Farewell, November!

 

Elizabeth Coatsworth once wrote, “November comes, and November goes with the last red berries and the first white snows…” We are certainly ending the month with the winter winds whirling around us. I did get my leaves raked…well, the ones in the front and side yards…done before the snow. I spent Saturday night raking by the light of the almost full moon. It was a fun experience. I felt a little like Emily Dickinson who always gardened at night. Perhaps I should take on that persona?

Thanksgiving came and went. So many joys for me. Adam and Jonah were home. I loved spending time with them. We went for our Christmas tree with Aaron and Rachel’s family. I am so grateful that Bud and Deb’s Christmas tree farm is just right around the corner. They opened on Friday morning at 10:00 and we were all there shortly afterwards. I love traipsing through the pine forest especially with the boys. We spend a long time choosing our perfect trees. Mine must whisper to me. I love it when Jonah says, “Is this one talking to you, Nannie?” We did finally find our perfect trees, the boys cut them down and we hauled them home. Mine is sitting stately and bare in my living room waiting for the baubles to come out of the closet. That will happen this week. Bud and Deb’s Christmas Tree Farm is open every weekend until they decide enough trees have been taken. They are very much stewards of their pine forest.

This past weekend was also Santa coming to town and it was a perfectly brilliant night with families lining all the street corners. Someone commented to me that it looks like a movie set. Yes, it did, it always does. Small Business Shopping appeared the next day with folks once again perusing our shops. Carolyn and I helped at the new Gallery featuring the Steuben Art Scene. I loved seeing so many folks pop in to have a look. We have so much talent in our area. Make sure you visit and see if there is something you would like from Santa!

Coming home I checked Facebook news and saw the post from The Hatchery that they are closing. At the news, my mind was completely flooded with stories and events from The Hatchery. I am a frequent patron, probably at least once a month. Kathy and I go for our birthdays and anytime we need long conversations. Elten and Carolyn and I go every Halloween after the last trick-or-treater has left and the porch light goes out, we go to The Hatchery for chocolate martinis. They make the best ones. I almost (almost!) got engaged at The Hatchery. It didn’t work out, but that wasn’t their fault. On the night Aaron proposed to Rachel, we sat in The Hatchery while friends and family decorated their back yard with rose petals and lights. We were all on pins and needles that night. The decorating still wasn’t done so we headed over to Monument Pizza until I got all clear sign. Luckily for all of us, she said, “Yes!” Valentine’s day, and so many occasions were spent inside those walls. It isn’t always about the food, but the event, the conversation. I will miss them so much, and so will my guests!

Is it our fault they are closing? I suppose so. We can do better. I know I am a broken record on this town of mine. I love it so much. I try to promote everything and everyone. We are responsible for the businesses staying open. Yes, small business shopping is over for another year, but one day a year cannot sustain our businesses. I will try harder. I know I also need to be more vigilant. We all do. Enough said.

Other news has our community shadowed in sadness. Since we are a close-knit community, we all grieve together. We share these stories as we break bread together and tell the stories. Sometimes I do feel guilty of continuing on…decorating the tree, singing songs, attending concerts, and making and buying gifts for those I love. Yet, this is what we are called to do.

In the meantime, November leaves us this week. It was a beautiful month with stunning sunrises and sunsets. Elizabeth Coatsworth, a New England poet, said it best, “The fires burn, and the kettles sings. Earth sinks to rest until next Spring.”

We welcome you, December, your beauty awaits us.izabeth Coatsworth once wrote, “November comes, and November goes with the last red berries and the first white snows…” We are certainly ending the month with the winter winds whirling around us. I did get my leaves raked…well, the ones in the front and side yards…done before the snow. I spent Saturday night raking by the light of the almost full moon. It was a fun experience. I felt a little like Emily Dickinson who always gardened at night. Perhaps I should take on that persona?

Thanksgiving came and went. So many joys for me. Adam and Jonah were home. I loved spending time with them. We went for our Christmas tree with Aaron and Rachel’s family. I am so grateful that Bud and Deb’s Christmas tree farm is just right around the corner. They opened on Friday morning at 10:00 and we were all there shortly afterwards. I love traipsing through the pine forest especially with the boys. We spend a long time choosing our perfect trees. Mine must whisper to me. I love it when Jonah says, “Is this one talking to you, Nannie?” We did finally find our perfect trees, the boys cut them down and we hauled them home. Mine is sitting stately and bare in my living room waiting for the baubles to come out of the closet. That will happen this week. Bud and Deb’s Christmas Tree Farm is open every weekend until they decide enough trees have been taken. They are very much stewards of their pine forest.

This past weekend was also Santa coming to town and it was a perfectly brilliant night with families lining all the street corners. Someone commented to me that it looks like a movie set. Yes, it did, it always does. Small Business Shopping appeared the next day with folks once again perusing our shops. Carolyn and I helped at the new Gallery featuring the Steuben Art Scene. I loved seeing so many folks pop in to have a look. We have so much talent in our area. Make sure you visit and see if there is something you would like from Santa!

Coming home I checked Facebook news and saw the post from The Hatchery that they are closing. At the news, my mind was completely flooded with stories and events from The Hatchery. I am a frequent patron, probably at least once a month. Kathy and I go for our birthdays and anytime we need long conversations. Elten and Carolyn and I go every Halloween after the last trick-or-treater has left and the porch light goes out, we go to The Hatchery for chocolate martinis. They make the best ones. I almost (almost!) got engaged at The Hatchery. It didn’t work out, but that wasn’t their fault. On the night Aaron proposed to Rachel, we sat in The Hatchery while friends and family decorated their back yard with rose petals and lights. We were all on pins and needles that night. The decorating still wasn’t done so we headed over to Monument Pizza until I got all clear sign. Luckily for all of us, she said, “Yes!” Valentine’s day, and so many occasions were spent inside those walls. It isn’t always about the food, but the event, the conversation. I will miss them so much, and so will my guests!

Is it our fault they are closing? I suppose so. We can do better. I know I am a broken record on this town of mine. I love it so much. I try to promote everything and everyone. We are responsible for the businesses staying open. Yes, small business shopping is over for another year, but one day a year cannot sustain our businesses. I will try harder. I know I also need to be more vigilant. We all do. Enough said.

Other news has our community shadowed in sadness. Since we are a close-knit community, we all grieve together. We share these stories as we break bread together and tell the stories. Sometimes I do feel guilty of continuing on…decorating the tree, singing songs, attending concerts, and making and buying gifts for those I love. Yet, this is what we are called to do.

In the meantime, November leaves us this week. It was a beautiful month with stunning sunrises and sunsets. Elizabeth Coatsworth, a New England poet, said it best, “The fires burn, and the kettles sings. Earth sinks to rest until next Spring.”

We welcome you, December, your beauty awaits us.

Thank you from all of us!

 

The cast of "Arsenic and Old Lace."

The curtain call comes on Sunday with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. I watch all of this with tears in my eyes as we draw the show to a close. I want to thank the hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of students, faculty, community, parents and folks who simply saw it advertised and decided to come on in! From my lovely cast to you, thank you so much.

On opening night, as in all opening nights, I gather the cast to read Emily Dickinson’s poem, “That it will never come again is what makes life the sweetest.” I tell them to look around and live in the moment of the night…each night. I also tell them how theatre is a dance with the audience, and our job is to make the music for the dance. After the Saturday night show, one cast member said to me, “PH, you are right, it is a dance.” I just had to smile.

I promise you I will move on to small business shopping and Thanksgiving next week, but as I sit writing, how can I not wrap up the fall theatre season? The cast party was here on Sunday night, and I sit amidst pizza boxes and pop cans with chairs strewn about. I don’t like my house in a disarray, but there is something magical about the remains of the party and the echoes of their voices and laughter that keeps the mess about me for a short time.

I am, of course, referring to my theatre group, but this pertains to all we do. I think, as responsible adults, it is up to us to share our talents with the young people around us. Many of you are involved in the arts, I know. But I think lots of you are completely committed to sports (yes, I am committed to Jonah’s hockey and Graham’s sports) and I applaud that as well as the arts. It doesn’t really matter if we are engaged with their activities as parents, as grandparents, and as leaders.

I would like to share a few of the reasons we need to encourage and support our young people with a few stories between the lines. I, of course, will use the theatre as examples, but it could be anything! Let’s look at discovering new possibilities. I have a couple of freshmen students in my theatre of which both did not know how much they would love it. In fact, one said last night at the cast party, “Now, what do I do every night? I will miss this so much.” He is not alone in his sentiments. How fun it is to introduce students to a life-long activity. Another graduating cast member said, “I know I will join community theatre no matter where I live.” That just makes me smile.

There are many pieces of data that show students with outside activities actually do better in school. They love looking forward to another activity at the end of the day. This also leads to time management which is definitely a skill that is learned. Finding groups for students is no different than finding groups for us as adults. We all like to hang out with friends on the weekends, and students are no different. Whereas, I do believe in having lots of friend groups, I know that the core to this is having the close-knit group who will always be there. My theatre students fall under that category. They embrace the new recruits, hold fast to the already established friendships, and are willing to pass it on when they leave. I love finding my own tribe, and so do students.

Besides friendships and having something wonderful to do, being part of a group gives us confidence that carries on for students into adulthood.

Maybe I have encouraged some of you to even look into new hobbies or groups for yourself. I hope so.

So, the time has come to go back and clean the stage and back room of the T. Furth Center for the Performing Arts. The time has come to hang another autographed cast photo to my studio wall. (Thank you, Jacob, for making that happen!)

The time has come to wash costumes and put my house back together with a sigh. The time has come to pick up where I left off in early September…if I can even remember life before rehearsals.

The time has come to thank you one more time.

Thank you.

 

A sneak preview of "Arsenic and Old Lace."

 

Just a lovely photo from our show which opens tomorrow night! We are so excited to bring this show to you! We have worked long and hard in order to make this happen! Tickets on line at the T. Furth Center for the Performing Arts and at the door! See you at the show!

Lou Ann for City Council

 

Women around the world fought long and hard for us to have the right to vote...they were arrested and put in jail. They went on hunger strikes, and were diligent for years. All we have to do is walk in and vote!

Don't forget to vote on Tuesday. Please don't let your chores get in the way. They can wait. No babysitter? Take your children with you and teach them about voting and democracy!

Halloween weekend...

It has been a great week for stories and for my annual Poe Night. This was the 13th year and, of course, it never fails to be wonderful. So grateful to all the folks who read poetry at Wells Theatre on Thursday evening. Special thanks to Jacob McNeal who is always there and decorated the stage so beautifully!

Today is the Halloween contest in town. It is cold and blustery...a perfect day. I love hosting this contest for my town. Come on downtown today...you won't want to miss this!

Special thanks to Annie Eyster for the enhanced photo of the Macbeth witches!

Lou Ann

 

Poe Night

 

This is the 13th annual Poe Night at Trine University. The event is in Wells Theatre on the beautiful Trine campus starting at 7 bells...if you dare! See you on Thursday, October 26th!

The Steuben Strummers!

 Today let’s chat about music. Oh, not about just listening to music, although that is great too! In fact, currently Pandora is sharing Halloween songs with me on this cozy Monday morning with a small fire sending warmth into every small nook and cranny. I want to talk about playing music.

In the long history of my family, at least as far as I can tell, no one was exceptionally musical. However, I guess I need to retract that statement. My dad played the piano. He learned to play as a young child when he lived with his grandparents during the depression. His grandmother played the pump organ for her church. She taught my dad to play a few songs so he could also play in church. He was only four years old, but sitting on her lap he could play a couple of songs for church. She pumped the organ while he played. When he returned home to Fort Wayne, his dad, my grandfather, Ralph, ran a mission. Once a week he and my grandmother, Goldie, fed folks ham and beans and provided a small Biblical message to the men. Once my dad returned (only five years old) he told Ralph he could play the piano. Of course, the mission didn’t have one, but a piano was donated so he could play.

My dad grew up to be a fine pianist. Oh, not musician enough to make a career, but a piano player for his own good. I took lessons as a child, and while not a natural musician, I learned to play show tunes with my dad. We played many duets on our grand piano. I still have most of those wonderful books and sheets of music. I used to take the bus down to Murphy’s in Fort Wayne on Saturdays to buy sheet music with my allowance. The other bit of my allowance went towards buying bouquets of flowers from the Barr Street market.

I have always played the piano for my own enjoyment. I often set the timer as I get lost in the music and time slips away. I tried the guitar, but I really wasn’t good at it although I wanted to be good. Perhaps I didn’t practice enough? I gave my guitar away to Brianna this summer as she is interested in all the arts!

Trading in the guitar for a ukulele was such a great decision for me! Of course, sweetening the pot is Carolyn who played uke with me every day during the pandemic. We have traveled to lots of weekend events, but the most fun of all is playing at the Angola Carnegie Library on the second Monday of the month.

This past month we had a different situation. We were invited (or we invited ourselves?) to play music for Cameron Woods on that Monday. Carolyn presented the possibility to our group, and we all said “yes,” of course! Having a gig…a real gig…meant extra practices and adding some great Halloween music! Who doesn’t love “The Monster Mash,” or “The Flying Purple People Eater?” Carolyn and I have been participating in the Fort Wayne uke group and a few of those folks said, “Sure, let’s play!”

We practiced, and the day of our gig came! Now I have had many storytelling gigs in my life, but not so many music gigs with folks I like a lot. Do I dare say how excited we were to share our music with the residents of Cameron Woods?

We showed up early and had to bring in even more chairs for the band. We filled up half the room! Ken Scharpenberg and his wife, Judy, came to accompany our ukes and keep the beat for us! As we were setting up, we saw familiar faces which made us all smile.

Then the concert started. We had the most fun…probably even more fun than the residents. Oh, I know it was a small gig in the big pool of available music in our area, but to us it was an amazing afternoon. We had two encores, although I think we instigated both! It didn’t matter; we were happy to play a few more songs.

It was a great afternoon, and I think we all need some happy afternoons in our life. Playing music that afternoon was perhaps a Zen moment letting the music carry us away! Of course, we would love to play for you.

We are the Steuben Strummers! Won’t you join us?

The Steuben Strummers