Entertainment shorts

LITTLE FALLS -- The George Maurer Jazz Group will perform 4 p.m. Sunday at Maple Island Park in Little Falls as part of Concerts in the Park.

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Admission is free.

Ann Michels will sing Sunday with the George Maurer Jazz Group in Little Falls.

Formed by composer and pianist George Maurer, the group performs traditional jazz, swing, blues and bebop, as well as a number of original tunes. The group includes Ann Michels on vocals, Muggsy Lauer on guitar and vocals, Richard Witteman on trumpet and Jason Craft standing in for Maurer on piano.

The group's albums include "Jazz at the Black and White" and "On Track."

Auditions set for 'The Sound of Music'

Auditions for the On Stage Community Theatre musical "The Sound of Music" will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the music room of Mississippi Horizons School in Brainerd.

Auditions are open to ages 7 and up. Call (218) 829-7528 for more information.

The musical will be presented Oct. 7-17.

Old Wadena Rendezvous slated this weekend

STAPLES -- Musicians, artists, storytellers and dancers will be featured at the annual Old Wadena Rendezvous Saturday and Sunday at Old Wadena Park, six miles northwest of Staples on County Road 29.

The Rendezvous is produced by the Wadena Historical and Environmental Learning Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the multi-cultural heritage of the region to life.

Music of European and American cultures will be performed 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Saturday's performers include American Indian flutist Jon Romer, folk duo Curtis & Loretta and storyteller Kip Peltoniemi. Sunday's lineup includes gospel music by Bill and Laurie Ness, Ecuadorian music by Leo and Kathy Lara and a powwow by the North Woodland Drum and Dance Troupe.

Workshops on various musical instruments will be held both days.

The Rendezvous will feature the annual re-enactment of the fur trading days when the Crow Wing River and what is now Wadena County were discovered by European-Americans. Members of the Crow Wing Muzzleloaders and other actors provide the public a chance to connect to history and learn more about Dakota and Anishinaabe Indians, French voyageurs, loggers, railroad men, farmers and business people. New this year will be the chance to learn about immigrants from Latin America and the contemporary world of American Indians.

Artwork and discussions on history also will be featured.

For more information, consult www.wadenarendezvous.org.

Crosslake Art Club dedicates show to Sharkey

CROSSLAKE -- The Crosslake Art Club's annual show will be held Thursday-Saturday at the Crosslake Community Center.

Paintings by Kay Sharkey, to whom the show is dedicated, will be featured. Sharkey, who died in December, was a nationally recognized watercolor artist. She taught watercolor classes from 1987-1997 in Crosslake through the Pequot Lakes Community Education program.

The club will attach her name to an art scholarship given annually to a Pequot Lakes High School senior art student.

Deerwood Summerfest set this weekend

DEERWOOD -- The Deerwood Summerfest will take place Friday and Saturday throughout town. The event includes a craft show, barbecue, corn feed, games, a street dance and music. A raffle will be held for a wagon filled with prizes donated by local merchants.

For more information, call (218) 534-3163.

Woodwork, pottery on display at Ripple River Gallery

DEERWOOD -- Woodwork by Bob Carls, clay pottery by Dick Cooter and mixed media by Mike Marth will be on display through Sept. 12 at the Ripple River Gallery south of Deerwood.

These bowls, crafted by Bob Carls in Spanish olive and cottonwood, are an example of everyday vessels that have transcended to the level of sculptural form.

A reception will be 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Both Carls, Aitkin, and Cooter, Two Harbors, use centrifugal force to create their work -- Carls crafts his vessels on a wood lathe, while Cooter throws his pots on a wheel. And both create vessels that are functional, or at least imply function.

Carls will show new work, including a wall assemblage of related turned pieces that suggest function but that have been pushed beyond their limits as functional vessels. Traditional bowl forms, turned jars and trays round out the exhibit.

Cooter's pots range from small bowls to giant floor jars. He fires his pots in a wood-burning kiln, stoking the furnace with wood every 10 minutes for as long as 36 hours until 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit is reached. The pots emerge from the river of fire with a rich surface, influenced by ash and smoke, the chemistry of clay and glaze and the fire itself.

Mixed media panels by Marth, Moorhead, offer a different look at the vessels that people incorporate into their daily lives. Using wire, wood, shingles, hardware, fabric and a rich layering of paint, Marth creates a tableau out of ordinary kitchen tools.

For more information, consult www.ripplerivergallery.com.