Indian Cave

 Family with whom I went birding--Spotted Towee

 Raptor Recovery's Merlin

Young Birders at Indian Cave

On Saturday morning, April 20, I drove out to Indian Cave State Park for the Second Annual Outdoor Adventure.

As the following announcement for the event indicates, those who attended found lots to keep them interested on a chilly day, as the collected photographs suggest.

Come out for an event filled day for the whole family at Indian Cave. Some of the events offered will be: Mushroom Hunt Contest, Fish Fry, Archery Shooting, Birdwatching and much more. It is sure to cure spring fever!! 

I provided a bit of  birdwatching and had a station in a tent--along with the Raptor Recovery people and wood workers--to talk with youngsters in particular about birds.  

And we all enjoyed a good time despite a winter-jacket day.

 

The Overactive Imagination of David Joseph McKinley

 

Over the course of a few days, members of the Peru Theater Company--under the direction of Josh and Devon Young--entertained both adult and children with an original production:  The Overactive Imagination of David Joseph McKinley.

This particular play is special because students wrote over the course of many months this play that enjoyed a successful run.  As I said, both children and adults enjoyed watching the students' efforts.

I took photographs at dress rehersal and this Friday afternoon when the students entertained a class of second graders  from Johnson Brock.  As the opening photograph indicates, the youngsters enjoyed watching the play and hanging out with members of the Peru Theater Company.



You can see (and download) photographs from the play.

In addition, take the time to watch a couple scenes from the play about David's very active imagination.

A video of the entire play is also available:

  

Brain Trust 2013

 

As I did last year at around this time of the late term, I visited and took pictures of the Brain Trust activities sponsored by the School of Education and organized by Darolyn Seay and Gina Bittner (pictured on the right).

In response to my asking Gina for some information, she sent me the following response:  The Brain Quest event started in Fall ’06 (my first semester here!) as a way to show students that math can be FUN.  

Each semester, elementary math methods (and since Fall ’11, science methods as well) teacher candidates plan hands-on, standards based lessons and implement them in a day of rotating stations.  

This semester, HTRS, Johnson-Brock, Falls City, Auburn, and Rock Port (MO) 3rd graders, totaling 190 students, enjoyed this special day!

And as these photographs from my visit underscore, the teacher candidates and the 190 youngsters enjoyed a good time and learned a think or two about, among other things, construction and the weather.

 

Jacob Buss Recital

I have known Jacob Buss since his first year at Peru State College and appreciated his asking me to photograph and film at his senior recital last week, and he did a wonderful job to a packed house in the PSC Recital Hall.

The photographs from the recital await viewing on Flickr and include some shots from the reception.

In addition, you can enjoy a selection of songs that Jacob performed at this important event in a Music major's education.

 

An Evening with the Madrigal Singers

On Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13, at 7:00 pm, I attended this year's colorful and tuneful "An Evening with the Madrigal Singers:  from madrigals to musical theater."

To appreciate the color, take a look at the two sets of photographs posted--for your viewing and downloading pleasure--on Flickr:  Images from Friday and from Saturday.

To open the show, the Madrigal Singers entertained with some traditional songs, and you can watch their performance from both nights, for I recorded a few of the numbers for your delight, including "The Silver Swan" and "I Delight in All Your Beauty":  

 The singers also delighted the audiences with a couple a sampling

of some wonderful music from famous Broadway musicals, including The Sound of Music, South Pacific, The King and I, and Carousel.

I divided these performances into two

separate videos.  Part One includes four songs from the Sound Of Music that many of you will have no trouble recognizing, including "The Sound of Music" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain"

 
 Part Two contains "There is Nothin' Like a Dame" from South Pacific, "Hello Young Lovers" from The King and I, and three songs from Carousel, including "If I Loved You."

 Each of these annual presentations also features a number of duets and solo performances.  This year, Dr. Ediger asked me to make recordings of the senior performances, and so I made separate videos of four performances.
 
The first performance features Jacob Buss and A. J. Thompson singing "Stepsisters' Lament" from Cinderella:

 
 Taylor Sirman entertained the audience with "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful" also from Cinderella:

 

Jacob Acers entertained with the only song of the evening not written by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, "Being Alive" from Stephen Sondheim's Company:

And rounding out these special numbers from seniors, Matthew Jergens offered a fun-filled version of "That's the Way It Happens" from State Fair: