What Zac is doing at the Hill Cumorah Pageant

Zac has been on the work crew at the Hill Cumorah Pageant for over 2 weeks.  Wayne and I drove up to New York on Thursday, saw the dress rehearsal that night, then watched opening night on Friday night, then drove home.  It was very nice to see Zac there, he only gets to write us letters once a week.

Here is what he has been doing:

When they arrived June 24, they began by putting up the stages.  This year the work crew made a record by putting up all the stages in three days and three hours.

They put all the lighting up onto the lighting towers, also setting a record for how fast they did that.

Zac chose to be on the ground crew, so these are his duties during the performance:

Put smoke into Lehi's altar.
Do the hydraulics to lift the Tree of Life into place.
Take down Lehi's Palm trees.
Help put up the stern of Nephi's ship.
Put up a pillar, put up a lighted torch, then stand by it during the whole King Noah scene.
Put a lot of fake boulders and rocks up on stage for Alma Baptism scene.
As the cast is carrying on a large green Jaguar idol, Zac plugs it into electricity to make the fire glow.
Destruction scene: This scene is only 70 seconds long, Zac has to run from place to place and do everything on the exact time.  He wears headphones, and the technical director counts the seconds and they have to hit their marks at the correct second.
Here is what Zac wrote about the destruction scene (he wrote this a week before opening night):

"At 5 seconds I have a smoke machine to run on stage six.
Then at 30 seconds I knock down a pillar.
At 37 seconds I do the same smoke machine again.
Then I run from stage six, slide down the hill under some facing, run under more stage to get to stage one.
At 54 seconds I shoot off a water cannon.
A few feet from me (I can touch it if I reach) is a fireball set up.  It is supposed to go off at 54 seconds when I am supposed to fire off my water cannon.  Luckily Brother W. hasn't made it to his post yet to fire it off, or else I would surely die.  I talked to Brother J (the head technical director) about it and he said I will probably move my water cannon.
My last effect is a large flame on the other side of stage one, I get to it right as Brother G. fires off a water cannon next to my flame."

When we saw the pageant on dress rehearsal and opening night, Zac had an additional duty.  He also set up the box for Moroni to take the plates out of.

Zac is having a wonderful time.  He has a companion that he has to be with all the time, they have a rule that if a girl speaks to them, they can only speak to her for 5 seconds.

He really, really wants some mail, so please write to him:

Brother Zachary ___________ (I don't put last names on this blog.)
Hill Cumorah Pageant
659 State Rt. 21
Palmyra, NY  14522

He will fly home on July 22.