Boos, hisses, and cheers filled the Fellowship Hall at the Elbert County Fairgrounds over the weekend for the Kiowa Creek Ladies Aid production of “The Villain Took a Chip Shot or … Thar’s Gold in Them Thar Greens.”
Linda Ehmann of the Kiowa Creek Community Church Ladies Aid, who played the role of villainess Sue Sandtrappe, said: “We just appreciate our support and following over these years. We’ve become quite a large production.”
Ladies Aid sponsors the theater tradition in Kiowa that dates back more than 30 years. The community theater group originally performed in the Lions Club to audiences of 25 people, and the funds raised helped pay for the construction of the Kiowa Creek Community Church fellowship hall.
“It started out as a fundraiser to build the fellowship hall,” Ehmann said. “Once we got the fellowship hall built, then we continued to raise money to build the stage, add curtains, carpet, doors, all that sort of stuff.”
This year’s community theater production chronicles the fate of the Greenfee Lodge and its owner, Gloria Greenfee, after she inherits the hotel from an uncle but does not have the money to pay off a loan on the property. Enter the hero, Frank Lee Fairway, a sympathetic banker and golf enthusiast who immediately falls for Gloria’s niece, Birdie.
Fairway and the Greenfees must foil the dastardly plots of the villainous pair Nash T. Sandtrappe and his sister Sue Sandtrappe, who are trying to swindle the old woman out of her land for the gold vein running through the property. Written by Craig Sodaro, this tongue-in-cheek melodrama is piled high with golf puns and classic melodramatic lines such as “Woe is us” and “We’re doomed.”
Ehmann estimated that the troupe entertained and fed more than 450 people over the four-day run, which began with a Thursday family night on Nov. 5 and continued through the weekend with Friday and Saturday dinner performances before winding up with a Sunday afternoon dessert performance on Nov. 8.
“We always have a good time,” she said. “We start in August. It is a huge commitment, but we do it for our love of Jesus, and we are thankful for the support of the community.”
The players and support crews spent Nov. 6 and 7 preparing brisket, pulled pork and chicken enchiladas for the two dinner performances, which included an all-you-can-eat barbecue buffet.
“We do a full salad bar, green beans, homemade rolls, baked potatoes and homemade cakes. It’s a huge buffet. For 20 bucks, you get to eat and see the play. You can’t even go to the movies for that,” Ehmann said.
