Entertainment shorts
Jewell to perform organ recital
Sue Jewell will perform noon Wednesday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Brainerd as part of the summer organ recital series.
Admission is free. Donations to the Crisis Line will be accepted.
Jewell, playing an Allen electronic organ, will be joined by Abby Selisker on violin, with vocal contributions from Sheelah Lewandowski, Katie Lippo, Meagan Quinn, Haley Van Steenwyk, Ann Bendson and Melissa Brown.
Jewell has been playing the piano and organ since age 7. She began playing the organ at St. Francis Catholic Church in Brainerd when she was 9 and continued for the next 20 years.
Jewell has taught piano at St. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School in Brainerd for 18 years and music for four years.
Brainerd Writers' Alliance to meet
The Brainerd Writers' Alliance will meet 10 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Brainerd Public Library. Please bring something you have written to read aloud for group critique.
The group meets the third Saturday of every month at the library. Annual membership dues are $10. Contact Tenlee Lund at 825-0461 for more information.
In other news:
* The free Woodtick Poet Retreat is Thursday-Saturday at Horseshoe Lake. Contact Char Donovan at 829-5402 for more information.
* The 2005 BWA Writers' Contest deadline is Aug. 31. The categories are essay, short story, poetry and creative nonfiction. For more information, contact Lund at tenleelund@charter.net or 825-0461.
* The first Fiction Contest sponsored by Lake Country Journal Magazine also has a deadline of Aug. 31. Guidelines are available at www.lakecountryjournal.com.
* The BWA annual meeting will be 10 a.m.-noon Oct. 8 in the Central Lakes College cafeteria in Brainerd. Keynote speaker Will Weaver, a writer and professor at Bemidji State University, will conduct a writers' workshop. For more information, contact Lund.
* Candace Simar's devotionals were published online at www.dailywisdom.com.
* The Talking Stick awards recently went to Char Donovan ($500 prize for a poem), Niomi Phillips ($500 prize for a short story), Andrea Langworthy (second place for creative nonfiction and honorable mention for fiction), Peggy Glynn and Patricia Connors (honorable mentions for poetry) and Lane Rosenthal, honorable mention for creative nonfiction.
* Langworthy, Glynn and Sue Peterson were published in the July/August issue of Lake Country Journal Magazine.
* Phillips has a story in the upcoming Whistling Shade anthology.
Fair talent contest auditions slated
Auditions for the Crow Wing County Fair Amateur Talent Contest will be 1-3 p.m. Saturday on the Mills Free Stage at the fairgrounds in Brainerd. Use the south entrance.
Those auditioning should bring a CD and entry form. Those who can't make it to the auditions should send or drop of a video tape of the exact act, skit, song, dance or other talent to the Crow Wing County Fair office. Deadline for videos is 3 p.m. Aug. 1.
The Amateur Talent Contest will be held Aug. 5. Cash prizes will be awarded, along with a chance to go to the State Fair Talent Contest.
For more information, contact Kay Johnson at 829-9709.
Medical writer to speak at library
Nancy Nordenson, the author of "Just Think: Nourish Your Mind to Feed Your Soul," will speak noon Monday at the Brainerd Public Library as part of the Brown Bag Lunch Speakers' series.
Admission is free.
Nordenson, a medical writer, encourages us to expand how we use our minds in and beyond everyday life.
Strawberry Festival slated in Aitkin
AITKIN -- The Cuyuna Range Community Band will perform under the direction of Chris Halvorson and strawberries and ice cream and root beer floats will be available at the Jaques Art Center's Strawberry Festival 6 p.m. July 24 on the lawn of Maryhill Mansion, 316 Second Ave. S.E., Aitkin.
Bring you own lawn chair. For more information or directions contact the Jaques Art Center at (218) 927-2363.