First Performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” postponed due to gun threat

Students, staff, and cast alike were highly expectant the morning of March 23 to see the Lake Superior Community Theater’s first performance since before COVID, with students from four schools traveling to the William Kelley Auditorium to join Silver Bay students in attending “The Diary of Anne Frank.” According to Superintendent Jay Belcastro, just minutes before the performance was due to begin, Silver Bay Principal Joe Nicklay pulled him aside to review a “meme” (short cartoon) that was air-dropped into student phones, stating that there was an active shooter in the building. A concerned student had brought this meme to the attention of the nearest adult.

As it was a large event, the Silver Bay police department and the sheriff ’s department were already present. Immediately students were moved out of the auditorium and began to have their backpacks checked. Meantime, an IT specialist at Silver Bay schools, in a short time, tracked down the student by phone number. The student was removed for questioning, where it was determined that there was no actual threat. The student was taken into custody. Meantime, the play was postponed and students sent back to their schools in their buses. The Yin-Yang Dance at THHS was also cancelled for that evening, though school and sports continued as usual. Belcastro commented in his interview the next morning with KTWH that the damage had been done already to the play. Students were traumatized and the top priority was to return to actual and perceived safety, which was also the reason for canceling the dance.

The performance of Anne Frank in the schools is set to be rescheduled for next week.

Editor’s note: The CCHS eighth grade was there to attend the show when all of this took place.