LOCAL BRIEFS

MERRIFIELD - Kathy Kovala's fall schedule is set for her watercolor classes for advanced, intermediate and advanced beginners and beginners.

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The six-week classes start Oct. 6 at Lake Edward Town Hall, three miles north of Merrifield. Advanced/intermediates are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with classes for beginners and advanced beginners from 1-4 p.m.

Cost of the class is $150 or $30 per three-hour session, weekly.

Subjects to be covered are skies, paintings with birds and fall landscapes.

A watercolor entitled "Copy of Logging Road Revisited" created by artist Kathy Kovala.

To register for the classes, call Kovala at 829-1457 or e-mail her at kathykovala@msn.com.

Staples area men's chorus to share concert Sunday

SEBEKA - The Staples Area Men's Chorus and the Sebeka High School choir will present a joint concert at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Sebeka.

Tickets are available from choir members or from the Centennial Auditorium Box Office at (218) 894-5416 or (800) 213-6877. A portion of the proceeds of the concert will go toward helping the Sebeka choir with its upcoming tour.

The concert will include many familiar pieces as well as some that will be new to the audience. In addition to selections from both choirs, a special feature of the concert will be a number of songs sung by the Men's Chorus together with the men's sections of the Sebeka Choir.

Crosslake author's book to be released

Crosslake author Mike Holst announced the release of his new book, "Justice for Adam" - his fourth book in three years.

Keeping with his tradition of Minnesota stories, "Justice For Adam" mostly takes place in Minnesota, with a brief trip out west. It is the story of a young man, Adam Holton, who is anxiously waiting to marry his longtime sweetheart and friend, when suddenly she is abducted and killed by a sexual predator. The laws that were meant to punish the criminal fail Adam, and the public, and he snaps and takes the law into his own hands, then becoming a fugitive.

Adam is encouraged by friends to give himself up and he comes back to Minnesota to face trial. With some unexpected help from old friends, and ones he made along the way while he was on the run, and a little bit of Minnesota nice, the story takes a strange but heartwarming twist.

iUniverse Publishing published the book and it is available at area bookstores in Nisswa, Crosslake and Walker and online at Barnes&Noble.com, Amazon.com and the iUniverse online bookstore.

'The Minnesota Road Guide to Gangster Hot Spots' to be released

Chad Lewis, author of the newly released book "The Minnesota Road Guide to Gangster Hot Spots," explores the characters, history and legends of the infamous men and women who turned Minnesota into the "Land of 10,000 Crimes," including the daring robbery by Baby Face Nelson and his gang, who shot up downtown Brainerd.

Heartland Symphony Orchestra special: Two-for-one season tickets

Heartland Symphony Orchestra is offering a season-ticket special: Buy one season ticket, get one season ticket free. The sale ends Wednesday.

Season ticket prices are $45 per family ticket, $35 per couple/pair of tickets, $18 for seniors age 60 and older, $25 adult, $18 student and children age 5 and under free.

Season tickets may be purchased at the Great River Arts Center in Little Falls by calling HSO at (800) 826-1997, e-mailing info@heartlandsymphony.org or by visiting the Web site at www.heartlandsymphony.org and clicking on the season ticket order form, mailing a written request to Heartland Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 241, Little Falls, MN 56345 or by contacting one of the HSO Board members. Payment must be received before the tickets are mailed out and requests for tickets at the two-for-one rate must be received Wednesday.

The first concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd and 2 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Charles D. Martin Auditorium in the Little Falls Community High School.

For more information, contact Barb Arveson, president of the HSO Board of Directors, at (320) 632-5801.

Music General attends tap event in Hollywood

Music General dancers and instructors attended Mike Minery's premiere tap event "Slide."

The event was a week-long intensive workshop that began Aug. 2 and culminated with a live performance Aug. 7.

"Slide" was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., and was attended by more than 100 dancers from throughout the United States and Canada. Each day was divided into two parts, with the first half of the day spent in a tap workshop and the second half devoted to rehearsals for dances to be performed at the end of the week. Each student attending was cast in two tap numbers for a total of 11 routines, which were then performed at the closing show along with performances by the "Slide" teaching staff as well as the winners of the Solo Showdown that took place earlier in the week.

"Slide" was staffed with a world-renowned faculty, including Mike Minery, Anthony Morigerato, a recent finalist on "America's Got Talent," Lisa Zerebecki, Trisha Minery, Cory Finn and Ryan Lohoff. Music General instructors Matt Capelle and Alex Kuhn were among the faculty at the event, serving as teaching assistants for the workshop.

Music General instructors Sue Kuhn and Amy Borash, along with parent chaperones Kim Adams, Kelly Miller and Rosalie Rodgers attended the event with their dancers: Madison Adams, Sylvia Borash, Courtney DeChaine, Emma Miller, Megan Rodgers and Brynn Samp.