Ben Lomond is a town full of good things: restaurants, home and garden stores, a weekly farmers market and Park Hall, an event space that hosts musical talents, theater groups and private gatherings. The one thing that Park Hall doesn’t offer, however, is a built-in safety mechanism against a fire.
Enter Scott Deal.
The Zayante local and his wife, Linda, are a rare breed in that they are prolific volunteers and supporters of all things community- and theater-based. From volunteering with the Rotary Club to hosting a podcast and working concessions for Mountain Community Theater (MCT), Deal has staked his place in the annals of volunteerism within the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Recently, the Deals decided to put their talents toward another kind of endeavor: working to make Ben Lomond’s crown jewel of theater a safer one.
On July 31, the Deals shared a film that was 40 years in the making: “Desperado: The Real Story.” Starring MCT talents David Leach, Kate Cunningham and Mathew Chipman, the film tells the story of Black Bart, a notoriously polite robber who took great pride in holding up Wells Fargo stagecoaches and leaving bits of poetry behind as his calling card. In the late 1800s, Black Bart held up nearly 30 stagecoaches, resulting in a take of several thousand dollars, which amounted to a great deal of money at the time.
But why a film about that mythical character? The Deals were raising a family in San Francisco and learned that Black Bart had posed as a mining gentleman there for years. A little research showed the Deals that their family owned a small home in Copperopolis, directly below the site of Bart’s final holdup on Funk Hill.
“The more we learned, the more we realized we could tell a tale no one else had, in a way no one else had,” Scott Deal said.
“Desperado: The Real Story” was shown at Park Hall to an appreciative crowd, but the filmmakers weren’t looking to make money off of their efforts. Instead, the Deals are committed to raising funds to install a new sprinkler system in the antiquated building.
According to historian Ronnie Trubek, Park Hall was deeded by the Brooks family in 1923, for the residents of Ben Lomond. The original action included Wilder Hall, the library and adjacent park. The park, library and Wilder Hall were later turned over to the county for lack of financial support.
Park Hall was assembled out of an old stable, and the stage was rolled on logs from the park across the street. The restrooms were in the adjoining building that once housed Ben Lomond’s single fire cart. The painted fire cart’s door, no more than 6 feet tall, can be seen on the right side of the hall.
Park Hall was once a local movie theater noted for its very hard seating. It has since become home to Little Peoples Repertory Theater and Mountain Community Theater.
Since 1923, the Hall has undergone subtle changes and upgrades to its facilities, but still remains a high fire risk due to its construction. Scott Deal took note of the issue a year ago when he filmed Trubek’s first “History Talks” segment and learned there were no sprinklers overhead.
The Deals want to change that.
The couple invested $20,000 into their film and are giving all proceeds from its showing to the Park Hall board of trustees, one of whom is Trubek, who lauded the pair’s dedication to authenticity in the movie.
“The Deals traveled throughout California in search of authentic locations, assembled period props and costumes, and patiently gathered all the pieces needed to bring this story to life. They even received permission to film inside the historic San Andreas Jail, where Black Bart was actually imprisoned, and they completed the final scenes at a cabin in Boulder Creek,” said Trubek in her address to the crowd at the showing.
Scott Deal concurred.
“The 72-minute film with modern photography, editing, sound plus three bandit/lawmen reenactment segments is completely authentic. Locating and organizing stagecoaches, horses, locations, working firearms, wardrobe and, most importantly, actors that resembled historic figures, volunteer crew and film processing can take a while. Over the years we would save up some money from making commercials and return to the project,” he said, alluding to the 40-year timeline of the film’s creation.
With the project completed and shown to the masses in Ben Lomond, Deal is hoping that his work will inspire others to contribute to the sprinkler fund, ensuring the continued legacy of Park Hall as the premiere event location.
“It was gratifying to see so many community members show their support for the sprinkler fundraising effort, especially with such little time for publicity. San Lorenzo Valley can be proud of our precious little theater and of the residents who are coming together to preserve it,” Deal said.
For more information on the Deals’ work and to catch a glimpse of the film, visit www.kslv.tv. To donate to the Park Hall Sprinkler Fund, visit parkhall.benlomond.org/donate.
