By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
A labor of love by a group of dedicated local residents has provided Dawson County with a new portable stage they can rent out to groups for events.
The new portable stage began taking shape in the spring of 2015 after the old portable stage which had been available for locals to rent was sold off because it “ended up being too much work” for its owner, according to Gerald Huschka. At the time, the Badlands Drifters Car Club was readying for their annual Cars in the Park event and were left with the spectre of not having a portable stage available for the event.
That’s when local resident Harry Reddig approached Huschka and suggested that they take an old flatbed trailer he owned and turn it into a portable stage. Huschka, who is a member of the Badlands Drifters and owner of Guelff Lumber, looked the trailer over and decided it was a good idea. So the trailer was brought to Guelff where a Huschka and a cadre of other Badlands Drifters members began work to transform it into a stage.
“There was a lot of people involved in here. There were some key people who stepped up and did things,” Huschka said, listing Dick Crisafulli, Scott Mills, Shawn Walker, Eric Smeltzer and Paul Shearer among those who contributed the most in labor and materials, as well as his son, Padyn, who jumped in on the project while back home for the summer from college.
Huschka said one thing you can count on with the Badlands Drifters members is their willingness to work hard on community-minded projects.
“One thing about the car club is they’re not afraid to work and get their hands dirty and donate their time,” Huschka said. “There was always three or four people here working on it. Sometimes there were too many people here. That’s one thing about the car club, is they’re a good group to get things done.”
Last summer, the group was able to get the stage complete enough in time to use for the car show. It was also put into service at last year’s Bell Street Bridge Day before being put into storage for the winter. Huschka and his compatriots brought the stage back to Guelff at the beginning of this summer to put the finishing touches on it, adding electrical outlets, lighting and lining the inside walls with white laminate “to brighten it up inside.”
The stage was paid for by grant money from Mid-Rivers Communications and American Bank Center. Huschka also offered most of the materials used in building the stage at cost to lower the price. The stage has been donated to the county for rental to any local group which could use it for an event, and Huschka is hopeful locals will take advantage of the end result of all their hard work.
“It’s one of those things we thought should be done, and it worked out pretty well. Hopefully, it’ll get used plenty,” he said. “It was a lot of work and it was a lot of fun too.”
Dawson County Commissioner Gary Kartevold expressed gratitude for the group’s work to build the new stage.
“It’s an asset for the community,” Kartevold said. “It shows what happens when people work together.”
The county is working on a rental policy for the stage. For more information, contact Michael Bacon at the Dawson County Road Department at 377-2564.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.