My son and I recently attended the 18th Annual Celebration of Women and Their Music at the Fargo Theater. This annual event, first started by the incomparable Deb Jenkins who has been the driving force for this event for all of the 18 years, showcases the musical of the young women in our area. Students who have excelled in their field have a chance to receive awards to help them further their dreams of growing and mastering their particular art form. It’s not just vocal and instrumental talent, but dance and art as well. For nearly two hours we saw some of these young ladies perform and they showed us why most folks say we have an abundance of talent in this region. Mixed in were musicians from near and far. From right here in Fargo, from Minneapolis, and even Boston who said they were so happy to get away from the snow. The crowd got a huge laugh from that line. It was a cold night but a very warm crowd showing appreciation for this wonderful event. I was a very late bloomer for these shows, letting the first 15 years slide by me. My first one was the 16th annual and I’ve been going ever since. I hope to see you at next year’s event on Feb. 20th 2016. For more information on the Celebration of Women and Their Music, whether to volunteer, make donations to the award funds, or info on tickets, be sure to check their site on Facebook.

Oscars 2015

I have to admit that I’m not much of an “awards” show watcher anymore. I’ll tune in to the beginning of the Oscars, to see who gets the best supporting actor award, then come back in a couple of hours to catch the big awards at the end. Best Director, Actor, Actress, and of course Best Picture. I really didn’t have a clue who was going to win any of these awards. I thought the field was so wide open in all of these categories. But I’m lucky I turned the set back on a little early. In case you missed it, the Academy did a salute to the 50th Anniversary of “The Sound of Music”. Now those were the days when you could get several songs on the charts just from one musical soundtrack. But what I saw was nothing short of amazing. Lady Gaga came out to sing a medley of those famous songs from the film and stunned the crowd and most of us at home watching. When she finished, she introduced Julie Andrews, the star of “The Sound of Music” and the crowd went even more nuts. By the sound of the applause all of their palms had to be beat red. Lady Gaga deserves some credit to this change in her style. From the crazy costumes and 6 inch platform shoes, she has now done duets with the great Tony Bennett and now this at the Oscars. If it’s on the internet…try to find it. If you saw it before, it’s worth seeing again….and again.

A Chicago Thank You

I recently wrote about a matchbook that featured my mother on the cover in a restaurant setting and on the back was “Old Heidelberg” on Randolph St. I found out it was in Chicago. Thanks to a reader who didn’t leave their name, they believe the building is still there and is now called “Ronny’s”. This “Old Heidelberg” was a spin-off from the Old Heidelberg restaurant from the 1933 Chicago’s World’s Fair. I also received word from the daughter of one of my mom’s best friends that she too had a matchbook like this one with her mother on the cover. Apparently a promotional item offered by the restaurant back in 1954. Thank you for the info.