Area actors have leads in musical
Wes Harris of Hockinson and Patti Westby of Battle Ground play the lead roles in the Clark College production of The Will Rogers Follies, a musical about the life of the famous cowboy entertainer of the early 1900s.
The musical focuses on the life and wit of Will Rogers and is told in the style of the Ziegfeld Follies with show girls, song and dance.
The play opened Feb. 16 at Gaiser Hall on the Clark College campus in Vancouver, and continues in dinner theater format Feb. 23-24, and as a non-dinner show Thurs.-Sat., March 1-3.
Coincidentally, Harris and Westby are both certified public accountants in real life. Harris does tax work for Louisiana Pacific Corp. in Portland. Westby, who has practiced as a certified public accountant in California, Oregon and Washington, has taken time off from accounting to have time for children and theater.
Harris started acting while a student at Brigham Young University in Utah, both in school and community productions. He moved to the Spokane area and worked in broadcasting on television. He went back to school to complete accounting credentials, moved to Boise, ID and then to Eugene, OR, where he did television work and commercials, as well as accounting.
During his eight years as a resident of Hockinson, Harris appeared in a Shakespeare production for Vancouver OnStage, and in church productions. He auditioned for the lead in the Will Rogers musical when her heard that a former lead actor had left the production.
Harris said he would do more acting “if I could make a living at it.”
Harris said he read through the Will Rogers script in a library years ago. “I was never interested in it, to be honest,” he said.
This time around, Harris was “taken aback by the volume of lines” in the play. Four weeks of memorization and rehearsals prepared him for the three weekends of performances.
Harris said he can relate to Will Rogers’ life. “He wanted to be a cowboy,” said Harris of Will Rogers who lived from 1879 until 1935 and traveled the country in his role as cowboy, humorist and performer. “It’s a real challenge to portray his life,” said Harris who does some roping in the show.
Harris uses five costumes and sings six songs in the production. He said the audience will enjoy the elaborate costumes of the “Ziegfeld” girls, a dancing and singing chorus line that performed with Will Rogers in New York about 1925-1931.
Harris and his wife, Jill, have four sons, ages 15-25, and live in Hockinson.
Westby has female lead
Patti Westby has performed in a wide range of acting and singing roles.
Born in Hawaii, Westby lived in Los Angeles for 17 years, attended Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego, OR, and graduated from high school in Sonoma, CA. At Lakeridge, she appeared in Guys and Dolls.
After high school, Westby studied voice and wrote and recorded one song. “It didn’t go anywhere,” she said. In 1994, Westby got a job as a singer waitress on the Portland Spirit ship, working as a certified public accountant by day and singing and waiting tables by night.
In 1996, Westby performed in A Chorus Line for Heartland productions, directed by Tami Gray, who now directs the Will Rogers production at Clark College.
From 1997 until 2003, she performed in the Pops Series with the Oregon Symphony. She also had various other paid roles in productions in the Portland area, including Broadway Rose, Lakewood Theater and Marc Cole Productions.
Westby performed in New Heights Summer Theatre productions from 2003 until 2006, doing roles in Stages Through the Ages, Wonderful World of Disney, and 40 Years of Top 40.
The current Clark College production is her first “kissing role,” she said. She praised Harris for his professional approach to all aspects of the performance.
Westby has studied voice with several instructors, the last two years with Linda Appert of Vancouver. “I have a big voice,” said Westby, who credited Appert with helping her with vocal quality and “less belting.”
Westby stopped working as a certified public accountant in 2000 to allow time for child-rearing and theater work.
“I have such a passion for theater,” said Westby. “I love it. It feeds something in me.”
Westby expressed strong, positive feelings for the role as Will Rogers wife, Betty Blake Rogers. “It’s an amazing role,” she said. “She was the backbone of Will Rogers.”
“I don’t know how I would ever top this role,” said Westby. “I bring depth to all my characters. Wherever I am on stage (whatever role), I’m really into my roles.”
Westby said auditions for the Will Rogers production took place in late November 2006, followed by four rehearsals in December. Then came a change in the lead role actor. Six more weeks of rehearsal followed with 3-4 rehearsals per week. The last week or two involved five rehearsals a week, she said.
Westby and her husband, Mike Westby, have three children, ages 3 through 8. The family plans to remain permanent residents of Battle Ground.
Most of the tickets for the dinner theater performances are sold out with just a few single seats available. Tickets are available for the non-dinner performances at $12 each. Ticket information is available by calling 992-2815.

School districts plan to make up lost snow days
Bill Myers
staff reporter
Area schools plan to make up for school cancellations in January because of snow storms or icy road conditions. District officials provided the following information about make-up days.
The Battle Ground School District closed five days because of weather. District officials will adhere to district policy and add five days to a normal school closure date of June 15. The last day of school will now be June 22.
Green Mountain School District students missed four days. They attended school all day on Feb. 16, instead of having the day off, and will attend full days instead of scheduled half-days on March 14, 15, 16 and June 18. A full day was added June 19 at the end of the school year.
Hockinson School District students missed four school days. Make-ups started with a built-in snow make-up day on Feb. 16. Future make-up days will be Sat., April 14 for seniors, June 21 and 22 for all students, and June 25 for grades K-11.
The La Center School District closed for four days. Students made up one day Jan. 26. Additional make-up days are set June 13, 14 and 15. District officials set June 18 as another make-up day if another one is needed.
Make-up days for four days of closures at the Ridgefield School District started with a full make-up day on Feb. 16. Other make-ups will include an early-release day March 9, a full-day of school instead of an early release day on March 21, and full make-up days on June 14 and 15.
Woodland schools held a make up day Jan. 29 and will make up for three more days starting May 11. Students in grades K-11 are scheduled for make-up days on June 18 and 19. Seniors will attend make-up days on Saturdays, March 3 and 17, instead of attending the June 18 and 19 school days added at the end of the year.
Woodland superintendent Bill Hundley said attendance is required and attendance will be taken at the two Saturday sessions for seniors. The sessions will provide seniors with critical academic time, he said. No transportation on these Saturdays will be provided by the District, said Hundley. He said Burgerville, a generous patron of the District for years, will donate lunches on Saturday make-up days for seniors.
No area school district altered the established date of graduation.

BG teacher attends U.S. Supreme Court hearing
A Battle Ground High School teacher watched Jan. 10 as the U.S. Supreme Court considered arguments in a case involving the Washington Education Association.
Ed Dawson, who has taught English, German and Spanish at Battle Ground for nine years, described the high court hearing as “very pleasant, very genteel, very civil.”
He said the justices evidenced full knowledge of the case, and asked probing questions. A decision could be made by June, said Dawson.
The hearing focused on the consolidated cases of Davenport versus Washington Education Association, and Washington versus Washington Education Association. State attorney General Rob McKenna and staff argued the case for the state of Washington.
Dawson explained that the case stemmed from a 1992 initiative called the Paycheck Protection Initiative, approved by more than 70 percent of Washington voters, which said that non-members of a union cannot be forced to have their dues used for political purposes without their approval.
Dawson estimated that 4,000 of some 100,000 teachers in Washington are not members of the Washington Education Association (WEA) but pay dues anyway unless they cite religious exemption, which Dawson does.
Following passage of the initiative, a teacher named Davenport claimed that the WEA was violating the initiative. Then-attorney general Christine Gregoire filed a case in Thurston County court and won, and the WEA was fined $590,000, said Dawson.
A state appeals court reversed that decision based on free speech arguments, said Dawson, and the state Supreme Court affirmed the appeals court decision.
At the state Supreme Court level, three justices dissented, arguing in part that freedom of speech is an individual right, not a right given by the Constitution to organizations.
McKenna appealed the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, resulting in the one-hour Jan. 10 hearing.
Dawson himself holds a law degree although he is not a member of a bar in any state.
In the Battle Ground School District, teachers pay about $69 a month as dues to the Battle Ground Education Association (BGEA), according to Kym Alexander of the BGEA. Of that amount, $27 goes to the WEA, about $12 does to the National Education Association, and about $17 stays with the BGEA.
Dawson said teachers can choose not to join the Battle Ground union, but must pay dues anyway. They can then obtain a partial refund of dues paid, said Dawson. As a religious objector, Dawson said he pays the dues but then directs that those dues be forwarded to the United Way.
Dawson argues that teachers are professionals and should not be represented by a “labor union.”
Dawson is president of the Northwest Professional Educators organization for a four-state area. He described that group as professional, non-profit, non-union group that focuses on student education as a top priority, and improving professionalism in education.
Dawson expressed pleasure with attending the Supreme Court hearing. “It was absolutely worth every goose bump,” said Dawson. “The justices revealed an obvious concern for how this case affects real people like me. Their questions and comments made me feel as if they truly understood how unfair the union’s practices are.”
“No one should have money taken from their paycheck to pay for someone else’s politics,” said Dawson. “I went to Washington., D.C., to find out if the Supreme Court was going to make this right for teachers in my state.”
Dawson said teachers from across the country attended the Supreme Court hearing. He said he stood in line at 5 a.m. in sub-freezing weather to get into the courtroom.
Dawson practiced law and taught public school in Arizona before moving to teach in Battle Ground nine years ago.