(360) 943-5001 - Fax (360) 586-6838 - 415 Tumwater Blvd. SW - Tumwater, WA 98501
Reference & Information line: 704-INFO (360-704-4636) in Olympia area or toll-free 1-800-562-6022.
TRL Web site: http://www.trlib.org

Media Contacts: Leanne Ingle, Communications Specialist: 360-704-4508; or Susan Hanson, Communications Manager: 360-704-4507. Outside Olympia calling area: (877) 284-6237.

Performance of ferryboat skipper Berte Olson’s life comes to Randle

Colorful, strong-willed Berte Olson ran two different ferryboat companies with four different ferry runs on the Puget Sound between 1920 and 1950. Now, storyteller and actress Jill Johnson brings Olson’s story to Randle with the performance of “Little, But Oh My!” The Story of Berte Olson. The presentation takes place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, December 6 at the Mountain View Timberland Library. This Humanities Washington Inquiring Mind performance is free of charge and is intended for adults and youth age ten and up.

Johnson brings Berte and the age of the small ferryboat companies on Puget Sound to life using music, historical photographs and a lively stage presence. Berte was the first woman to skipper a ferryboat on the Puget Sound and to own her own ferryboat company. She was also the oldest daughter of a large pioneer family, a wife and a mother and the performance includes this part of her life as well.

Johnson loves using story to create a sense of community. She has performed and given storytelling workshops in eight countries. She was a National Storytelling Competition finalist in Hillsboro, Ohio and a featured teller at the Northwest Folklife Festival and other events.

The Mountain View Timberland Library is located at 210 Silverbrook Road, Randle. For more information, people can call the library at (360) 497-2665.

Revised 11/22/05