Peru State College Show Choir Festival

Organized by Dr. Tom Ediger and featuring Guest Clinician Paul Gulsvig, The 38th Annual Show Choir festival took place in the Peru State College Theater on October 27-28.

A huge hit with the students from Peru State College and area middle- and high-school students, Paul Gulsvig (photograph on the right) taught vocal music for 33 years, and retired in2006 from Onalaska High School in Onalaska, WI where he taught for 28 of those 33 years.

Paul Gulsvig has begun a new career with a new company, More Than Music. Paul's new career includes; retreat presenter, show doctor, motivational speaker, leadership workshops for high school, in-service workshops for school districts and show choir adjudication. He has been able to assist a wide variety of schools, including elementary, middle & high schools, college and graduate programs. His expertise has taken him to Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, West Virginia, Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona, South Dakota, Indiana and Michigan, as well as his home state of Wisconsin.

This year's festival attracted twenty-six middle- and high-school show choirs--from Pawnee City to Wilber, from Wahoo to Ord--and drew over a thousand people to the Campus of a Thousand Oaks.

In years past, I concentrated on The Misty Blues' performances at this festival . This time around, however, as the photographs indicate, my cameras recorded a few of the visiting groups.

The Misty Blues performed once on each day of the festivities, and you will find their images mixed in with all the other color.

In addition to the photographs, you can enjoy the Misty Blue's performance of "Eli's Coming," the energetic and entertaining final number of the group's show.

The Misty Blues, next time with their familiar glittering blue, will perform again on November 15.

Waldorf College vs Peru State

Today, October 23, Peru State won its fourth football game in a row. They played Waldorf College, the college at which Dr. Dan Hanson served for many years before becoming our president this year.

I was very pleased to learn from Waldorf folks who traveled to Peru to see game and Dan and Elaine Hanson how much they miss our new president.

Athletic Recruitment Day also took place today.

Quite a few high-school senior athletes visited our campus and took part in various activities ; they enjoyed a good game, and I got to talk with four potential Art students and their parents about the college.



The game also featured the Make A Difference fund drive organized by Becky Colling, Lyndsay Drumm, and Krista Patton.

As the following couple photographs indicate, Becky, Liyndsay, and Krista's efforts paid off, for folks donated various items and money for the Siena Francis Homeless Shelter in Omaha.










And finally, this morning the Peru State Cheer Squad held its Youth Cheerleader Camp, and the youngsters provided the football game's halftime entertainment.

As these photographs indicate, Bobcat fans and friends enjoyed themselves at the game on a mostly beautiful autumn afternoon.

International Conference on Film and Literature

On Wednesday, October 7, I left for Morgantown, West Virginia, for a Literature and Film Conference I also attended last year.

The photograph at the top of the page, featuring the Mountaineer, shows the front of the student activities building of the University of West Virginia.

And as the image on the left indicates, the campus offered beautiful fall colors.

As visitors to the area learn quickly, the people of Morgantown love their football and their native son, Don Knotts.

One of the main roads in the city sports the name Don Knotts Bulivard; he also shows up as the only start on the downtown sidewalk outside the theater.



I enjoyed the conference, where I gave a presentation on Andrei Tarkovsky's final film, Sacrifice, which remains an enduring mystery to me--as does to a degree Stalker, his film about which I spoke last year.

Those interested in learning more about this famous director should visit the excellent Nostalghia site devoted to his films and his life.

The conference is excellent, too, because Linda joined me, and we got to see again Mike and Jennifer, friends from graduate-school days in Eugene, Oregon, who live in Morgantown.

I posted a few photographs.

I also on Saturday before a very early departure from Pittsburgh Sunday morning got to visit for the first time The Strip in Pittsburgh--I enjoyed an excellent cup of Maryland Crab Chowder and was pleased to investigate a delightful fish market.

St Peter's Literature Festival, October 4-5.

On Sunday afternoon of October 4, 2:00-5:00, at St. Peter's Catholic School, I took part in an entertaining event, Lattes for Literature, as part of the school's third Literature Festival.


I also took part in the second festival two years ago and posted information about the fun at this blog entry. In fact, this year marked my third Literature Festival at the school, and I have enjoyed working with the youngsters.


On Sunday, I showed my bird video made for the Nemaha County Business Alliance and talked with parents and youngsters about my program--and made a few converts to bird fun.




Mike Mennard, pictured on the left, provided entertainment for all the youngsters, with his "Wacky, Family-friendly Children's Music," which includes songs about Nebraska and subjects such as the tragic tale of eating year-old pizza.

I posted photographs from Lattes for Literature.


The next day, I first attended the opening ceremonies in the gymnasium full of excited youngsters, including some very special guests, from Nebraska State Poet Bill Kloefkorn to Lil' Red and some members of the Husker football team.

In the photograph on the left, Bill Kloefkorn signs the shirts of students his visit energized.

I do not think that Bill got much time for lunch.

As the collected photographs from Monday indicate, everyone involved in the festival left the events with smiles.


My day included four fifty-minute sessions of looking at bird photographs, coloring bird pictures, and writing poems.

The youngsters will eventually send me some of their coloring and writing, which I will share here, so come back for another look.

Sister Mary Agnes' fifth graders sent some coloring they did of a Cedar Waxwing--I left coloring-book pages and an 8 X 10 of a waxing for inspiration though they had the option to make the bird any colors they liked.

Hoyt Street Jazz Band on the (Wet) Green

The Hoyt Street Jazz Band's "Under Construction" concert this afternoon--October 1--kept everyone well entertained with good food and excellent music despite less-then-ideal weather.

But the band played on, and you will find a collection of shots of the band and the people who gathered to enjoy the fun and the festivities.

I recorded one of the Hoyt Street Jazz Band's newest songs in its "catalogue' this afternoon, a tune familiar to all since 2001 A Space Odyssey hit the screen, Richard Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra."

Listen to the band's version on You Tube or click the link below.