Little Sweden USA

On Friday, we attended Lindsborg’s theater under the stars, Broadway RFD. This year’s show was State Fair, the charming musical by Rogers and Hammerstein featuring the adventures of the Frake family as they seek fame and love at the 1946 Iowa State Fair.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about this choice, but within moments of the show’s beginning I found myself totally captivated! I forgot how much I enjoy musicals, plus the actors’ performances were uniformly very strong; to single out any one cast member would beunfair to the others, though I do have to comment on how hilarious the judge was. She cracked up the audience with her rendition of a judge who greatly enjoyed the mincemeat that contained Pa’s (and Ma’s) special ingredient, brandy.

Broadway RFD is the longest running outdoor theater in Kansas and celebrates its 50th anniversary next year with the classinc musical, Annie Get Your Gun.

I took almost 200 photos, but given the low light levels, many of them turned out blurry or very blurry. The best have been posted here: Flickr Broadway RFD set, and I’ve also created a Broadway RFD photo slide show for your enjoyment.

A baker’s dozen of my favorites are shown below:

Welcome to Lindsborg Town Talk, your source for news about upcoming events and activities in Lindsborg.

The Red Barn Studio is pleased that artist Shin-hee Chin of Mc Pherson? will be returning as the artist-in-residence from July 27th through August 3rd. Shin-hee will be continuing her work on portrait quilts during her stay at the Red Barn.

The Lindsborg Community Library is hosting a summer reading camp this year. The theme is, “Catch the Reading Bug,” and kids ages 3 to 11 are invited to participate. The camp is held on Mondays at 6pm and includes dinner. There is one session remaining, on Monday 28th, and will include a program put on by the Orkin company; I guess they know a little bit about bugs!

Over at the Bethany Home, it’s the final week to see area photographer Kathy Shogren’s display of some of her award winning nature photographs.

This year, the talented cast and crew of the midwest’s longest running outdoor theater, Broadway RFD, are performing State Fair, a classic play by Rogers and Hammerstein. The final performance is tonight, July 26th. Tickets are 6$ for adults and 4$ for children. They may be purchased in advance at the Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce or at the park the evening of the shows. There is bleacher seating available and folks are also invited to bring their own lawn chairs.

If you are interested in classic cars, you’ll want to attend the Lindsborg Classic Car show next Saturday, August 2nd. Held in beautiful (and shady!) Swensson Park, this is a great chance to see a wide variety of classic cars. As always, judges will select a number of winners, both traditional as well as some fun ones like: Police Chief’s Choice: entry most likely to receive a ticket within the Lindsborg City limits and Kansas Highway Patrol’s Choice: the vehicle most likely to be stopped by the KHP for no reason at all!

One last note, mark your calendars for August 23rd! That’s when Lindsborg Live hosts King Midas and the Mufflers for a street dance in downtown Lindsborg.

till next time, this is Mike Rodriquez with Lindsborg Town Talk.

Listen to the podcast of the Lindsborg Town Talk from the 26th of July 2008 simply by clicking the previous link. Lindsborg Town Talk is a podcast of a weekly bit I do on a local radio station, KVOB, 95.5 FM. Lindsborg Town Talk usually airs on Saturday mornings around 8:20am. Btw, if you use an RSS aggregator, and iTunes, you can automatically load this podcast into iTunes from within the aggregator. Go to the iTunes store and search for “Little Sweden.”

Welcome to Lindsborg Town Talk, your source for news about upcoming events and activities in Lindsborg.

The Courtyard Gallery in Lindsborg is hosting their “Third Saturday, meet the Artist” event today, Saturday July 19th, from 11 until 4pm. This week, Stan Harder, a Nebraska artist who does fine woodworking, will be on hand to share his work.

The Lindsborg Community Library is hosting a summer reading camp this year. The theme is, “Catch the Reading Bug,” and kids ages 3 to 11 are invited to participate. The camp is held on Mondays at 6pm and includes dinner. There are 2 sessions left, this Monday, the 21st and the following week, on the 28th. The 21st will feature a presentation by the Salina Discovery Center, and the session on the 28th will host a program put on by the Orkin company; I guess they know a little bit about bugs!

Over at the Bethany Home, area photographer Kathy Shogren continues to display some of her award winning nature photographs. The show runs through the month of July. Included in the display are wonderful photos of landscapes, close-ups of insects and flowers.

This year, the talented cast and crew of the midwest’s longest running outdoor theater, Broadway RFD, are performing State Fair, a classic play by Rogers and Hammerstein. Performances are in Swensson Park, starting at 8:30 pm on July 19th, that’s tonight and also on the 25th and 26th. Tickets are 6$ for adults and 4$ for children. They may be purchased in advance at the Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce or at the park the evening of the shows. Rain dates are July 20th and 27th. There is bleacher seating available and folks are also invited to bring their own lawn chairs.

One last note, mark your calendars for August 23rd! That’s when Lindsborg Live hosts King Midas and the Mufflers for a street dance in downtown Lindsborg.

till next time, this is Mike Rodriquez with Lindsborg Town Talk.

Listen to the podcast of the Lindsborg Town Talk from the 19th of July 2008 simply by clicking the previous link. Lindsborg Town Talk is a podcast of a weekly bit I do on a local radio station, KVOB, 95.5 FM. Lindsborg Town Talk usually airs on Saturday mornings around 8:20am. Btw, if you use an RSS aggregator, and iTunes, you can automatically load this podcast into iTunes from within the aggregator. Go to the iTunes store and search for “Little Sweden.”

Welcome to Lindsborg Town Talk, your source for news about upcoming events and activities in Lindsborg.

Good morning! It’s another busy Saturday in Lindsborg!

First we start with the Central Kansas Championship swim meet. Young swimmers from throughout central Kansas are participating in this day long event at the Lindsborg Municipal Swimming Pool.

Next we head over to the Red Barn Studio, where Roger Gerberding is the artist-in-residence during early July. Roger, who is from Council Bluffs Iowa, is returning to the Red Barn for his 2nd year. He will be teaching a pastel workshop today, Saturday, July 12th. Contact the Red Barn at 227-2217 for more information.

And then, starting next week, Julie Baldwin will be the artist in residence at the Red Barn Studio. During her short stay, July 14th through 19th, Julie will be focusing on oil-based media.

Over at the Bethany Home, area photographer Kathy Shogren will display some of her award winning nature photographs during the month of July. Included in the display are wonderful photos of landscapes, close-ups of insects and flowers.

This year, the talented cast and crew of the midwest’s longest running outdoor theater, Broadway RFD, are performing State Fair, a classic play by Rogers and Hammerstein. Performances are in Swensson Park, starting at 8:30 pm on July 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th. Tickets are 6$ for adults and 4$ for children. They may be purchased in advance at the Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce or at the park the evening of the shows. Rain dates are July 20th and 27th. There is bleacher seating available and folks are also invited to bring their own lawn chairs.

till next time, this is Mike Rodriquez with Lindsborg Town Talk.

Listen to the podcast of the Lindsborg Town Talk from the 12th of July 2008 simply by clicking the previous link. Lindsborg Town Talk is a podcast of a weekly bit I do on a local radio station, KVOB, 95.5 FM. Lindsborg Town Talk usually airs on Saturday mornings around 8:20am. Btw, if you use an RSS aggregator, and iTunes, you can automatically load this podcast into iTunes from within the aggregator. Go to the iTunes store and search for “Little Sweden.”

Welcome to Lindsborg Town Talk, your source for news about upcoming events and activities in Lindsborg.

Looks like July is a good month for art lovers in Lindsborg. Representing the peforming arts is live theater in the form of Broadway RFD, and there are at least 3 places with new art exhibitions on display in July.

Starting at the Bethany Home, area photographer Kathy Shogren will display some of her award winning nature photographs during the month of July. Included in the display are wonderful photos of landscapes, close-ups of insects and flowers.

Next we head over to the Red Barn Studio, where Roger Gerberding is the artist-in-residence in early July. Roger, who is from Council Bluffs Iowa, is returning to the Red Barn for his 2nd year. He will be teaching a pastel workshop on Saturday, July 12th. Contact the Red Barn at 227-2217 for more information.

And over at the Sandzen Gallery, artist Anne Horton presents Paper and Paint, a series of new works by the artist. The exhibition runs through August 24th, and tomorrow, Sunday July 6th, there will be a reception for Anne and guest artist David Kinder from 2-4pm at the Sandzen Gallery.

Broadway RFD. The name itself is a contrast between city and country and highlights the best of both worlds present at a Broadway RFD performance, high quality theater in a comfortable, small-town setting.

This year, the talented cast and crew of the midwest’s longest running outdoor theater is presenting State Fair. Performances are in Swensson Park, starting at 8:30 pm on July 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th. Tickets are 6$ for adults and 4$ for children. They may be purchased in advance at the Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce or at the park the evening of the shows.

And congratulations to everyone who participated in the Lindsborg Tomorrow Wellness Trek! The trek ran for the month of June and over 75 people participated; winners will be celebrated at an upcoming event later this summer.

till next time, this is Mike Rodriquez with Lindsborg Town Talk.

Listen to the podcast of the Lindsborg Town Talk from the 5th of July 2008 simply by clicking the previous link. Lindsborg Town Talk is a podcast of a weekly bit I do on a local radio station, KVOB, 95.5 FM. Lindsborg Town Talk usually airs on Saturday mornings around 8:20am. Btw, if you use an RSS aggregator, and iTunes, you can automatically load this podcast into iTunes from within the aggregator. Go to the iTunes store and search for “Little Sweden.”

Welcome to Lindsborg Town Talk, your source for news about upcoming events and activities in Lindsborg.

I hope everyone who attended Midsummer’s last weekend had a great time! If you missed it, or just want to re-live the experience, head over to the Midsummer’s web site, midsummersday.org, where you’ll find plenty of photos from last weekend.

This is a relatively quiet weekend in Lindsborg, though the sports minded may want to head down to the Lindsborg Municipal swimming pool between 9am and 1pm today where the Lindsborg Wavemakers swim team is hosting a swim meet.

Next weekend starts a day early, as we celebrate our country’s independence on Friday, July 4th. Here in Lindsborg there will be an event at Swensson Park, starting at 6pm. There will be food, a performance by the Lindsborg Community Band, and more.

Lindsborg area residents who have enjoyed the fireworks display at Bethany College in past years should know that the location has changed this year. In 2008, the Lindsborg fireworks display will be 3.5 miles south of Lindsborg, on old hiway 81. Limited parking will be available at Smoky Valley Shooting Sports; carpooling is advised.

You can help support this fireworks display by purchasing an Old Fashioned Fourth of July t-shirt from the Chamber of Commerce and select locations throughout Lindsborg; the price is 10$.

Looking ahead just a bit, if it’s summer, it must be time for Broadway RFD! This year, the talented cast and crew of the midwest’s longest running outdoor theater is presenting State Fair. Performances are in Swensson Park, starting at 8:30 pm on July 18th, 19th, 25th and 26th. Tickets are 6$ for adults and 4$ for children. They may be purchased in advance at the Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce or at the park the evening of the shows.

till next time, this is Mike Rodriquez with Lindsborg Town Talk.

Listen to the podcast of the Lindsborg Town Talk from the 28th of June 2008 simply by clicking the previous link. Lindsborg Town Talk is a podcast of a weekly bit I do on a local radio station, KVOB, 95.5 FM. Lindsborg Town Talk usually airs on Saturday mornings around 8:20am. Btw, if you use an RSS aggregator, and iTunes, you can automatically load this podcast into iTunes from within the aggregator. Go to the iTunes store and search for “Little Sweden.”

Lindsborg celebrated Midsummer’s yesterday, and a great time was had by all. As previously reported, the format changed quite a bit for this year; the result was a pleasing mix of old and new!

The new layout in the park, the booths representing various aspects of traditional Swedish village life, and of course the wonderful Swedish dancing, all made for one of the best Midsummer’s celebrations I’ve attended.

On the photography front, this year turned out much better than last year. Though I took around 1,000 photos last year, I was disappointed with most of them, and only published a handful.

This year’s results speak for themselves; the 15 shown below were chosen from the set of 80 I posted on Flickr, and those were the best of the 178 that made the first cut, chosen from 784 total images.

Using Adobe Lightroom, it’s taken me about 5-7 hours to sort, process (crop, straighten, color balance), convert to jpeg and publish to Flickr and my web sites. Well worth it, I might add. I love trying to capture a fun event like Midsummer’s and then sharing it with the world.

Susan and Becky did a tremendous job in leading the team this year, as we pulled off one of the best Midsummer’s in recent memory!
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Traditional manly dance.
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Swedish dancers.
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Swedes love their coffee!
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More Swedish dancers.
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I just love the dance with the flower covered hoops!
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More of the hoop dance.
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Wheee!!
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The Swedish dancers continue to be the highlight of Midsummer’s for me.
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The dancers head to Sweden soon after Midsummer’s; think they look excited?
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A master at work.
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Main street even had a Maypole this year.
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Midsummer’s isn’t complete without the traditional Maypole raising ceremony.
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Leading the charge. The live musical accompaniment provided by these local musicians adds greatly to the days’ proceedings.
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The frog dance, a humorous dance made more fun by the audience’s participation. Even the bishop is in the mood.