The North Columbia Schoolhouse is in dire need of a new amphitheater stage.
The original stage was built 37 years ago by volunteer labor and donated materials, to accommodate the Sierra Storytelling Festival. The Festival continues, but the stage is no longer solid.
The annual Sierra Storytelling Festival brings artists and audiences from all over the world for a glorious weekend filled with wondrous tales and life long lessons. The revenue gained from the festival is a large part of the Schoolhouse budget, as well as a healthy influx into the greater region.
The amphitheater stage has been central in many important cultural events of the San Juan Ridge and have rippled out throughout the county, for almost 40 years. The great elders, of our community, as well as some of the younger ones, are memorialized on this stage. Hundreds of couples ‘ exchange vows under the cedars that flank the stage. Generations of Grizzly Hill students perform their graduation ceremony at this location. And of course, the community gathers, learns, and is entertained by an immense variety of performances and forums. The stage is very important for the Schoolhouse and the community.
Bruce Boyd, Don Mosman, Gary Parsons, Kurt Lorenz and Rich Mead are a group of dedicated, professional, engineers, architects and builders, who are excited to help put together a new stage under the tall cedars in our outdoor amphitheater. They are generously donating their time and expertise to create a sturdy, fire proof stage that will last many, many years.
The new stage will have an under structure of steel topped by a concrete pad and flanked by regulation stairs and railings. The creative and historical nature of the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center will be kept alive in the design of the new stage.
We are looking for volunteers for every step of the process: Demolition, digging footings, bolting steel, pouring concrete, making lunch!
If you can help with anything- please give us a call: (530)265~2826 or email: Schoolhouse@ncscc.us