Worth saving

Youths want to help bring back amphitheater

The list of plays performed on its stage included some of Broadway’s greatest: “The Music Man,” “Oklahoma,” “South Pacific,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and “The Sound of Music.”

But the stage isn’t on Broadway. It’s in Mineral County’s Larenim Park and for many years was home to “McNeill’s Rangers,” a popular play about how families were torn apart in Appalachia during the Civil War, and how a band of Confederate volunteers snuck into Cumberland and captured two Union generals.

The amphitheater at Larenim has been abandoned and deteriorating for several years. However, it has hope for a brighter future thanks to Frankfort High School senior Alex McDonald and his friend David Zimmerman, who want to complete its restoration.

They’re organizing a show called “Saving Larenim One Song at a Time,” with classic musical numbers to be performed by the Chorus of the Potomac.

It’s a big job, but they’re going to have lots of help. The Mineral County Parks and Recreation Department has already rebuilt about two-thirds of the amphitheater. Apple Alley Players, who now perform “McNeill’s Rangers” at a dinner theater in Keyser are supporting it. John Hawkins of Potomac State College, the musical’s creater, has said he will let McDonald and the Rangers have the music for free if the stage is restored.

“Saving Larenim” will be performed Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. at the amphitheater. Tickets are available at Linda’s Hallmark in Keyser and Cindy’s Restaurant in Fort Ashby, $10 for adults and $8 for children.

This is just one more example of younger people stepping forward to help make their community better and, as a letter to the editor from local optometrist James Poland also indicates, it’s far from being an isolated incident.