4 hours putting it together on site and putting on a new roof. We now have ready-made storage for the yurt. Thanks to Cody, Toby & Tighe.

All-in-all, a productive week at the Kitsap Forest Theater. Check out the new pictures posted on the Photo site under "Yurt at Kitsap". 

After two days of great teamwork, the Kitsap Yurt is now finished. Special thanks to Michael Fuhrman of Rainier Yurts for supervising the yurt raising. The entire team appreciated his expertise and direction. Thanks also to Mac Smith, our contractor, for lending his expertise to the team.

Volunteers Scott Eby, Craig McCoy, Josh Brown, Doug Frick and Chris Stanley worked very hard to complete this task in two long days. Emma, the dog, kept watch over the project. Thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers. We also want to give a special thank you to Doug Frick for feeding the team a great dinner and breakfast.

We were all amazed at how well everything fit together. The yurt fits perfectly in the wooded setting, and will give the Players and other users another "dry" place to rehearse, have classes and hang out. Come check it out!

Visit the "Yurt at Kisap" album at our Photo Gallery for a series of pictures that document the yurt raising process.