15
RECREATION
1 he Price River area's first entertainment center was also its religious and educational center—the log meetinghouse. The completion of the LDS meetinghouse gave the community a building where plays, musical productions, dances, celebrations, and other kinds of entertainment could be held. Apparently, the first play was performed in 1884. Produced as a fundraiser for the newly established community choir to purchase much-needed music, admission to The Red Light was twenty-five cents for adults and ten cents for chddren. The production featured Ernest Horsley, Seren Olsen, and Sarah Cox. Footlight reflectors were built from five-gallon coal oil cans fastened with pieces of wood bored for candles. The candles were made from the fat of animals kdled on the radroad tracks. The background curtain was a wagon cover hung on a pole. Qudts served as the front curtain. The production included an orchestra, and variety acts were performed before and after the play. The success of this first performance led to the organization of the Price Thespian Club, which performed several shows each winter for the people of the Price River Valley.1 322
