Followup: What the Historical Society’s ghostly gala scared up

November 26, 2009 5:59 pm
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 |   West Seattle history | West Seattle news

As we celebrate this holiday, we have a story from the last one – Halloween. Local writer Lesley Holdcroft tells the tale of the day’s most unusual event, from an inside perspective – she was one of the “ghosts” at the Southwest Historical Society’s fundraiser brunch.

Story by Lesley Holdcroft
Photos by gail ann photography
Special to West Seattle Blog

Eleven thousand dollars!

I’m used to generous money flowing around me, but around $11,000, pledged in two and a half-hours? That sets a new personal record.

What an event, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s Fall Gala: the people gathered at Salty’s on Alki, the costumes, the crowd dressed as ghosts, six ghosts making otherworldly appearances and a fun announcer encouraging the attendees to give money to support the society’s programming.

“Oh my God,” said Log House Museum director Andrea Mercado. “It was such a good event. I’d do it again. There was such a different level of involvement to bring in the ghosts. The people loved it, and they dressed up, too.”

We are such stuff as dreams are made of, Shakespeare wrote. For me, the event marked a longtime dream fulfilled.

Nearly sixty years have passed since I — as Frances Farmer — walked the shores of Puget Sound. After waiting more than a half a century, receiving my one-day Halloween pass and then finessing my way through the ether on the day when the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest, I dusted myself off from the star stuff and mythology surrounding my life and exhaled deeply right there in Salty’s. Ahhh, home again. The history-loving crowd rejoiced in guessing the identity of the ghosts as we spoke into microphones about our lives.

Richard Hugo, the old Madam, Joseph Stanley of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, the early suffragette Katherine Smith and 14-year old Amelia Lowe joined me in the otherworldly fun. My movie star crystal tiara glimmered, my shoeless feet danced happily on the floor and I was joined by my real-life son SamAngelo, 7. It was so much fun!

My ghost friend Amelia Lowe, played by Ruby Mercado in a long black skirt and shawl, had this to say: “It was cool dressing up in character. I liked it, although the skirt was ridiculous. It was big and hot.”

So much for 1860s Seattle fashion.

For Queen Julia Johnson, who played the early suffragette Katherine Smith, the event marked a highlight in a long year of celebrating Washington State’s Centennial. “I’m a costumer and I’ve been going to Centennials all year, so the Fall Gala put a cap on the experience. Everyone was warm and inviting. I really enjoyed it. It was a wonderful chance for me.”

Johnson researched Smith’s life, discovering treasures such as this: As president of the 1909 Alki Suffrage Club, Smith collected more than 1,000 signatures to get women voting. During the rehearsal, while reviewing her notes, Johnson’s pretty face smiled and she said, beaming: “I am so proud of myself! I was really feeling the character,” she explained, and then asked me where I received my tiara.

Richard Hugo’s ghost recited poetry, entwining his narrative with the soulfulness of art.

The Madam gave an elegant reading.

The man who played Joseph Standley is also a collector of interesting artifacts. Arriving sans costume, Alan Peterson chose to project himself as a voice alone, and said he enjoyed the research process and the presentation.

The event gives the Log House Museum more confidence in its longterm financial stability.

The Fall Gala pulls the community together, Mercado says. “I remember when Ruby was talking as Amelia Lowe, and I could hear Ruth Moore, one of the Lowes’ descendants, saying: ‘That sounds like one of our relatives!’”

For the Southwest Historical Society, the combination of research, planning and creativity is yielding both fun and profit.

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