Friday's Odds and Ends

One thing I've learned this week, don't get sick half way through the summer drama camp. One of the other camp leaders said wouldn't it be wonderful if we could schedule being sick. "Let's see, I'm not doing anything from August first through the seventh. How about the flu then?"

Actually, I didn't have the flu, but I had a serious infection which took forever to respond to meds. Hopefully, I will be ready for the weekend when we open "Phineas Peabody's Magical Musical Circus," which the kids wrote and produced with the assistance of a few of us adults and teen helpers.

Anyway, the awesome camp leaders took over and this may be the best show we've had from the summer drama camp. I wonder if there is a message there? LOL

Here is a picture of one of the girls who has been at the camp for three years now. She is a terrific piano player, as well as being great on stage, and she is so much fun to work with.

Next up are some pictures of the chalk art the kids did on the sidewalk leading to the door of the art center, inviting everyone to "Come to the Circus." They did some great posters, too, as well as designs for the camp shirt and playbill cover. Drama camp stirs all kinds of creativity.

This last picture is from a planning session as one of the camp leaders and some teen helpers worked with the kids to brainstorm some of the story. The teen helpers have been through drama camp several times, and they have all continued to be active in the troupe of young players. I love working with the kids. And the lady on the left, Hayley, was one of the very first kids that I had in a show the second or third year I started volunteering at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. What a thrill to have her back as an adult, teaching the kids and directing the show along with Jennifer Zimmerman and George Gagliardi.

L-R: Hayley Morris, Kaitlyn Sullivan, Hunter Williams, Kennedie Williams, Thomas Hulme

While I go off to finish the last details for the show, I'll leave you with some fun from Pickles

Opal is in the kitchen opening drawers and calls out, "Earl! Have you seen Roscoe's toothpaste?"

Earl is in the living room and calls back, "Roscoe's toothpaste?"

Opal comes into the living room, holding a little doggie toothbrush. "Yes. You know. The special beef-flavored toothpaste I bought for him."

Earl answers, "Nope."

Opal looks at the plate on Earl's lap. "Wait just a minute...! What're you eating on those crackers?!"

He doesn't answer, and she walks off shaking her head. "Oh, for pete's sake. I can't believe you."

Earl says, "What? I was hungry."

A Day of Music

There is something so wonderful about music. It touches our souls, lifts our spirits and tells wonderful stories. Last Friday I had the pleasure of sharing an evening of live music with a large crowd who gathered at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts to hear the singing duo, Albert & Gage . A great time was had by all. They are amazing singers, and what Chris Gage can do on keyboard and guitar just blew me away. They'd been to the WCA before, but I'd always missed them for one reason or another. I'm so glad I didn't miss them this time.

One of the songs they performed was "Dakota Lulaby", and I couldn't help but think of all the great times I had up in South Dakota with my dear friend, Jan, and her family. It is beautiful country up there, and when you sit down with a farmer and talk about the land and the crops and the critters, there is such a gentle peacefulness about it all.  God, however you perceive him or her, is very present there.

So this is for my friend Jan and everyone else who loves the wide open country.



The second week of the Summer Drama Camp starts this morning, and the show is really coming together. The campers - all 27 of them - were busy last week writing songs with the talented George Gagliardi and scenes with the other camp leaders, Jennifer Zimmerman and Hayley Morris. This week we will focus on putting the whole production together with costumes, set, and props. Then we will have performances on July 19 and 20. This is the ninth year we have done the camp, and it just gets better and better.

I was looking around for a video of George Gagliardi on YouTube, and found this video of Amy Adams taken at Crossroads Music Company several years ago. ( I get easily distracted. LOL) Wow, we sure have had some talented people on the stages in Winnsboro, including Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves.I enjoyed this song so much, I decided to post it.



Finally, I found a song by George that he had written some years ago and adapted for last year's drama camp show The Kingdom of Macademia



And one more song from George. This next one shows the scope of his talent a bit better than the other one.




I hope you enjoy the day of music. I had fun putting this all together.

Blogger Book Fair and Drama Camp

This is not going to be my usual Friday blog. For a lot of reasons. Number one is the Youth Drama Camp that has consumed my time all week, but it has been so much fun. Here is a picture of some of the kids practicing one of the songs for the musical written by the talented George Gagliardi, a Dallas singer/songwriter. It has been so exciting to see the creativity just flourish in these campers. They have helped write the music, the script, design the set, find costumes, and so much more.

The other reason, is we are having more company. We love having our kids come out to Grandma's Ranch, and it is always a good excuse for me to unconnect a bit, which I will do this weekend.

I also wanted to announce a fun event coming up in cyberspace on July 22 - the Blogger Book Fair. Apparently this event has taken place before, but this is the first year I heard about it, so I decided to sign up. Of course, I forgot that July was probably the worst month to try to add a lot of extra things to do as it is already a crazy-busy month. But I did sign up, so I will be having guests on my blog the week of July 22 thru the 26, and I will be somewhere in cyberspace on their blogs that week.

There are a lot of authors participating in this event and it is going to be great fun. Lots of great give-aways, too.

I wanted to put this badge on the sidebar of this blog, but Blogger changed some things again, and I can't seem to get the layout function to work so I can work on the sidebar. If anyone has any tips on what I need to do, I welcome them.

Easter- He is Risen

Singer, songwriter George Gagliardi shares some thoughts about Easter every year with friends and family. When I was editing WinnsboroToday.com, the online magazine, George always let me use his articles. Even though WinnsboroToday.com is no longer in publication, I still thought George's missive worth sharing for all Christians. It is a bit long, but well worth the read. Enjoy....

Friends, Happy Easter
    This year’s contribution grew out of a passing comment from a minister about video proof of the resurrection. I trust you’ll find it worth reading.

Setting: Easter morning, shortly after sunrise, an empty tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Two men are having a conversation, one has a video camera.

Tommy: (Obviously out of breath) Man, I can’t believe I missed it. I overslept. Got here as fast I could. Did you get it?

Pete: You better believe it. It was … I don’t know how to describe it. Thank God, I don’t have to. (patting his camera) It’s all right here on tape on this little camera of mine.

Tommy: Yeah, that’s great. But, I mean, you saw him, right? He really came out of there.

Pete: He is alive as you and me and that’s a fact. 

Tommy: I’m telling you I can’t wait to show this to those pious prudes and get right up in there face with it. What are they gonna say? Hm? How are they gonna justify what they did then? Those bastards will have to do some fast talking then, eh, Pete?

Pete: You better believe it. (Pause) You know, Tommy …

Tommy: Yeah?

Pete: I’m thinkin’ maybe we ought to show it to his guys first – you know, John, Matt – his followers. Can you imagine all the whooping and carrying on they’ll do once they see he’s alive again. I’m telling you it will be party time in old Jerusalem for sure.

Tommy: Yeah, what was I thinkin’. We’ll go and try and find some of them and invite them to the studio to see what you’ve got there. Of course it might be a bit tough – a lot of them went underground, trying to keep a low profile from “you-know-who”.

Pete: Can’t say I blame them. But once they see this – well, it will be a different story, to be sure.

Tommy: Yeah. (Long pause) You know, Pete, maybe we should watch it first before we show it to anybody else. Mind you, I’m not sayin’ you didn’t do your job but I think I’d feel better if we previewed it first just in case …

Pete: Just in case what … in case I didn’t get it?

Tommy: No, I didn’t mean that exactly. It just that …

Pete: Well what did you mean?

Tommy: Look, Pete, someone doesn’t come back from the dead everyday. This is ‘way beyond anything we’ve ever dealt with before and maybe … maybe there might be more going on with this than we realize.

Pete: Wait a moment. Do my ears deceive me? Are you talking about supernatural stuff? You, of all people. Mister “show me the proof” Tommy. You’re going to start talking about – dare I say it, miracles

Tommy: Okay, okay, it’s not my usual way of dealing with things but … well, this feels different. I’m just saying, what’s the harm in our looking at the footage first before we bring anyone else to see it – just to be safe.

Pete: Man, I never would have believed it. Okay, we’ll watch it first. To tell you the truth I’m anxious to see it and who knows how long it might be before we could find some of his guys.

Tommy: Hey, I think I hear somebody running, let’s skidaddle. See you back at the studio.

      (Back at the studio. The lights are off, the tape is rolling …)
 
Pete: See, there’s the stone, rolled away from the entrance. I mean, it just moved away by itself. When I saw that … wait a minute here it comes, see that bright light. Now it’s …

(Silence)

Pete: What happened? Where is He? This is the moment I saw him come out. Where the hell is he? He supposed to be there. He was there, I saw him. I swear I saw him come out.  I …

Tommy: (Stands up, turns on the light) I don’t doubt that you believe you saw him come out. Hell, for all I know, maybe he did. But there’s no proof. It’s not on the tape. You may have seen it but I didn’t’.

Pete: What are you implying?

Tommy: I’m not implying anything. I’m stating a fact, pure and simple. We have no proof, other than your word, that you saw Jesus alive again. Now that might be good enough for me, but not for anyone else. As your pal, I’d believe you because I know you don’t lie. But for you to claim that you saw a dead man alive again – well, it’s just too preposterous for anyone else to believe.

Pete: (Shakes his head) But I saw him. Dammit, I know I saw him walk out of that tomb.

Tommy: I’m sorry, my friend. I don’t what else to say. This could have been the biggest scoop since that water and wine thing down in Cana but … well, we can’t make up the facts.

Pete: So what do we do now?

Tommy: Well, what can we do. Just chalk it up to … bad timing, I guess.

(Long pause, then Pete stands up and heads for the door)

Tommy: Where you goin’?

Pete: You may call me a crazy man but as you say you didn’t see what I saw. But I did see it. I’m going to go find some of this guys and tell ‘em what I saw.

Tommy: Do you really think it will do any good?

Pete: A man who says he’ll rise from the dead and then does it? Yeah, I definitely think it will do a world of good.

Tommy: Well if you’re determined to tell your tale then I best go along and try and keep you out of trouble.

Pete: Me? Trouble? Just because I claim to have seen Jesus alive again, how could I get into trouble over that? ( Laughs and they both exit)

George Gagliardi, Easter, 2011