'Mayor of Ballard' film centers on local blacksmith
The Mayor of Ballard is a dog named Odin. It follows then that the Ambassador of Ballard must be his human owner, David Tuthill.
Tuthill is a blacksmith. He knows the streets and buildings of Ballard like the burns on the backs his hands. He can recall a time when Norwegian language was yelled in taverns and softly spoken in bakeries. Tuthill is also an archer, a bassist, an avid outdoorsmen and a father.
These are all things that one might picture the ambassador of an old fishing village to be, and a young filmmaker has attempted to capture his story. In his attempt to tell Tuthill’s story, an account of a community was shared.
Tuthill is the subject of a new film called “Mayor of Ballard” that centers on how working and living in Ballard has changed over the past decades through the eyes of an artisan. The name of the film is derived from Tuthill’s Malamute-mixed breed, Odin, who is known as the Mayor of Ballard because of his striking recognizable wolf-like appearance and laid back, friendly demeanor that has made him popular with the locals.
