I Dare You!

Liz had a wonderful, exhausting week and weekend. First quarter grades came out, and she made the A honor role again. :) It was crunch week for the Martin County West production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, and there were many late night rehearsals preparing for opening night this past Friday. (More on the play when I figure out how to post videos on the blog - hopefully tomorrow.)

After 4 performances this weekend, Liz was exhausted and tempted to pass on the Martin County 4H Awards Banquet. However two of her fellow cast members, Blake and Caleb, are also 4H Federation Officers, and they persuaded her to come. Good thing they did! Kia Harries, regional 4H coordinator, presented Liz with the "I Dare You" National Leadership Award! This award was created by William H. Danforth, the founder of the Ralston Purina Company, and is given to people between the ages of 15 and 18 who demonstrate leadership capacities, while striving "to be their own self, at their very best, all the time." Liz was thrilled, to say the least.

Liz also gave a presentation with her friends Alexis Janssen and Karen Suter on their 4H project last fall, when they video taped Christmas greetings to the troops from our area who were stationed in Iraq. They made a DVD of the greetings, and sent it to all the local soldiers in time for Christmas. As a way of saying thanks, the troops sent each girl an American flag that had been flown over their base camp in Iraq, and a small "Alladin style" lantern. The three young women gave a great presentation on the project. They showed amazing poise and public speaking ability! It probably helped that all three had been on stage all week.

Congrats on an awesome week, Liz!

"Ringing" with the Winter Wonderettes

With harvest pretty much behind us, Joe, Liz, Carl and I escaped to the cabin for two days. Highlight of the weekend was definitely the performance of "Winter Wonderettes", performed by the Lakes Community Theater at the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Spirit Lake, IA.

Community participation was a must! We laughed, sang along, and sympathized until the second act. Then the cast came into the audience looking for volunteers! Carl was drafted, even though he wasn't on the aisle. He was on stage ringing a bell whenever he heard them sing the word "Jingle" (or any derivation thereof!). Fortunately, I had my camera with me.

There's nothing like live theater, and we have never been disappointed by a production at the Pearson Lakes Art Center. We're looking forward to more theater there over the winter.