GAYS MILLS - During the recent heat wave, I took a break during the hottest part of the day and read awhile in front of a box fan. Explicably, I dozed off after only a couple of pages: Mother Nature’s way of saying, slow down. I had been reading a western so it was no surprise that I dreamed a western. Here it is:

I was in downtown Gays Mills when a big fancy black car with California plates pulled up. Two hiply (new word) dressed young fellers asked me about the town and I was bragging it up a bit to them. I jumped in with them and showed them the local sights. I explained about the flooding and  empty lots and places along Main Street. It seems they were in the movie business and were scouting for a location to shoot a western television series and they found Gays Mills and the surrounding area most interesting. They particularly liked the fact that there were open lots in town.

Well, you know how dreams go: whirlwind fast and not always making sense. The next thing (scene) I saw was a crew of movie people in town, turning it into a pioneer era movie set. They built some really cool western storefronts, circa 1850‘s, a livery stable, and a train station with a short section of railroad track going north and south out of town far enough to be just out of camera range.  They doctored up other buildings on Main Street to look age appropriate. Through the magic of computer technology, the town, as it would appear on screen, would be fleshed out with homes, stores, a vintage looking bridge and an active mill on the river. 

Meanwhile, interviews were taking place in the old community building for acting jobs and extras. Local people of all ages were lined up to see if they could get a job as town folks representing their pioneering forbearers. Out at the fairgrounds, local horse people and Amish farmers were trotting out their horses (literally) trying to get in on fun and get hired to be in the movie. Agents were especially impressed with the wagons and buggies the Amish brought and hired them on the spot.

Jerry Brockway and Jim Showen were negotiating for the job of hauling in the dirt (and cleaning it up later) to make Main Street look authentic.  The ‘talent,’ the stars of the series, were out at the Log Cabin Village in their luxury Winnebagos going over their scripts and learning their lines. Some of those log cabins would be important in the filming later on.  Costume people were located in a building at the fairgrounds sizing up people for some new ‘old’ clothes.

Oh, it was an exciting dream alright and I hated to wake up before it came to a conclusion. The re-entry to the real world was a shock. But wait, couldn’t you almost see such a thing happening? I’d like to think so. They can’t make all the movies on the backlot in Burbank.

*Not a real dream, more like a vision, a daydream.  I did doze off though.