One of the qualities that Will Gray brought with him from Mount Pleasant, Iowa to Fairhaven, Washington (now Bellingham) was his love of theatre.  He adored Shakespeare, and  performed in plays while attending Iowa Wesleyan University. 

A February 9, 1891 excerpt from  "My Darling Anna" illustrates Dr. Gray's feeling about a performance at Fairhaven's Thistle Opera House, which was located at the northwest corner of 11th Street and Mill Avenue. 

"Had the greatest treat last Wednesday night that I have had in years.  The Emma Juch Grand Opera Company rendered 'Carmen' here.  Inasmuch as this company is the successor to the “American” Company and is the finest operatic organization in America today, it was a great thing for Fairhaven to secure them.  They were secured by subscription seats in the lower part of the house being five dollars and the upstairs two dollars.  I paid the two dollars and felt compensated for all the meals I lost this week.  The music was better than the meals I missed. In fact it put more life and energy there a good time."

Will Gray''s passion for theatre, passed on to his daughter, Margaret, still survives as his legacy in the vibrant theatrical institutions of Whatcom County.  As drama teacher at Bellingham High School from 1938 to 1958, "Miss Gray" kept a binder listing the names of over 7,000 of her former students. 

It is impossible to quantify but is nonetheless obvious that the students of Margaret Gray—the youngest of whom are now about 70 years old—continue to play a significant role as theatre audiences and donors.  Many of Margaret’s former students support the nonprofit Mount Baker Theatre financially, as well as joyfully attend productions of touring Broadway shows in the historic building that was rescued through a community effort in the 1980s. 

Margaret’s students have no doubt also been attending plays and volunteering at Bellingham Theatre Guild, the community group founded in 1929; watching productions by Western Washington University’s award-winning theatre department; and perhaps even enjoying  the newer arrivals to Bellingham’s theatre scene—the Upfront and Idiom theatres. Their children and grandchildren have, over the years, had the opportunity to participate in a variety of private or nonprofit acting classes and performing groups.  All three Bellingham School District comprehensive high schools have terrific theatre departments (which would no doubt delight Dr. Gray), as do many schools in Whatcom County’s smaller cities.  We know that local taxpayers value theatre by the existence of these school programs and by the support Mount Baker Theatre receives from the City of Bellingham for managing the facility and from Whatcom County for daytime performances attended by school children—thus passing on the legacy of the Grays.