Local entertainment briefs

HACKENSACK - Joe Plut, author of "Conversations with Jon Hassler," will conduct a book signing at the Northwoods Art Festival and Book Fair from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday on Lake Avenue in Hackensack.

• Photos

Back | Next

Back | Next

The book, which had an initial printing of 750 copies, has now had a second printing of 250 copies.

David Phillips Jr., 14, of Brainerd attended Interlochen Arts Camp, the world's premier summer arts program for aspiring artists in third through 12th grade.

Plut and author Jon Hassler were longtime friends and teaching colleagues at Central Lakes College in Brainerd.

Baxter artist attends premier arts camp

David Phillips Jr., 14, of Brainerd attended Interlochen Arts Camp, the world's premier summer arts program for aspiring artists in third through 12th grade. Phillips, the son of Walter and Corinne Roberts, studied trumpet and choir.

While at camp, Phillips played the trumpet in the Intermediate Wind Symphony and sang with the Intermediate Choir during concerts at the end of each of the three weeks he attended. At the Aug. 1 Intermediate Choir concert, he was a featured soloist for the Allen E. Naplan song "Al Shlosha d'varium." Phillips attended group band and choir practices, had individual trumpet lessons and practice time and enjoyed the beach and archery range.

Hanna Ruzich, 15, from Baxter, competed in four events Friday and Saturday at the Robin Lee Midwest Open Figure Skating Competition at Augsburg Ice Arena in Minneapolis. Ruzich received second place in Pre-Preliminary Compulsory and No Test/Pre-Preliminary Spins, third place in No Test/Pre-Preliminary Jumps and first place in Well Balanced Pre-Preliminary Free Skate. Ruzich is a two-year member of the Vacationland Figure Skating Club, coached by Lynn Wick.

Phillips excelled in both band and choir in eighth grade at Forestview Middle School, was a private trumpet student of Jessica Scrimshaw and plans to continue these pursuits at Brainerd High School's South Campus this fall. He started learning the trumpet and participating in band during the fifth grade at Wisconsin Lutheran School in Racine, Wis., where the band instructor said he was a natural on the trumpet.

At the Interlochen Arts Camp, students learn from world-class instructors and produce hundreds of presentations each summer in dance, theater, creative writing, visual arts, music and film.

Haiti to be discussed at Cultural Thursday

Haiti is the topic for the first Cultural Thursday program of the new academic year at Central Lakes College in Brainerd.

The free, 50-minute public event starts at noon in the Lecture Hall (E354) Sept. 2. It will showcase the work of a medical mission team that spent six days treating Haitian earthquake victims and other patients.

Photographer Joey Halvorson captured much of the activity with her camera, and the images are part of the program. Halvorson accompanied the team of Sharon Kramer, Sharon Manion, Rosy Schanzenbach, Chris Rosinger and Donna Wahl, all registered nurses; Sue Hadland, nurse practitioner; Chuck Przymus, a nurse anesthetist; and medical doctors Dr. Paul Milloy, Dr. Troy Duininck and Dr. Perry Engstrom.

"It was fantastic," Halvorson said of the experience. "The part that really moved me was watching these guys work. To see them in action is really quite moving. To see them calm and loving. They are so patient."

Their time was spent in a small, under-equipped medical clinic in Grand Goave, a community about 40 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. About 90 percent of the buildings in the community were destroyed during the Jan. 12 earthquake and most of the residents of the town of about 70,000 people were camping in 54 established tent cities within a 10-mile radius.

They paid their own travel expenses. St. Joseph's Medical Center was the team's largest contributor, and team members said many people in the community were incredibly generous. Forestview Middle School students donated more than $1,000 for the trip from their Hats for Haiti fundraiser.

On their first day in Haiti, the team had a pregnant woman suffering from seizures as a result of preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition for mother and child. They performed an emergency cesarean section, the first one ever done at the mission in its 30 years.

The woman was pregnant with twin girls. One of the babies had difficulty breathing, but fortunately, both babies and the mother survived, they said. The team delivered four babies while there for six days.

Several team members said they would be willing to return to Haiti for a medical mission, but for now, they're planning a medical mission to Tanzania in March.

Whiting's exhibit at Q Gallery on display

The "Sea, Sky and Stone" painting exhibit by Diane Whiting will be on display through Sept. 11 at The Crossing Arts Alliance Q Gallery located at the Franklin Arts Center, 1001 Kingwood St. No. 222, Brainerd.

The display will be viewed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays or by appointment by calling 833-0416. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Mansfield sculpture at Franklin Arts Center

Now showing at Franklin Arts Center in Brainerd is Robert Mansfield's sculpture "Geometric Ikebana," created as a 1/10th-scale model for public art in Japan.

View the 6-foot steel sculpture from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The sculpture is located in front of the auditorium.

Morgan's art to be on display at library

Barbara (Sherrard) Morgan will have her art displayed through November at the Brainerd Public Library.

She uses watercolor, acrylic and pencil.

Morgan has displayed her work with Encore, the Brainerd Art Club, Jacques Art Center in Aitkin, Kinship Partners, Taste of the Lakes and the Crow Wing County Historical Society. She has demonstrated Norwegian rosemaling at Nisswa and Crosslake Pioneer Villages and taught the art at the Lakes Area Activity Center in Brainerd. She is one of the founders of a decorative artist group Getting real Enthusiastic Artists Together.

Morgan also has taught Skandihus adult night classes for the Brainerd School District and Times Before TV at Riverside Elementary School.

Something for everyone at center

LITTLE FALLS - Now is the time to sign up for fall lessons at St. Francis Music Center in Little Falls.

Private lessons are available for piano, organ, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, trap set, all band instruments, violin, viola, cello, bass and voice. All ages and all levels of ability, from beginners to advanced students, are welcome.

St. Francis Music Center is a community school for the arts located on the campus of the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls. The music school is open to all and offers a wide variety of lessons and programs. In addition to private lessons, the center also offers Piano Party and Violin Party, classes for 4, 5 and 6-year olds interested in starting music lessons. There are two string orchestras open to all area string musicians. Music therapy and classes in College Prep Music Theory and Gregorian Chant also are available.

Singing opportunities are available for teens and adults. The St. Francis Community Chorale meets on Thursday nights; last year the chorale had more than 50 members. Sestri Na Mir, a women's Slavic vocal group, sings Slavic folk songs and meets on Sunday nights. A new men's ensemble will sing a wide variety of music and will meet Tuesday nights. All of the singing groups are free and open to all.

The Music Center also offers dance classes for ages 3 and up on Thursday nights. Gymnastics will be offered for ages 4 and up on Monday nights starting in October.

A new offering this year is Preschool Arts, a free class for ages 3-6 that will meet Saturdays from 11:15 a.m. to noon. The class will introduce young children to music, dance, theater, visual arts and more. Family yoga will be offered Saturday mornings,

For more information or to sign up for lessons, call the center at (320) 632-0637 or visit its website at www.sfmusiccenter.org. Financial aid is available.

Auditions at CLC for 'A Christmas Carol'

Central Lakes College Theatre in Brainerd will hold auditions for "A Christmas Carol" at 10 a.m. Sept. 11 in the Bob Dryden Theatre.

The Adventure 'N Theatre production's musical version needs 12 children in third through eighth grade and six teenagers in ninth through 12th grade (three male, three female.)

For information, contact director Dennis Lamberson at 855-8202 or e-mail dlambers@clcmn.edu

Whiskey Creek Film Festival coming

WADENA - For the sixth year, the Whiskey Creek Film Festival will be at the Cozy Theatre in Wadena. Award-winning films will be screened at the theater Sept. 10-16.

In addition, short films of one to five minutes in length will be featured in a special part of this year's festival. There are cash prizes for filmmakers of all ages who submit films for this part of the festival. Films may be submitted by mail to Whiskey Creek Film Festival, Cozy Theatre, 223 S. Jefferson, Wadena, MN 56482.

Films submitted will be reviewed by a committee. Selected films will receive a cash award and will be screened during a special showing on the Cozy's new digital projector during the festival. Deadline for submission of films for this year's short film festival is Wednesday.

Information about this year's festival is available at www.whiskeycreekfilmfestival.org.

Crossing Arts Alliance looking for submissions

The Crossing Arts Alliance is hosting a Community Art Exhibition at the Q Gallery in collaboration with the community-wide homecoming celebration and is calling for artists.

Submission fee is $15 or $10 for Crossing Arts members and due Sept. 7. This exhibition is limited to 60 pieces, on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact The Crossing Arts Alliance office at 833-0416 or info@crossingarts.org for a submission form.

Artwork will be exhibited in The Crossing Arts Q Gallery, Suite No. 222, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday or by appointment from Sept. 28 to Oct. 9.

The combined artists reception will be at the Q Gallery after the Wayne Renn concert on Oct. 3.

Local photographs solicited for show

NEW YORK MILLS - Will you display a photograph of any size made by you or a family member in the past 12 months at the Sense of Place show at the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center?

One photograph per person will be accepted. The show will open on Wednesday and be open through Oct. 9. A reception for the photographers and the general public will be from 7-9 p.m. Sept. 9.

Photographs do not need to be framed and may be as small as 4-by-6 inches or as large as the photographer wishes. Subjects should be people, the built environment or the natural environment taken in the last 12 months.

There will be three people's choice awards of $50 each for the most popular images selected by visitors to the gallery. The photographs should depict people and places within a 50-mile radius of New York Mills.

There is no charge for showing your work at the exhibit, which will be on display at the Cultural Center main gallery in conjunction with historic photographs of the region.

For more information, call (218) 385-3339.