General Walter Zink

General Walter Zink Visit to Peru State College

On Thursday, November 6, General Walter Zink gave a talk to over one hundred members of the Peru State College community in the Live Oak Room.

Zink, a Lincoln Attorney and Former Adjutant General of Nebraska talked about "Ordinary People Doing Extra-Ordinary Things."

He talked about a wide range of topics, suggesting, among other things that students should pursue their dreams and take risks--but also that they should assume the responsibilities that come with citizenship in our country.

You will find a short slide show of the event/

General Zink is a partner in the law firm Baylor, Evnen, Curtiss, Grmit and Witt. He lives in Lincoln with his wife, Carol. He has 3 grown children, and one grandchild.



In his last military position before retiring, General Zink commanded a Joint Task Force, commanding and coordinating the employment of Air Force, Army, Marine, and Navy forces in the conduct of Homeland Defense and Civil Support Operations. Prior to that he served as the Deputy Commanding General for the 5th US Army. Prior to that positions, Zink served simultaneously as the Assistant Adjutant General of the Nebraska Army National Guard and the Deputy Commanding General of the 75th Division.

Election Night Party

Election Night Party in the Bob Inn

On the night of 4 November, Peru State student citizens gathered at the Bob Inn in the Student Center from 7:00 pm to midnight to eat, to talk, and to celebrate this year's monumental election.

Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society, which earlier in the term sponsored a Constitution Day Event, sponsored the Election Day events, which included food, prizes, and games, in addition to the chance to watch events unfold amidst enthusiastic fellow voters.

Drs. Sara Crook and Spencer Davis serve as sponsors for Phi Alpha Theta.

You will find a series of photographs of the many citizen students who gathered to watch the results from Virginia to Oregon unfold on this historically significant night.

According to Food Services, over two hundred students stopped in over the course of the night.

Clearly some voters enjoyed the night's outcomes more than others though a spirit of excitement prevailed over the local and national election results.

Special thanks to to a number of students who organized the Election Night Party, including Trevor Shalon, President of the Young Democrats Club and Harold Smallcomb, President of Phi Alpha Theta at Peru State.

And Phi Alpha Theta thanks the Campus Activities Board and the Black Student Union for helping with the voter registration and absentee ballot request drive held on the PSC campus.

Another thanks goes to CAB for providing the $75 gift certificate to Casey's for the winner of last night's drawing.

Phi Alpha Theta also gave out four $10 gift cards to the Bobcat Bookstore from a drawing of those who answered election trivia quizzes correctly.

Show Choir Festival

37th Show Choir Festival at Peru State College

On Tuesday and Wednesday, October 28 and 29, 26 middle and high school Show Choir groups gathered once again at Peru State College and performed in the College Theater where guest offered them tips on how to better their shows.


This year marks the 37th Annual Show Choir Festival Peru State College has hosted. Festival Coordinator Thomas Ediger noted that the twenty six groups this year's event attracted came from as close as Auburn and as far away as Grand Island.

Andy Beck--a very successful composer, arranger, and author--served as Guest Clinician and Adjudicator.

Andy Beck

As part of the festivities, the Misty Blues gave their first performance of the year.

Enjoy some photographs from their two performances and some images from the dress rehearsal, which includes some posed shots such as the one that tops the page and the image that follows here.



I posted two of the Misty Blues' numbers on You Tube, the group's opening number "Cross the Line" and the energetic Mardi Gras favorite (check out the lyrics) "Iko Iko."

Again, be sure to click for the high quality versions as you enjoy the Misty Blues' song and dance.

Mole Day Magic Show

Mole Day, October 23, at Peru State College

As they did last year--click here to see the posting for last year's celebration--Dr. Dennis Welsh and his Chemistry students organized Mole Day, a National Day of Chemistry Celebration you can read more about at this site.

As Wikipedia notes, Mole Day is celebrated among chemists in North America on October 23, between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM, making the date 6:02 10/23 in the American style of writing dates.

The time and date are derived from the Avogadro constant, which is approximately 6.023×10²³, defining the number of particles (atoms or molecules) in a mole, one of the seven base SI units.


You can view a slide show of the fun and feel free to download any pictures that appeal to you.

The festivities included games of fortune and skill--such as guessing the number of Peanut M & M candy in a large jar. But the free food, including mole-asses Cookies, Car-mole-corn, Avogadro's Dip & Chips, and something called Mole-balls, which do not resemble at all the kind of oysters you can get now and again a the VFW here in Peru.

All the food attracted a group of faulty pictured to the left.

But the largest crowds came for the always popular and loud Magic Show which emphasizes the fact that you can have a lot of fun learning Chemistry--and blow things up.


And click here to watch on You Tube a six-minute video that features highlights of this year's Magic Show antics, noises, and colors. (After the video got viewed seventy-five times, I made a couple spelling changes--slow down, Bill.)

Make sure to click on the link for the "High Quality" version of the video.

And if you do not want to bother with going to You Tube, just watch the version posted here.

Enjoy the Mole Day Show.

Peru State College Music Faculty Recital

Peru State Music Faculty Recital

On Tuesday evening, October 14, three members of the Peru State Faculty impressed with their individual and collective talents a grateful audience in Benford Recital Hall.

Their show offered a wonderful variety of music and showcased the talented faculty. Tom Ediger, on the piano, played works of his own composition. He also accompanied his fellow musicians, soprano Marci Malone De Ambrose, and on the trombone, Kenneth Meints.

You will find a short slide show of images from the recital.

Tom Ediger, piano; Marci Malone De Ambrose, soprano; Kenneth Meints, trombone

You can also watch four short (all under four minutes) selections from the recital on You Tube by clicking on the highlighted titles of the works. As I have noted previously, clicking on the link for the "high quality" version makes a great difference.

Tom Ediger performs "Toccata," one of his compositions.

Tom Ediger performs Four Miniature Pieces: Harbor Lighthouse, Joker's Wild, A Pensive Song, and Carnival.


Marci Malone De Ambrose, soprano, sings from Ludwig von Beethoven's "Ah, Perfido, Spergiuro"


Kenneth Meints, trombone, performs from Samuel Rousseau's "Piece Concertante"

Homecoming 2008

Homecoming 2008 at Peru State College,
"Rocking Through the Ages"

While the score of the Homecoming Game did not match the enthusiasm the week of Homecoming activities generated, everyone appreciated the fun and the stunning autumn weather. And as the picture on the left illustrates, folks at the game enjoyed the festivities.


At this site, you will find some of my photographs from Homecoming, including a few shots taken at the Pep Rally on a beautiful Friday evening.

The collection of images includes a few campus shots that feature both the autumn hues and the "sun set" of the Larsen building next two the refurbished Wheeler Center featured recently on the blog.

The week's activities included Wednesday night's Talent Show and the return after a decade-long absence of a musical, I Do, I Do, to the campus community. The play enjoyed a most friendly reception, and we all look forward to future productions in the campus theater.

While I enjoyed Wednesday night's Talent Show and our reprisal of "Leader of the Pack," I took special pleasure--and got many fewer bruises--from announcing for the fifteenth time the Peru State College Homecoming Parade.

Angela Allgood took photographs of the parade. You can find some of her collection posted here on Flickr; and here you will find pictures Angela Allgood supplied of the Halftime Activities. And Becky Johnson added a series of pictures from Homecoming located at this site.

The many in attendance at Chancellor Stan Carpenter's pre-game party at the President's House will not soon forget the event which featured a friendly crowd, excellent food and drink, and entertainment provided by the Peru State College Jazz Band last featured here for the October 2 outdoor concert.

I vote Stan host for future post-parade and pre-game parties.

Enjoy the pictures.

I Do! I Do! at Peru State College

I DO! I DO! AT PERU STATE COLLEGE, OCTOBER 10, 2008

Carmen Schweiger plays SHE, and David Norris plays HE (Michael)

For the first time in nearly a decade, Peru State College offered the community a musical, Tom Jones' wonderful, sentimental comedy I Do! I Do!

Special thanks go to Dr. Pat Fortney, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Mark Klemetsrud, English Instructor for their work on the production that showcased the talented acting and impressive voices of Carmen Schweiger and David Norris.


I posted some images from the play; as usual, download whatever Pictures you enjoy.

And for your listening and visual pleasure, click on the following links that will connect you to You Tube where I uploaded songs from the October 10 performance.

My Cup Runneth Over

When the Kids Get Married










Click on the image below to see the production's complete cast and crew pictured above.

Drama has returned to Peru State College.

Talent Show and Elvis

Leader of the Pack

The guilty from left to right: Sara Crook, Brenda Trail, Ted Harshbarger, Bill Clemente, and Tammy Trucks-Bordeaux. We enjoyed every moment of the fun in front of a crowd of impressive size and mirth.

Here is a link to our performance of "Leader of the Pack." Special thanks go to Beau Trucks-Bordeaux for doing the video work.

"Leader of the Pack" concluded the Faculty and Staff Talent Show on an upbeat note. The list of brave souls included the following gifted folks:
1) John Hnida, Keith Sinkhorn, Pat Fortney and Jim Reynolds
2) Crystal Ellis
3) Don Ballue
4) Jeremy LaBrie
5) LaRue Strayer
6) Crystal Ellis, Jari Wehmeier and Cori Christiansen
7) Dan Holtz
Enjoy photographs from the Talent Show, including images of Elvis.

For the images from the Talent Show, I thank Amy White and Megan Katz for taking pictures while I "hid" behind the scenes.

The Faculty and Staff acts set the stage for a man of very special talent, Joseph Hall from Lincoln, Nebraska. One of the top Elvis Impersonators in the world, he recently reached the finals of America's Got Talent.

And here, you can watch his jaw-dropping performance on that show. Or just click on the start button below. Joseph's reception at Peru State matched that of the audience on the television show.