The covered wagon for Quilters has been completed, built from a 10-foot Studebaker antique frame by Ron Scofield in Fiddletown. Recently Chrissie Addison, director of Quilters and Rick Gaylord, Assistant Director, took a ride to Fiddletown to visit the wagon to be delivered in January for use on the round stage on which Quilters will be performed at IT.Addison notes, “This wagon is a ‘honey”’ and completes my vision for doing Quilters in arena style at IT. This is the first time we’ve done theater-in-the-round in this county and we’re all excited. Meeting Mr. Scofield and seeing his ranch where he restores and builds wagons of all types, is like a piece of living western history!”
Addison expects various scenes to incorporate action in and around the wagon. The lip of the wagon is nearly three feet high, so Virgil Toothaker, master carpenter, will be constructing steps to approach the wagon for access. In excess of 800 pounds, special ramps will be used to get it up on stage – and off again when the show closes.
Mr. Scofield spent years as a working cowboy and was once on a 6-month wagon train himself from California to the east coast and tells rich stories about surviving that experience. He says, “The women were much tougher than the men! The men, they’d complain about the cold and this or that. The women just got the job done and could handle the hardships better than the men.”
