6 minute read
Lakes Area Theatre/Fire Pit Productions
by Echo Press
FIRE PITproductions
Begun in 2018 by Quincy Roers, Fire Pit Production uses the stage at the Lakes Area Theatre for small production plays and provides the community with edgy thought-provoking stage plays. The performances are locally cast.
Tickets are $10 and are available at the door one hour prior to show time.
Christmas 2: It’s a Wonderful Nativity, written by Jeff Goods, will be performed on December 18-19 at 7:30 p.m.
A child star, Jesus Christ, quickly faded into obscurity and everyone who was involved in his Nativity came to ruin – from the Orient king who gave away his money, the talking sheep who joined a circus freak show to the alcoholic angel, whose media blitz fell apart when the newborn king and his family fled into the divine witness protection program.
Now, 30 years later, the Ghosts of Nativities Past all descend into Bethlehem to try to teach Jesus Christ the true meaning of Christmas.
For more information, visit https://lakesareatheatre. com/firepit/, call 320-815-7664 or email lakesareatheatre@ gmail.com.
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7044_021618 Winter 2020 / 2021 • Vacationer 7
TINY TOWN grabs big attention
By Al Edenloff aedenloff@echopress.com
Inside Alexandria’s Viking Plaza, scenes of the Wild West play out around the clock.
A pair of cowboys work on a crosscut saw.
A horse bucks. Another one is getting a new set of horseshoes.
A saloon worker carrying a case of beer bumps open the saloon door.
An outhouse door swings open, revealing a cowboy reading a magazine. Another cowboy is taking a bath in the bath house.
There’s also a General Store, a windmill, an establishment called the 90 Club, a building that serves as a bank/barbershop/saloon/hotel, and other scenes that are as familiar as the old TV Westerns, “Gunsmoke,” “Rawhide” and “Bonanza.”
Welcome to “Grandpa Rudy’s Little Western Town” – a miniature display painstakingly restored by Jeff Roste of Alexandria. It was created in 1957 by his grandfather, Rudy Barthel.
The Echo Press did a feature story about the tiny town in July 2019 and now after months of work, the town is on display just outside of D. Michael B’s restaurant. It will be on display for at least five years.
When Roste first laid eyes on the miniature town as a young boy, he hoped that someday the set would be his. Instead, when Roste was 24 and his grandfather died, the set was passed on to an uncle.
Decades passed. Roste got married, had children and started a business doing graphic design. He had inherited the do-it-yourself gene, renovating and adding onto their house. But he never forgot about that amazing Western town.
Two summers ago, while Roste was talking to the uncle who had gotten the set, the subject of the tiny town came up and the uncle said he could pick it up and restore it.
When Roste picked up the set, it was covered with dust and dirt. He vacuumed up decades of grime, fixed wooden signs, scrubbed at dirty nooks with an old toothbrush and removed the stuff that comes with chipmunks making it their home.
Roste’s plans for the Western town not only included the restoration. He added other touches, such as switching all the old, hot lights over to LED and making water flow from the mill into a cascading waterfall.
He has also enlisted local composer Keith Martinson to write a piece of Western music for steel guitar, acoustic guitar, piano and bass, to match
the miniature instruments in the 90 Club, which are stringed with real wire.
The decision on where to put the town, which stretches across 20 feet, came easily. David Bistodeau, the owner of D. Michael B’s, is a friend of Roste’s and said he could have the space. Bistodeau said the town would mesh well with his restaurant’s northwoods theme. Glenwood State Bank and Integrity Title financially supported the project.
TOWN FEATURED ON TV
The Little Western Town was in the limelight recently. John Lauritsen from WCCO-TV’s “Finding Minnesota” did doing a story on the display that aired Oct. 4, during the 10 p.m. news. Lauritsen, an Emmy-award winning reporter, began his career at KSAX-TV in Alexandria.
ALEXANDRIAblizzard hockey
If you have a hankerin’ for hockey, then the NA3HL Alexandria Blizzard action is for you! Competing in the West Division along with the North Iowa Bulls, Granite City Lumberjacks, Willmar WarHawks and New Ulm Steel, the Blizzard offers USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior hockey entertainment throughout the winter.
The North American 3 Hockey League (3HL) is one of six leagues serving as some of the top training grounds in the country available to student-athletes, providing them with more opportunities to advance to college and pro hockey.
Players are able to compete in front of the entire junior, college and professional scouting community as they fine-tune their skills.
Highly competitive, 3HL hockey, and the Alexandria Blizzard in particular, provides exceptional hockey entertainment for spectators beginning in September and continuing through March.
The Blizzard play their home games at the Runestone Community Center, located at the Douglas County Fairgrounds at 802 3rd Ave. West, Alexandria, just off County Road 82.
Tickets only available online at tickets.alexandriablizzard.com.
THE ALEXANDRIA BLIZZARD
play their home games at the Runestone Community Center, located at the Douglas County Fairgrounds at 802 3rd Ave. West, Alexandria, just off County Road 82.
HOME SCHEDULE
Nov. 6 Granite City Lumberjacks Nov. 21 Granite City Lumberjacks Nov. 25 New Ulm Steel Dec. 5 Willmar WarHawks Dec. 31 New Ulm Steel Jan. 2 North Iowa Bulls Jan. 16 North Iowa Bulls Jan. 20 Willmar WarHawks Jan. 30 Granite City Lumberjacks Feb. 5 New Ulm Steel Feb. 12 North Iowa Bulls (12:10 p.m.) Feb. 13 North Iowa Bulls Feb. 26 Willmar WarHawks Feb. 27 Mar. 6 New Ulm Steel New Ulm Steel
All home games are at 7:10 p.m. unless otherwise specified.
TICKETS
Single Game Tickets VIP LOFT............................................ $30.00 VIP Seating, complimentary food, & 4 drink tickets for choice of mixed drinks and beer on hand
(General Admission) Adult ..................................................$13.00 Senior (55 and older)....................... $11.00 Student...............................................$9.00 (6 and under FREE) For more information, call 320.491.8910
