Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1241553
12 A Gathering Place Awaits– Mountain Play 2020 Sunday, May 3, 2020 Your friends and neighbors improving life locally and around the world through service. MillValleyRotary.org We're People of Action. Join Us. If you are familiar with the long roster of Mountain Play Productions from the last 100 plus years (see page 20) - you will notice that in some years the show did NOT go on. During World War II, the area around our amphitheatre was in use by the US Army thus preventing the Mountain Play from performing. e Army's presence wasn't the only thing to stop the show. Eleven years into the Mountain Play's existence, Northern California was struck by a livestock epidemic that, though handled well by the responsible authorities, resulted in widespread panic across the US. In February 1924, a farm in Alameda County reported that some of its cattle were ill. e county vet inspected the herd and immediately recognized the signs of Hoof-and-Mouth disease. Hoof-and-Mouth disease was endemic to livestock in most of Europe and other places around the world, but this extremely virulent disease had caused only a few outbreaks in the Americas. Having experience with the disease from prior incidents on the East coast and in Michigan, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), was prepared to handle the disease in partnership with state and local governments. e plan was to place the counties involved under quarantine and slaughter entire herds where infected animals were found. ese actions managed the virus and prevented spreading with no new outbreaks by the end of that year. But, across California, counties placed embargoes on each other. Other states began to place embargoes on all California agricultural products. Unfortunately, many of the embargoes were on fruits and vegetables not known to transport the virus or on goods from unaffected counties. Arizona even halted all automobile traffic at the California border while they set up fumigation tents. A conference was finally held in Salt Lake City before all of the California produce was ripe and ready to send. During this conference, factual information was communicated about the disease and the steps taken to control the outbreaks. Most states finally agreed that if unaffected farms took precautions to ensure the cleanliness of their goods, Californians could begin selling produce and livestock across the country again. By May 1924 the quarantine was lied on Marin County - too late for the Mountain Play to resume, but a relief for the overall community. e crisis continued until 1926 in other parts of the state. e financial impact to the state was compounded by a severe drought that same year. rough the partnership of the USDA and the state government, California's agricultural commerce and the community at large did recover. An important lesson to take from the countrywide panic that followed this Ho of -a nd -M out h e pi dem ic is that the toughest test for any government may be controlling the psychological damage of a national crisis. Even when the appropriate authorities know how to manage the disease, it is a struggle to manage public perception. We can take care of ourselves by working together, communicating clearly and creating partnerships across communities and organizations to come out the other side of any crisis. We are all in this together. A Year Without a Mountain Play… This Isn't the First Time