40 Thieves on Saipan Has Arrived!

40 Thieves on Saipan

A Book Review

Authors: Joseph Tachovsky with Cynthia Kraack

Prologue: The "with" author of this book, Cynthia Kraack, is my sister-in-law. Married to my brother, Tom. I forgive her for living in the far north country. She is a terrific writer, the author of now seven books and one of the founding members of a non-profit writer's guild, Write On Door County (https://writeondoorcounty.org/). You can read more about her and her other books here: https://cynthiakraack.com/. One other thing I discovered from her was that her father, a WW II Navy veteran of the war in the Pacific was on one of the first ships to arrive at Saipan after it was secured from the Japanese, largely due the heroic efforts of the 40 Thieves, commanded by Lt. Frank Tachovsky, the father of the Joseph Tachovsky, whose idea this book was initially. Fate is ironic that way, I guess.  I thinnk you will appreciate this unique, historical piece of writing. I was privileged to read it prior to publication and ruminate about what it means and how significant it is. Thank you, Cindy, for allowing me to share my thoughts about your amazing work!

     The scenes and descriptions are vivid enough to make your heart race; the emotions and courage are palpable in the men and women at the center of 40 Thieves on Saipan. And this is especially true after you have lived among them, endured their selection and training regimens and sensed their apprehension, fatalism and bravery as their days as “thieves” on Saipan draw near. This is a book drawn from a stark, embattled history with the story arc and dramatic turns of a fictional tale of enormous import. This is the story of the origins, travails and adventures of Marines specially chosen to engage an enemy on its own ground and wreak havoc in any way they can so that US troops can gain and hold ground a few feet at a time on an island known to the Japanese as “the Emperor’s Treasure.”
    Authors Joseph Tachovsky (son of Marine Lt. Frank Tachovsky, commander of the 40 Thieves unit) and Cynthia Kraack (Award-winning author of seven previous works of fiction) must have undertaken this literary effort faced with the daunting task knowing that not everyone critical to the story would want to talk about it. Knowing that some pieces were missing or compromised by time; realizing that piecing the stories into a readable text, both apocryphal and true, would be a formidable task. But penning the story of this group of young men whose efforts would provide the basis for United States’ victory over Japan in World War II, was so significant and powerful it demanded telling. So 40 Thieves on Saipan is history; it is also personal and vivid stories of young men who knew at the outset they might be doomed by their mission. And they went anyway.
    40 Thieves begins on the enforested, humid and mosquito-swarmed island of Saipan, where a tired Marine realizes too late that his team is surrounded by an enemy whose uncanny ability to lie in wait patiently was almost impossible to imagine. After this tense and heart-pounding opening, you are taken back to the origins of the elite Marine Scout-Sniper unit; where a rigorous recruitment and training process offered rogues, rule-breakers and ruffian types an opportunity to flourish in the Marine ethos. Readers endure the arduous physical preparation the 40 Thieves used to ready themselves for a secret and dangerous mission. They are privy to the doubts, machismo and emotions of men whose lives were about to be changed forever or lost on a spit of rock in the Pacific Ocean. The story is accompanied by original source documents and photos of the 40 Thieves, along with letters and stories from the men and from their loved ones back home. One of the most intriguing things about this time was that while these Marines were engaged in intense battles as a team fully committed to each other and their mission, their wives, girlfriends and families back home formed a similar bond, supporting and caring for each other against the ache of loneliness and potential loss. Their letters back and forth are revealing while also being guarded against revealing too much.
    40 Thieves on Saipan is indeed a story of the bloodiest of battles in the War in the Pacific. It is also a look at this time in history and at this unique idea of how to wage a war against an enemy often unseen and infinitely committed to holding ground by scorched earth destruction regardless of the cost in human life. The engagements, skirmishes and adventures of the 40 Thieves are detailed with careful detail, with the knowing sense that the men in this unique unit were both apprehensive, yet eager to engage, destroy and defeat the enemy far from home.
    This story ends as war-hardened Marines witness in horror mass suicides and mass murder by the enemy of its’ allies and the indigenous peoples of Saipan rather than surrender, even as the Marines ultimately conquer the island from Japan. And you understand why most of the 40 Thieves that survived spent the rest of their lives trying to forget or drown these images, committed to never reliving their nightmares. The research, the grudging conversations and the difficulty of dredging through a history this personal is hard to imagine. Making it so interesting, so intensely accurate and unflinching in its revelations is even more remarkable. Histories this specific are where we learn the true impacts and harsh realities of war. Tachovsky and Kraack have earned the accolades they will receive from readers of 40 Thieves on Saipan.

40 Thieves on Saipan is now available on Amazon.

http://bitly.ws/8G3c

An American Shrine

by Paul F. Kraack

(Based on a visit to Ground Zero on Sunday, 11.4.2001)

Just two months removed from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, our nation was still coming to grips with what we saw and yet can never understand. For one who had been in the "city that never sleeps" several times in the past, there was a tangible difference in that vibrant metropolis in November 2011, when Mary and I went to New York City on a trip we had planned prior to the 9/11 events. We felt we needed to go as a sign of our solidarity with the city and the nation, especially with those in the theatre industry that we love so much. These are the memories and comments I wrote shortly after our return. The photographs shared by link here I have never shared with anyone before because I took them in a place and time when I felt to do would be disrespectful to those that had lost so much and so many. A slideshow of photos from that weekend is available here, set to music by Erik Grant Bennett, "America's Colors Never Fade.

Your sense of smell suffers the first alert as you venture into lower Manhattan. The acrid, dusty smell of death and total destruction combines with the industrious sounds of the cleanup to attack all your senses. The battle between emotion and understanding is massive and it's evident on the face of every person there. You feel the overriding sense of loss, side-by-side with morbid curiosity. Thousands of visitors, intrigued by what they have seen and heard in the media and online, flock to the site of these horrible modern ruins. Families, moms and dads with quiet kids in hand and babies ensconced in strollers, share grief and wonder at the sheer enormity of it all.


The memorials for missing loved ones and comrades cling to the sides of buildings, on fences and outside church grounds, serving temporary notice that all those gone are not forgotten. Flags of every type and size, stuffed animals, flowers and posters, cards and announcements, candles, banners and sheets filled with handwritten greetings and messages of sympathy are everywhere. Store windows are filled with a hodge-podge of photos of the missing and messages of hope. Fire stations are fronted by bouquets of flowers and gifts for the city's heroes. And in the disaster area, there is an eerie quiet. An observer of the human condition once wrote that you can identify the most holy places in a society by the silence of the people who visit them. By this measure, then this locale, nestled in a corner of the most intense financial marketplace in the world, is a shrine, a temple. Even though the crowds are huge, they are individuals suspended in the time and space of it together, sharing an immeasurable moment as one. And then there is the emotion that seems to overwhelm everything else, while the images stay stubbornly in your consciousness. Emotion surrounds you and captures you. And there is no way to deal with it rationally or to explain it or to talk about it. And so you cling to those you love and you wish for a way to relieve your pain. But there is no relief.


The site itself, "ground zero" to the media, is surrounded by head-high fences, cloaked in green, screenlike fabric, protecting the area from the onlookers and providing protection for those filled with mourning while they work. Entrances to the work areas are protected by New York City police officers whose demeanor belies their rage and grief. Talking to visitors, police personnel were quietly sorrowful, filled with a mix of pride and anger. Their conversation was kind, yet terse and quiet-not typical of the bluster common to New York types. Hands in pockets, their professional calm was filled with tension. All across the island of Manhattan, such watchfulness is evident. At one point, a fire engine went by, sirens blaring and lights flashing. From the window of the engine, a New York City fireman peered out at me as the city rushed by. As we made eye contact, his sense of sadness and apprehension was palpable. The newest "chic" jobs in the city seem to be bodyguard, entrance watcher and door monitor-these types appear everywhere.


In the city blocks that surround the disaster scene, evidence of the devastation is overwhelming. Even though the images of the dust and debris hurling itself down narrow streets around New York's financial district are burned in our memories, one cannot be prepared for silent reminders you notice all around you. On all the streets, buildings and signs, a film of concrete dust and smoke residue remains-in doorways, on building address letters, on door handles and on windows. There are clear indications that much has been done to remove it, but this is a tenacious and grim palimpsest. One cannot help but feel that this elementary reminder of massive devastation will remain with New Yorkers for a long time. Pressure washers hiss as workers try to drive the dirt and grime from tall buildings and off storefronts. Even early on a Sunday morning, the work of cleaning up continued. One nearby business, fighting to survive, placed "Burma Shave-like" signs on the barrier fence fabric, telling the hated one not only did he miss them, but that their watering hole is still open and inviting passers-by to share a drink with our newest national heroes, the ground zero recovery workers. Mostly, you notice the loss and realize the tragedy most fully when you look to the skies. Where you normally would have seen the brilliance of the twin, mirror-like World Trade Center towers shimmering against the skies, there are only a few scattered clouds against the blue sky, bearing the souls of the martyrs heavenward.


Some final observations from this trip to New York. The city's instincts for business are still undeniable. There was a substantial choice of recently published books detailing the World Trade Towers' history in words and photos, up to and including the attacks of September 11. There was an absolute avalanche of hats, scarves and toys bearing the logos and insignias of the New York City police and fire departments. And the city's weird factor is returning slowly to near normal-as indicated by the "Naked Cowboy" of 46th and Broadway, who, sans pants or shirt, strums his blue guitar, brushes his long blond hair back from his face and invites onlookers to take his photo and leave a small donation in his white cowboy boots. And they do, depositing nearly $500 daily in those boots, according to a NYC police officer.


I had planned this trip many weeks prior to the attacks of September 11, but never considered not going after they occurred. The nation's capital of finance and entertainment is unmatched for providing a good time for visitors. And now it provides another dimension of resolve to its reputation. Everywhere I went and to whomever I talked, New Yorkers were hopeful and coming to grips with what they had to do as a city and as individuals to make it through each day. The service was nicer and the greetings were genuinely pleasant on this trip, not always the case in this busy metropolitan dynasty. Mostly, you got the feeling that they were gaining courage from each other and, by welcoming guests, were saying: "We are a team here." In the words of our jaunty Italian cab driver, who drove us to the Southstreet Seaport shopping area on this brilliant Sunday morning, just blocks from where the World Trade Center used to stand: "I will get you there just fine and you will be OK." Indeed, New York will be OK, but like the rest of us, not ever the same again.

Using the Arts to Build Community Here and in New Orleans

(This column appeared in the 9.5.07 edition of the Tribune & Georgian newspaper, and in the 9.06.07 edition of The Kings Bay Periscope.)


In the August 21 issue of Sports Illustrated, Alexander Wolff’s story about the plight of New Orleans schools two years post-Katrina, looked at a clearly difficult and tragic scenario, focusing on the problems of a reduced population in key parts of the city and the problems of building infrastructure – schools, businesses, roads, buildings – without tax revenue or population to use, work in and support the facilities. In his piece, Wolff notes that one of the areas lost to the city is the community and educational sports programs.

One of the persons Wolff talked to for his essay was Ron Gearing, athletic director of the Orleans Parish public schools. Gearing, Wolff says, looks at the emptiness of the neighborhoods today and wants to weep. His concern? That his community is losing kids that should be in school in their neighborhood and that they won’t return because there is nothing there for them.

“It’s a proven fact that those who participate in extracurricular activities graduate at a higher rate,” Gearing said. “Take a trumpet and give it to a kid, and that kid will graduate because he played in the band. Or we can [give him] a jersey, and he’ll graduate because he was on a team. A cheerleader, a majorette, a dancer—those are the kids who make it. The kids who don’t embrace those things [or who don’t have the chance to embrace them] are the ones we lose.”

How fitting is it that, facing the difficulties they face in New Orleans, that school officials recognize that all the buildings and repaired homes in the world cannot attract children back to their neighborhoods. But programs will. “When we open schools and start sports and arts programs,” Gearing said, “kids show up. We are not sure where they were, but they find us.” What else needs to be said about how important such programs are for attracting and educating the whole child?

Locally, in the following weeks, commitment and dedication will take on new meaning, as your neighbors and friends will undertake a reprise of Crooked Rivers’ spring cultural heritage production, “Fightin’, Faith and Family.” Starting with rehearsals this week, the Crooked Rivers volunteers will put a new spin on great stories about our community, dating back to the 19th century and peering into more recent history. This production, which is the second annual full-length Crooked Rivers offering, looks at stories and history that surround common experiences, particularly those related to the spiritual, to war and to family.

“Fightin’, Faith and Family” looks at relationships between husband and wives, society’s tendency to pick fights, and the important role that faith plays in our coastal Georgia past. The cast of “Fightin’, Faith and Family” is comprised of local community members devoted to providing you with an evening of historical and humorous entertainment filled with stories and music about the region’s cultural and historical heritage. Your tour guides, as you traverse through that heritage, are the three sisters (Kingsley, Woodenia, and Mary), that represent the major cities of Camden County (Woodbine, Kingsland, and St. Marys). Just as in “Sisters’ Three,” Crooked Rivers 2006 production, these ladies help guide you through the years, gently jibing each other along the way.

The Crooked Rivers’ reprisal production of “Fightin’, Faith, and Family” will take the stage on Friday (Sept. 21) at 7 p.m. and Saturday (Sept. 22) at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the high school Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior adults. Tickets will be available at Sheila’s Hallmark, the St. Mary’s Tourism Office, Kingsland Tourism Office and the CCHS Auditorium in advance. They will also be available at the door day of show.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

9.5.07

Fall is Entertainment Rich on First Coast

(This column appeared in the Tribune & Georgian on 8.29.07 and The Kings Bay Periscope on 8.30.07.)

The next few months are filled with the promise of great entertainment in our community and beyond. Whether you are an art aficionado, a music concert rocker, or if theatre going thrills you, there are many offerings pending for each of your personalities. So make plans now to get out of the house and attend an arts event, scheduled just with you in mind.

For those that like cultural heritage events, check out the 442nd birthday in St. Augustine next weekend. From demonstrations of the lifestyle of area natives to demonstrations celebrating the women of the 16th century, the birthday party eventually leads on Sunday to a re-enactment of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles’ landing and a special Mass from Bishop Robert Baker at the mission of Nombre de Dios. Call (904) 824-6830 for information.

A remarkable collection of American art is in exhibition now through January 2008 at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville that reveals more than 70 years of artists’ endeavors, dating back to the 19th century and early 20th century. “Oh Say, Can You See: Art from the West Foundation Collection” contains more than 50 oil paintings and genres ranging from portraits and still lifes, to landscape sketches and finished marine and figurative paintings. The exhibit documents landscapes and scenes around the world that have mostly now disappeared. Commonly, the pieces are renowned for their use of light and color, as well as their depiction of ways of live that have long since faded from existence (if it ever existed at all). This exhibit will broadly satisfy lovers of nature, nostalgia, history, and art.

For those that eagerly anticipate the fall concert schedule, you will not be disappointed. The Dave Matthews Band will rock the O’Connell Center in Gainesville on Sept. 11, while calmer sorts can anticipate Acoustic Alchemy at The Florida Theatre on Oct. 23. Looking into the concert crystal ball even deeper reveals that post-modern bluegrass rockers Nickel Creek will be at The Florida Theatre on Nov. 12 for a pre-Thanksgiving concert, followed closely by those Australian Pied Pipers, The Wiggles, in “Racing to the Rainbow Live” at Veteran’s Memorial Arena on Nov. 15.

Theatregoers will face even more choices. Alhambra Dinner Theatre will close “Smokey Joe’s Café” on September 2 and follow it up with “Steel Magnolias” opening Sept. 5. The FCCJ Artist Series kicks off with “Shout: A Celebration of the ‘60s” on Sept. 12-16 at the Wilson Center and follows up with “Almost Heaven, The Songs of John Denver” on Oct. 12-14. The Broadway in Jacksonville season opens with “The Wedding Singer” on Nov. 6-11, which is followed by “Spelling Bee” on Dec. 21-23 at the Times Union Center.

Finally, don’t forget that September promises to be “must see theatre” month in Camden County. Crooked Rivers’ reprisal production of “Fightin’, Faith, and Family” will take the stage on Friday (Sept. 21) at 7 p.m. and Saturday (Sept. 22) at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the high school Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior adults. Tickets will be available at Sheila’s Hallmark, the St. Mary’s Tourism Office, Kingsland Tourism Office and the CCHS Auditorium in advance. They will also be available at the door day of show.

The following weekend, Camden County High School’s Advanced Drama will offer “Love Comics,” on the Auditorium stage Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Sept. 27, 28 and 29) at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Auditorium box office or by calling 912-729-7463.

8.29.07

Dance Dream Comes True for High School Dance Students

(This column appeared in the Tribune & Georgian newspaper on 8.22.07 and The Kings Bay Periscope on 8.23.07)

About two months ago in this column, I wrote this line: “imagine what a remarkable thing it would be if Camden High students could experience the training and commitment that a full-fledged dance instruction program might offer them.” I went on to reveal that data released in the 2005 College Bound Seniors Profile by The College Board suggests that students learn substantial positive lessons about time organization, focus and commitment in arts classes, which leads to improved academic performance and higher SAT scores. When I offered that information, I had hope in my heart and a dream in my head.

It was a dream inspired by students. Students came to Principal Dr. John Tucker’s Council meetings and asked for our high school to start a dance program. They wanted to dance; they wanted to perform. Those requests were heard by the principal and Fine Arts Director, Dean Slusser, and they went to work convincing others that starting such a program would be good for a diverse student population and for our burgeoning arts programs. Other arts teachers worked with the faculty and wrote a remarkable curriculum proposal and placed it in the school’s course selection guide. Within a few months, and after more than 140 students said they wanted to take a dance class at the high school, Superintendent Dr. Hardin agreed and, with our Board of Education, supported their request to add the program to the curriculum.

When you look at the reasons why such a program is good for students, you don’t have to look far. In Georgia, and across the nation, dance education is a part of the heath, recreation, physical education, and dance curriculum, offering participants both learning and exercise in good measure. Like all sports and arts programs, these programs focus on fitness, mental and physical wellness, and quality performance. As our nation struggles to encourage young people to become less obese and more fit, programs that head that direction are important.

Besides the health-related, physical aspects of dance, however, there are other, less tangible reasons for Camden County to support a school-based dance program. In our student body we have many students that already love and participate in dance in a variety of forms. We have students that are of Native American descent that practice and perform in indigenous dance troupes. Some of our students take dance at local studios and perform in regional and national competitions. And some students are regulars in contemporary dance programs across the southeast. Those students, until now, have not been a part of our school’s curricular arts programs. If this new dance program franchises them and gives them a new way to attach themselves to education, then we have created an important foothold for them to be successful both in the dance studio and in the classroom.

There are many things that schools struggle to do excellently, for lots of reasons. Right now, every day at Camden County High School, there are classes full of dance students that are a testament to how we get it right very often, especially when we act in the best interest of students. I will make sure you know how you can see them perform in the future.

Don’t forget that September promises to be “must see theatre” month in Camden County. Crooked Rivers will offer its reprisal production of “Fightin’, Faith, and Family” on Friday (Sept. 21) at 7 p.m. and Saturday (Sept. 22) at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the high school Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior adults. Tickets will be available at Sheila’s Hallmark, the St. Mary’s Tourism Office, Kingsland Tourism Office and the CCHS Auditorium in advance. They will also be available at the door day of show.

Next up for audiences will be the Camden County High School’s Advance Drama class production of “Love Comics,” scheduled on the Auditorium stage on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Sept. 27, 28 and 29) at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Auditorium box office or by calling 912-729-7463.

8.22.07

Local Theatre Productions Promise Entertainment in September

(This column appeared in the Tribune & Georgian on 8.15.07 and The Kings Bay Periscope on 8.16.07)

With school back in session and fall routines being established, it is time to make entertainment and theatre-going plans. There are several of what promise to be excellent opportunities for you to enjoy local and regional talent in a nice selection of theatrical genres.

September will be a busy month for those who enjoy musical theatre. On September 21st and 22nd, at the Camden County High School Auditorium, you have the opportunity to see a reprisal and restaging of Crooked Rivers’ spring production, “Fightin’, Faith, and Family.” The play, an in-depth look at our coastal region’s historical roots, including the influence of war, slavery, and religion on our historical antecedents, features original music by local composer Jim Bryant and stage performances by local residents. Guiding you through the scenes will be the three “sisters” of Camden County, Mary, Kingsley and Woodenia, representing the three cities of our community. Their friendly rivalry and heartfelt remembrances will entertain and amuse audiences.

For those that saw the original Spring 2007 production in Woodbine, this performance will have some moments in common, but expect a streamlined production with, perhaps, more production values added since the show will be the high school Auditorium. For those that missed the spring performances, take this opportunity to see what is part of a growing local tradition of cultural heritage performance.

“Fightin’, Faith and Family” will be Friday (Sept. 21) at 7 p.m. and Saturday (Sept. 22) at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior adults. Tickets will be available at Sheila’s Hallmark, the St. Mary’s Tourism Office, Kingsland Tourism Office and the CCHS Auditorium in advance. They will also be available at the door day of show.

Next up for audiences will be the Camden County High School’s Advance Drama class production of “Love Comics,” scheduled on the Auditorium stage on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Sept. 27, 28 and 29) at 7 p.m. This show features lively songs, entertaining banter between couples and a unique take on relationships. The sets and production features will bring to mind a “comic book” feel designed to invoke the old time comic strips that centered on serial love stories. This show is currently in production and will be performed at the Georgia Theatre Conference in October and again at the region One Act Play competition. Tickets are available at the Auditorium box office or by calling 912-729-7463.

The next fall treat for theatre audiences is in November, when the Camden County High School Drama Department presents “Inherit the Wind,” a sweeping American drama about a great clash of ideas. “Inherit the Wind” will take the stage on Friday (Nov. 2) and Saturday (Nov. 3) at 7 p.m. and Sunday (Nov. 4) at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the Auditorium box office or by calling 912-729-7463.

“Inherit the Wind,” which is currently on Broadway featuring Tony Award-winning actors Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy, centers on two men with gigantic egos and conflicting purposes, who do court room battle in the nexus of a small town’s struggles to come to terms with the impact of science on their religious beliefs.

This play, originally written to capture the drama surrounding a 1925 court case in Dayton, TN, highlights the speeches and characters of two of the original representatives in the case, William Jennings Bryan (for the prosecution) and Clarence Darrow (for the defense). “Inherit the Wind” has been produced widely as a play and as a movie, including an annual interpretation performed by residents of Dayton, TN in the same courtroom as the original case.

8.15.07

Institutions like the YMCA Lead Our Way to the Arts

(Published in the Tribune & Georgian on 10.11.06; the Kings Bay Periscope on 10.12.06)

One institution that has been associated with both urban and suburban social trends for many years is the venerable YMCA. Traditionally known as places to learn how to do the breast stroke or make a jump shot, YMCAs are rapidly becoming the places where kids and adults learn to paint, write, sing or act. The year 2003 marked the fifth anniversary of arts and humanities as a YMCA core program. Collectively, YMCAs are the nation’s largest not-for-profit organization, and YMCA of the USA expects it will soon be one of the leading and most influential, if not largest, arts provider in the country for kids and adults.

Within the past half-decade, arts programs increased by 39 percent at YMCAs, and millions of dollars in program and arts facility development have been secured. There are new YMCA arts programs from coast to coast, distinguished by their ability to simultaneously support artists, community members, and cultural and other organizations.

Arts and humanities are among the fastest-growing programs at Ys. In 2001, the number of Ys offering performing arts programs rose 14 percent, literary arts programs went up 18 percent, and visual arts went up 22 percent. The organizations that deliver programs know about the cognitive and developmental-asset benefits that youth receive from arts participation; that youth are satisfied with the pleasure of arts participation and self-expression; and that the fulfillment of mastery of a new skill often outweighs other accomplishments. Novelist and playwright E.L. Doctorow, one of the many artists celebrating YMCAs’ new role in the arts, calls Y leadership efforts “unprecedented, crucial, breakthrough work - nothing less than the firing up of synapses in the national mind.”

Collaborations with local arts organizations continue to make the arts available at YMCAs. YMCAs collaborate to create time, space and new benefits for members, including special cultural discounts and access. In addition, many Ys are adding a service-learning component to arts programs, helping participants create public art such as murals. More and more artists are donating artwork and/or lending financial or programmatic support to YMCAs.

Arts participation, particularly working with a group on an artistic creation, satisfies many people’s ongoing needs for meaning and belonging. Study of and participation in the arts from different cultures is a way to draw upon and celebrate the growing diversity in the United States. As a sign of cultural awakening and awareness, it is vital to recognize that the expanded emphasis on the arts at YMCA facilities is a key indicator. Whether it is helping kids learn to train animal acts and acquire skills in order to perform with a live circus in Redlands, California or create a mosaic in a community garden in Phoenix, Arizona, YMCAs are clearly riding the trend toward a new arts awareness. What I cannot wait to see is how all this exposure, training and deeply held interest will translate into policy and practice when these children become the decision makers.

Opportunities for this week and the future: “Oklahoma” runs through Nov. 26 at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre; get your jazz fix with the first lady of jazz, Diane Schuur, at the UNF Fine Arts Center, Oct. 12; get more of the same at the Amelia Island Jazz Festival, Oct. 13; throw back concerts to catch at The Florida Theatre are Peter Frampton, Oct. 18, and Donovan on Nov. 24; if you are a dance aficionado, my dance experts tell me that you need to see Parsons Dance Company at the UNF Fine Arts Center on Oct. 20.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

10.11.06

If We Need Creativity and Innovation; We Need The Arts

In his recent book, “The World is Flat,” economist and futurist Thomas Friedman argues that we are living in a time of an emerging “creative and innovative” economy. Friedman argues that this era may represent America’s salvation; that this new thinking will encourage America once again to do things it does best: “create and innovate.” An article in Business Week magazine recently echoed these sentiments, claiming that business and economic success is “no longer dictated by just math and science (although those are surely important disciplines). It’s about creativity, imagination, and, above all, innovation.”
There is much recent and past history to suggest that our culture has been singularly productive in producing ideas that have led to systems essential for progress and innovation. Business Week pointed to two such examples: historically, Thomas Edison’s fame rests less on his invention of the light bulb, but more so on his concepts that led the way to systematic methods of producing and distributing electricity; more recently, Apple Computer’s iPod not only provides easy, legal access to lots of songs, movies, and podcasts, it has become the central design piece of a whole system that made Apple the leader of the innovation economy.

As we talk about the foreshadowing of a whole economy based upon creativity and innovation - the dawn of the “Creative Age” as one research institute put it - we are more acutely aware of the importance of reinventing our business strategies, our corporations, our communities, our schools, our housing and land-use policies and more. Nothing can remain the same if we are to survive, let alone succeed in this new global economy.

Today, corporations, governments and the communities they serve must put themselves at the forefront of this sweeping change in the structure of the world in which we live and work. It is imperative that we begin in earnest to attract, retain and nurture the creative and innovative workforce we know we need; and in the process, create a new overlay of our land-use planning as well. Cities across the U.S. have to change the lenses in their cameras and their parochial thinking about “land use,” the transformative value of technology and the urgent need to reinvent our schools.

We need to redesign our high school and college curricula in particular, to focus on preparing students for this new competition. While creative industries, according to the Americans for the Arts are defined as “arts-related,” creativity and innovation are vital to the success of all businesses. And we need to focus more on training the next generation of leaders for the Creative Age. There is some evidence that this process is underway, as business schools across America are rethinking their curricula, too, as the Master of Fine Arts is as valued to business as the revered MBA.

Lest we miss our way here, today’s students must be trained appropriately to capture the high ground in this latest effort to lead the world economy by being first in the demand for creativity and innovation. There is now no doubt that our old industrial and information economies are giving way to the creative economy. Corporations and whole communities are at another crossroads; we live in a community facing such choices. From the most basic decisions about what courses to offer our students to the more complex ones involving how we build houses and provide essential services to them – they are all in play in our community. We know that our arts educated students are high achievers; we know that our arts educated students are better problem solvers and better thinkers, in general. Now we must, as a nation, find ways to incorporate their skills into our global economic efforts, from the schoolroom to the boardroom.

(Thanks to John M. Eger of San Diego State University, and The World Foundation for Smart Communities for providing the kernel of ideas for this column.)

Opportunities for this week and the future: don’t miss local actress Dina Barrone in “Menopause the Musical” Wednesdays through Sundays at TUC until Dec. 17; Theatre Jacksonville offers Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” through Oct. 7; The Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine provides “The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) through Oct. 8; Garrison Keillor offers stories of Lake Wobegon at the TUC, Oct. 10; “Oklahoma” runs through Nov. 26 at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

10.4.06

Crooked Rivers Evokes Powerful Emotions in Cast and Audience Members

The range of emotions on display this weekend at the Camden County High School Auditorium was pretty amazing – for both the players and the audiences of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.” Considering that some of the cast members have been working with this script and score for almost a year, calling it a wrap after Sunday’s show was a difficult experience.

After the final show on Sunday, they clung to each other for precious moments, hungry for just one more opportunity to celebrate their common achievement: that they had created a unique and historical occasion. They had been the first ones to tell the stories that are “Crooked Rivers.” They were the ones that initiated audiences to the humor, poignancy and pathos that resides in the “Crooked Rivers” experience. It was their “baby” and they were reluctant to let it leave the nest. One cast member said to me “I am going to miss all this,” ‘this’ the camaraderie, the applause and the meaningfulness of doing such a show. Others were suggesting other occasions and reasons why they could reprise the show again, some even sharing ideas about how “Crooked Rivers” would be a great educational program for students studying Georgia history in middle school.

For most of the “Crooked Rivers” cast, the emotions were happy ones, not being selfish enough to be sorry for themselves or to project sadness over the reality that their show has closed, at least for a while. For some audience members this weekend and cast members, however, this show brought both sorrow and closure to heaving chests and tear-stained faces.

At the close of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” on Saturday, during the ‘remembrances’ portion of the closing musical number (where cast members recall family members and friends that are still in their hearts, if not present in body), the actors noticed a middle-aged couple sitting near the stage who were obviously experiencing a great deal of emotional distress. The woman was sobbing noticeably and the man was choking back tears. A couple cast members found it so moving they had difficulty maintaining their presence to the end of the show. Afterward, producer Angie Bryant introduced herself to the couple and sought an explanation. The couple, still struggling to control their emotions, said they had lost their son about six weeks earlier. His death, an unexpected blow, had been difficult for them and their grief was mostly about anger at loosing him, and denial at his departure. They said their response to “Precious Memories” and the remembrances segment of the show was so strongly felt because it was at that moment they realized they could grieve differently; the song helped them realize that he wasn’t gone from them – that he was still present in their thoughts, their hearts and their memories, and they were released from all the pent up anger, strain and misgivings they had been living with for the past weeks.

If I ever doubted the power of artistic communication, of creative endeavor, to communicate to the souls and passions of others and to offer a solace and understanding of incredible depth and power, I know better now. Not to overstate the case, but these are regular people on that stage, enjoying themselves, telling our community’s story in a unique and influential manner. For them to connect with audience members in such a compelling way and to offer them such relief in a brief moment of creative staging and musicality has more meaning than I can explain here. Perhaps that is why we do it, and maybe that is why you should never miss such opportunities for yourself.

Opportunities for this week and the future: don’t miss local actress Dina Barrone in “Menopause the Musical” Wednesdays through Sundays at TUC until Dec. 17; Theatre Jacksonville offers Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” through Oct. 7; and Players by the Sea offers Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic “Pirates of Penzance” through Sept. 30; funny man and impressionist Frank Caliendo, Sept. 30 at the Florida Theatre; storyteller Garrison Keillor at the TUC, Oct. 10.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

9.27.06

Diviner's Cast Offers Their Best On and Off Stage

He and his cast mates had worked so hard during their show they were sweating and breathing hard, yet exhilarated with the satisfaction that so many patrons had seen their work and appreciated it. As I watched these student actors, the cast of “The Diviners,” and examined their behavior from a short distance, I was struck by the quality of these young performers’ responses to the compliments and expressions of support they received. I had seen that before: every time I took their photos for a show or provided them with a link to the online site where I posted a show album, I receive profuse thanks, little emails of gratitude and lots of hugs. No demands, no unreasonable requests for retakes, just appreciation.

This week, I watched one young actor in particular. I noted how this buddy of mine, a senior and a leader in spirit and in fact, would show the way for his cast colleagues. Without fail, I saw him greet family, teachers and strangers with unceasing smiles, humble looks and appreciative thanks. I heard him say many times that he was so glad that they came to see him and his mates perform for them. I watched him hug his teacher, to the point she cried a second and third time that night. His overwhelming love of family was abundant as he rubbed his sweat-filled head on their cheeks. His smile as he shook my hand and threw his arm around my shoulder was at once cherubic and knowing. He knew they had done it – created a special moment in people’s lives, made them think, and offered them a chance to cry about life’s vagaries and losses. He knew this, but took no undue pride in his and his fellow actors’ accomplishments. He just said “thank you.” And I thought to myself: “He’s a good guy, he is, that Buddy of mine.”

The only thing I ever saw from him and this cast of “The Diviners” was a thankful and grateful nature. They acknowledged to each other how much it meant that their set was donated by the Crooked Rivers’ production scheduled to follow theirs. I heard others say how much they liked it that they had their own sponsors and corporate patrons. There were frequent “thank yous” to Booster Club parents that brought them dinner twice during production week. I watched them offer to do extra cleanup help and trash detail for the family that opened their home for a small cast party. And when it came time to strike their show, stow props and costumes and revamp the set for “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three,” they worked like demons. Floors were swept, rooms cleaned, nails pounded and costumes hung up or bagged for washing. Not a complaint or regret in sight or in word, just more questions about what else they could do. In sum, they not only acted on stage in their “pretend life” with quality, but they also displayed quality character in their daily “real” life.

Being a part of the arts is not the only place such behavior is learned. But it is one place where they are noticeable. We need to know that our kids are learning and practicing both their academic and life lessons. And to acknowledge that it’s “OK” to demand and expect behavior that demonstrates positive character. And, it is also important to acknowledge quality – in the both the difficult endeavors and the simplest moments of life.

This weekend, our community gets to revisit the cultural treasure that is “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.” This historical, musical trip through the history of Camden County, along the crooked rivers that define our geography and way of life, will be reprised on Sept. 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the CCHS Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students/seniors; they are available at local tourist centers in St. Marys and Kingsland, Woodbine City Hall, as well as at the Auditorium and local businesses Once Upon a Bookseller and Sheila’s Hallmark.

Opportunities for this week and the future: jazz masters Fourplay, 9.21 at the Florida Theatre; don’t miss local actress Dina Barrone in “Menopause the Musical” Wednesdays through Sundays at TUC until Dec. 17; Theatre Jacksonville offers Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” through Oct. 7; and Players by the Sea offers Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic “Pirates of Penzance” through Sept. 30; funny man and impressionist Frank Caliendo, Sept. 30 at the Florida Theatre; storyteller Garrison Keillor at the TUC, Oct. 10.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

9.20.06

Sharing Music Bridges Generations

So there she was beside me at the computer, this blonde princess, nine going on 25, all involved in my every keystroke, giving directions and carefully watching to be sure I cared properly for her newest birthday possession: a slender thing of beauty, an iPod Nano (a gift from her parents). Together we surveyed the contents of my iTunes library, searching amongst my eclectic music collection for some suitable to be placed in her personal collection residing on the new “toy.”

While some of my suggestions elicited less than enthusiastic responses and knitted brows (as she tried to figure how to not embarrass me and still reject my ideas in the same act), others were met with a happy smile and even excitement. Predictably, the Beatles were required, as was Kenny Loggins. Joining them were danceable songs from Abba, wistful melodies from The Beach Boys, and a couple of her favorite Billy Joel anthems (learned at the knee of her Uncle Jason). We agreed on the proper versions of a couple Blackeyed Peas’ songs, those often demanded at the teen dances her mom and dad are often asked to conduct. After she accepted some Eagles, a couple Carole King ballads and all of her Uncle Jason’s original music, I began to swing and miss. When I saw I wasn’t going to “improve” her music taste with Bruce Springsteen or Frankie Valli, I didn’t even try to foist any Michael McDonald’s motown or Feliciano’s jazz or blues on her.

However, I did something sneaky to her – I added the music and poetry from the TV show, Beauty and the Beast to her library. I told her to wait until it was time for bed to listen to it, adding to the suspense. Imagine her surprise when her heart is filled with the soaring strings, emotional orchestral arrangements and the stirring poetry of Shakespeare, Keats, and Rilke (read brilliantly by Ron Perlman). Since she often retires to Beethoven, jazz, Broadway soundtracks, or offerings from NPR, hearing this won’t be a revolution for my princess, but it will help her on the way to a new appreciation of classic poetry and how music can set the tone and advance a story.

Just as I learned to appreciate music from her Great-Grandmother, the flower girl has a passion for it, earned from her mom and aunt, the music, dance, and movie connoisseurs; from her grandmother, whose XM only seems to play Channel 28 “On Broadway;” and from her Dad and Uncle, whose vocal and instrumental musical talents are remarkable. I imagine her now deceased Great-Uncle Dick, a jazz clarinetist and her Great-Grandfather, an improvisational pianist, are chuckling with pleasure in the beyond. To say that Euterpe, the Muse of Music, inhabits her world and informs her heart, is to state the obvious. And her guardian angels are happy for it.

Don’t miss “The Diviners” onstage at the CCHS Auditorium Thursday (9.14), Friday (9.15), and Saturday (9.16) evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday (9.17) at 2:30 p.m.. Tickets are available at the auditorium in advance or at the door, day of show. With moving dialogue, appealing characters, and true to life emotions, “The Diviners” is funny, poignant and thoughtful. Greige Lott is Buddy Layman, Kurt Warakomski plays his Dad, Ferris. Other cast members include Alex Ruiz (C. C. Showers), Kyle Butler (Basil) and Torria Lewis (Jennie Mae).

The following weekend, our community gets to revisit the cultural treasure that is “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.” This historical, musical trip through the history of Camden County, along the crooked rivers that define our geography and way of life, will be reprised on Sept. 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the CCHS Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students/seniors; they are available at local tourist centers in St. Marys and Kingsland, as well as at the Auditorium and local businesses.

Opportunities for this week and the future: don’t miss local actress Dina Barrone in “Menopause the Musical” Wednesdays through Sundays at TUC until Dec. 17; Theatre Jacksonville offers Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” 8 p.m.; and Players by the Sea open Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic “Pirates of Penzance” 8 p.m.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

9.13.06

Upcoming Play Has History with Director and Students

Artists (and their fans) sometimes have love affairs with signature works. Singers often become identified with a particular tune that defines their career (think Tony Bennett and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”). Painters are sometimes known by a single work or style (consider Wyeth and “Christine’s World”). Dancers and choreographers are often credited with advancing a unique style that becomes a new standard for excellence (say, Martha Graham and modern dance). The same is true for directors of plays, who often love a script so much they never miss an opportunity to share it with friends.

One of those opportunities is underway right now and you, dear readers, will not want to miss this occasion. Since I know this director fairly well, I know her backstory with this play pretty well. “The Diviners” first entered her consciousness while she visited a former student who was attending North Carolina University School of the Arts in 1982. From that day, it became a landmark work for her and her students. From her first effort directing “The Diviners,” six of those high school actors went on to making the arts their careers. A second generation of actors took up the standard a few years later and from that “Diviners” cast three became theatre professionals. Here in Camden County, a third generation of young performers is readying “The Diviners” for a new audience. Some of them have the talent and desire to carry on their studies; only time will tell what their stories will be. But, like other performers before them, their work with this play will never leave their souls.

Maybe it’s the story; perhaps it is characters’ relationships. It could be the play’s ideas are remarkably powerful; it might also be that tragedies, told with laughter piercing the tears, appeal to our emotional constitution. The author of “The Diviners” is Jim Leonard, much of whose work centers on archetypal images of folk life. In this play, the story begins and ends with Buddy Layman, a boy with special needs and special gifts that captures the audience hearts and leaves them emotionally destroyed at play’s end. You are hereby warned: missing “The Diviners” will leave a hole in your cultural life; seeing it will leave you understanding the power of love and friendship, and also knowing the depths of sorrow.

“The Diviners” will take the stage at the CCHS Auditorium on Thursday (9.14), Friday (9.15), and Saturday (9.16) evenings and during a matinee on Sunday (9.17). Tickets are available at the auditorium in advance or at the door, day of show. With moving dialogue, appealing characters, and true to life emotions, “The Diviners” will provide you with a full evening’s entertainment and lots of residue for conversation afterward.

The following weekend, our community gets to revisit the cultural treasure that is “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.” This historical, musical trip through the history of Camden County, along the crooked rivers that define our geography and way of life, will be reprised next month, Sept. 22, 23 and 24, at the CCHS Auditorium. Tickets will be available soon and production is underway.

Opportunities for this week and the future: the remarkable vocalist Heather Headley plays the Florida Theatre on 9.12 at 8 p.m.; smooth jazz enthusiasts won’t want to miss Fourplay at the Florida Theatre on 9.21 at 8 p.m.; writer and storyteller extraordinaire Garrison Keillor shares news from Lake Wobegon on 10.10 at TUC, 7:30 p.m.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

8.30.06

Finding Friends Through Our Children and Through the Arts

In 1986, our best friends hosted an 18-year-old student from Sweden in their home during the school year. We got to know Sofia well and remain friends today. (Just this week, we received a group of digital photographs of her beautiful new daughter, adopted in China earlier this year.) The joy we experienced getting to know Sofia, led us to host our own exchange student the following year. We invited a young woman from southern Sweden that we felt was a good match for us. Her father was a college professor, but also a professional musician that directed plays in a Swedish ocean side tourist village. She played the cello, sang in her school’s chorus, loved to sew and liked participating in plays and musical shows.

From the minute Christina settled in our house and to this day, she was our daughter. She was the source of laughs, learning and love in our house for almost a year. She played in our school orchestra, sang in our choir, participated in our high school theatre program (her favorite role was the grandmother in “Pippin”), and traveled with us across the U.S. to our nation’s capital and to our family homes in Indiana. For hours, she and Mary sat together, sewing clothing and costumes, giggling and sharing their seamstress secrets. She made her prom dress and other clothes that revealed her “style” and her sense of whimsy. Our favorite remembrance, though, was our trip to Disney World, which fulfilled a childhood dream, as she loved Donald Duck dearly.

When it came time for Christina to go home, our hearts were broken. One of the funniest moments she shared on her return was that her English teacher in Sweden made her sit in the back of the room and told her not to talk. According to Christina, it was because her English was no longer “proper” British English, but “southern American” English, and not acceptable at all! We kept in touch as she finished high school, attended a special institute for sewing, and made costumes for her father’s shows the next summer. She was so proud to be a paid professional! After her university graduation, she took employment teaching English to older Swedes and immigrants at a community school. Over time, her ability to communicate and lead secured her employment with a publishing company specializing in creating English textbooks for older students. We were lucky enough to meet her family and attend her wedding to Henrik, a handsome professional flute player in the Gotheborg Opera orchestra. They now have two children, both extraordinarily lovely, the same age as two of our grandchildren. Through all of the years, we still share a love for all the things that brought us together, our love for the arts, for music and for family.

It occurred to me this week that one doesn’t always know the value or depth of an experience while in the throes of it. We wanted our boys to have the experience of a sister; they got a lifelong friend in Christina. We wanted to share our American family life with a visitor; we also got to share her Swedish family there. And we learned that the arts - music, dance, and theatre - not only bring people together, but make those bonds inextricable and forever. Just think how much fun we will have when our children and grandchildren become friends!

Mark this date on your calendars: “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” will be reprised next month, Sept. 22, 23 and 24, at the CCHS Auditorium. More on show times and ticket information next week.

Opportunities for this week and the future: for a healthy heaping of gospel classics, don’t miss “Great Men of Gospel: Spirit Into Sound” by Aurora Theatrical Co. at Ezekiel Bryant Auditorium through 8.27; aspiring actors, young and older, can take lessons with Theatre Jacksonville starting this week, call 904-396-4425 for times and class descriptions; “Dreamgirls,” a fictionalized musical about The Supremes’ star turn, opens at Alhambra Dinner Theatre this week; catch Charlotte Mabry’s annual percussion extravaganza in UNF Fine Arts Center, 8.26, 8 p.m.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

8.23.06

Sharing the Arts Also Means Sharing Life's Lessons

Sometimes you see things in print and it takes some time to realize the importance, the significance of what you have just read. I had that experience last weekend. The story, about an exhibit scheduled to open on our local college campus, provoked emotions so powerful that it took me a week to frame it within my experiences into some ideas to share with you. A caveat: this part of this week’s column is not about the arts, per se. It is about institutional hatred, man’s inhumanity to man, and survival against overwhelming odds. While those themes are often the fodder for theatrical expression, this story and this part of this week’s column are not about a play, but an exhibit that combines history, art and dramatic effect into a powerful experience for the viewer.

In 1998, we had the opportunity to travel abroad to see Christina, our former Swedish exchange student, get married. For all the joy and fond memories we brought with us from that occasion, our trip home also provided another type of lasting memory. We determined to return home via Amsterdam and take a day there to visit this marvelous Dutch city. While there, we decided to tour the Anne Frank home, which is a somber and devastating experience. Like many of you, we had read Anne’s diary and studied the history in secondary school. We had even seen the plays based on her writings and the writings of children headed to horrid, certain death in WW II concentration camps. None of that prepares you for being in the home of this family and witnessing first hand how cramped and difficult their lives must have been. Knowing how her life ended at Bergen-Belsen, made their attempted evasion of the Nazis even more heroic and tragic.

The rest of this week and through Aug. 23, a special international exhibit about Anne Frank and her family is on view at the Camden Center of Coastal Georgia Community College. It contains not only information about the trials the Frank family endured, but also remarkable photos taken during the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp and a display that recreates their secret hiding place of more than two years. If you have not been to the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C., this is a rare opportunity to remind yourself how deeply human depravity may reach, and also an opportunity to realize how significant our country’s role was in ending this intolerance. This exhibit allows us to plumb our souls and to ask ourselves hard questions about what we believe and what we are willing to do to secure our freedom. For exhibit times and group tour information, call (912) 510-3300.

On a lighter note, Camden County High School’s Drama Department is hosting “Camden’s Got Talent: Broadway Auditions” this Friday (8.18) at 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium. For a taste of what our county’s talented young performers have to offer in an evening of entertainment, make your plans to attend. Tickets will be available at the door; call (912) 729-7463 for more information.

Opportunities for this week and the future: on tap at the UNF Fine Arts Center this fall are retro swing kings Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (9.7); sexy and mesmerizing dancers from Parsons Dance Company (10.20); and the hilarious parody of musical theatre “Forbidden Broadway,” (11.17); lawyer David Sacks new play “Accidental Felon” produced by Players by the Sea performs through 9.19; the autobiographical musical of Jonathan Larson (the author of “Rent”) “Tick, Tick…Boom” runs through 9.19 at the Atlantic Theatre in Atlantic Beach.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

8.16.06

Kids in the Arts Work Hard to Perfect Performances and Learn While Doing It

Despite the heat, the humidity and the general swelter, they have been at it with vigor the last couple of weeks. The drills, the practice, the challenges and the rehearsals have been rigorous and spirited. Through these exercises they build teamwork and a sense of belonging to their group. Some of their cohorts take the fledgling steps toward leadership, demonstrating their ability to motivate and set priorities. Through all this effort and activity, they remain enthusiastic volunteers.

In Camden County, we often associate the former description proudly with our outstanding Wildcat football teams. And, indeed, it fits them and the result of their dedication is evident on the Gilman Stadium field under the “Friday night lights.” It also fits the hundreds of Camden County students involved in theatre, dance, flag corps and band programs, who join nearly 8 million other student participants nationally and more than 80,000 peers in Georgia in preparations for their performing seasons.

By the time you read this, Camden County’s nearly 3,000 high school students will be back in classrooms, energized and full of the business of school, social lives and figuring out their future. For a large number of these students, however, the start of classes will not really be the start of their school year. For them, it started several weeks ago at band camp, theatre work sessions, dance team camp and flag corps practice. While classmates were putting the finishing touches on their tans and making last minute visits to “Mickeydom,” these kids were volunteering their summer time to make their group’s performance more polished and more audience friendly.

I watched them for a while last week, as they practiced indoors and out. I listened to their chatter and marveled at their focus. I also noted the dedication of their teachers and coaches, who were also taking valuable summer moments to help their charges create a special experience. And in all of my observations, I saw and heard a similar refrain: they all wanted to do their best and they all loved being there, sweating and shouting, practicing and sharing.

As the numbers of students in our county find something to love in their arts experience, we need to regard that as an opportunity for our future. There is sufficient evidence to show that these experiences keep kids in school, help them perform better in their classes and in their lives. Our community can become even more special if we regard this as a challenge to create a unique setting for students in the arts, one as unique and well considered as the one we have created for our student athletes. Now is the time for us to start a serious discussion about how a Fine Arts Academy can make our school and our educational process even more successful. There are lots of issues and considerations to be dredged through, but having an earnest conversation on this topic is important and timely.

Opportunities for this week and the future: for an evening of Barbershop music, comedy, and more, catch the Big Orange Chorus in “2006: A Space Oddity,” on Saturday, 8.12, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the Lazzara Performance Hall on the University of North Florida Main Campus, Fine Arts Center, see www.bigorangechorus.com for details and to order tickets.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

8.9.06

Finding the Queen of Camden County Theatre

A few days ago, I happened on some books and old play scripts in our high school media center. I took a moment to glance at them, not sure if they were for discard or re-shelving. Then I noticed the name at the top of each paper cover, written in a familiar hand. I looked down the stack at the titles: a script from a familiar play “Voices From the High School;” another that I recognized titled “The Phantom Tollbooth;” a new-looking copy of “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam;” and a number of other plays, collections of brainteasers, and other books full of instructions about the process for properly deconstructing and criticizing the novel, and how to decipher plays and understand theatrical characters.

On each one, in careful lettering, was that name. As if she had painstakingly noted this interesting, eclectic collection was lovingly handpicked for the edification of the talented high schoolers special enough to spend part of their senior year with her. I wonder if many of them knew that much, really, about her. After all, she was, to them, just another of the teachers that cajoled them about reading and homework, part of the dance of educational role-playing that all students and teachers perform.

There must have been some, however, that got to glimpse a little deeper inside that unique personality, to see that remarkable intellect, and to experience some of those dramatic flashes of theatricality she so often displays. A friend once commented that every conversation with her was like visiting a rehearsal for a new play – all blunt tension and anticipation and coated with a southern sweetness that is mixed with recklessness. Yet, when you are at last free to contemplate what the whole conversation you just had with her meant, you appreciate that it was more multi-layered and meaningful than you previously realized while it was actually occurring.

Like her persona, Dr. Jo Demmond, the first lady of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” is a more complicated and complex work of art than she appears on first viewing. Her history is remarkable in that she wasn’t just a teacher in Camden County that ushered hundreds of graduates through reading plays and understanding literary characters. No, she has also appeared in plays, so many in fact that they sort of run together when you try to pin her down about those days on stage. I vaguely remember one that I saw in Atlanta in my earliest days there, in which I am certain I saw her perform with the then doyen of local theatre, Mary Nell Santacroce. (Santacroce later became famous for her inauguration of the role of Miss Daisy in “Driving Miss Daisy” at the Alliance Studio Theatre.) And, unlike other teachers, Demmond hasn’t just explained to students how authors create characters; she has also created them herself. Just a couple of years ago, she revealed her first storybook for children (that is filled with meaningful lessons for adults, as well) “Darren, the Different Dragon.” I have no doubt that in some carefree, whimsical fashion; she will announce her second tome that continues to follow the adventures of Darren and his friends.

Today, we know her as the visionary and persistent soul of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.” It was through her leadership over the past four years that this remarkable, evolving community phenomenon came to be. Her continuous and often prickly challenges to enthusiastic and some less sanguine supporters gained “Crooked Rivers” both notoriety and acceptability. Her support and encouragement allowed me to begin this mission of sharing ideas, both conceptual and personal, with you. When we take pride in what “Crooked Rivers” has become and anticipate what it might yet develop into, it is important to place Jo Demmond into her proper place in that evolution: essential its conception, vital in its development and critical to its eventual reality.

Today, she says she is ready to lead a calmer life, content to reflect on the flowing waters of the Satilla River, as it eases past her dock. I prefer to think that maybe she is just storing up psychic force for our next round, our next edition of “Crooked Rivers.” And maybe she is also reliving some of her own personal stories, relishing a still energetic and remarkable life, while she puts them in perspective of all the other stories she helped find on the banks and around the bends of the crooked rivers of Camden County.

Opportunities for this week and the future: don’t miss Camden Area Players musical “Honk” at David L Rainer Elementary on Friday and Saturday, 8.4 and 8.5.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

8.2.06

Being a Part of Musical Theatre History

There are moments in life that, as they are happening, you are aware of their significance and remember months and even years later, where you were and the circumstances in which you experienced that particular moment. Folks of a certain age often talk about where they were and what was happening they heard the news of President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 (in 8th grade agriculture class with my one-armed teacher, Mr. Hinshaw), or how they listened and watched the first moon landing in 1969 (on a little battery-powered TV we brought with us to a drive-in movie!). Events like Nixon’s presidential resignation, the Challenger disaster, and the OJ chase/trial/verdict inspired other such lasting memories.

Another such experience occurred this weekend, not just for me, but also for nearly 32,000 appreciative musical theatre aficionados at the stunning Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. This location, originally built as a movie house in 1929, inspires audiences and performers alike with its ornate “Siamese Byzantine” interior and 2,000-pound jeweled glass lobby chandelier. Like the Atlanta Fox Theatre, the St. Louis Fox Theatre is on the roster of the National Register of Historic Places. In this remarkable venue, another memorable chapter in musical theatre history was written last weekend.

On Sunday, July 23, 2006, Cameron Macintosh’s Marius Company production of Les Misérables performed its final engagements at this magical site in St. Louis. Fittingly, the city of St. Louis upheld its reputation as a solid arts community, posting a giant billboard on I-64 bidding Les Mis ‘Au Revoir!’ In spite of terrific tornadoes on Wednesday that knocked out power and damaged neighborhoods throughout the city, fans from all over the U. S. showed up to sell out the final five shows of this long-running tour. This tour, which originated in 1988, has been performing consistently for 17 years, through 7,061 performances in 145 cities in 43 states to more than 25 million people in the United States alone. The show employs 101 cast and crew members at any one time and more than 417 actors have performed with the Marius Company since it began, including 14 actors and 28 understudies that have played the lead role of Jean Valjean.

We were blessed to have our entire family meet us in St. Louis to share this moment, to thrill to the joy of watching our son Jason play Jean Valjean in one of those final shows, and to hear the audience’s appreciative roar of applause and shouts of “Bravo” at his curtain call. To experience that moment, with my two sons, their wives, and my granddaughter (who spent every second of the show on the edge of her seat), and to be a part of an historic moment, was special. Like other moments in our personal and national history, I am sure that it will be one we will share over and over, reliving its flavor, never to be forgotten. Just like the final strains of Jason’s performance of “Bring Him Home” echoed for a quiet second before the audience stopped the show to applaud him, this weekend’s experience will linger in our memories as a sweet, shared story of love and redemption.

Opportunities for this week and the future: Another laugh-filled Alhambra Dinner Theatre show “Love, Sex and the I.R.S.” takes risks by messing with the IRS; the drive to Gainesville for “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” might be worth the laughs, through 8.13 at the Hippodrome State Theatre; catch illusionist Mark O’Brien’s latest and greatest show at the Atlantic Theatres in Jax, through 7.29, don’t miss Camden Area Players musical “Honk” at David L Rainer Elementary on Friday and Saturday, 8.4 and 8.5.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

7.26.06

New Songs and Scenes Brighten Crooked Rivers' Sisters Three Reprise on the Waterfront

If you like music and appreciate the process of how songs are given life by composers and performers, one of the most pleasing experiences in life is to see music performed in public for the first time - to watch the audience reaction, to see how comfortable the performers feel with the music and lyrics. I once had this experience in Atlanta, when the musical “Aida” premiered at the Alliance Theatre. The music, written by Tim Rice and Sir Elton John, was quite unique for a traditional musical and, even though various name artists had already recorded it as a concept album, this stage musical was a remarkable experience. Seeing it performed on stage by live performers at the Alliance came with revelations about the composition and performance process, as well as a new appreciation for the musical product.

I also have had the privilege of watching songs evolve from emotions, ideas and poetry to entertaining and moving musical treasures from my songwriter son. I still haven’t convinced him that one of his songs, “The Right Woman at the Wrong Time” has the potential to be a quintessential country music hit. Something about wanting to keep control over “his” music. Plus, he always shakes his head when I request it, perhaps because it reminds him of a failed relationship (of which he doesn’t like to be reminded in the presence of his wife). Still, knowing the process and work that went into this catchy and entertaining song, I always appreciate it when I hear other artists try out or offer new work for others to try.

This past Saturday evening at Gilman Waterfront Park in St. Marys, an audience of friends, neighbor and visitors were treated to this experience at the hour-long revival of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.” During the shortened presentation, many of the performers from the original “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” cast held forth in the heat of fading sun with enthusiasm, in spite of some renegade gnats and skeeters, in moments of tenderness and humor, to share some history of our community. During the performance, Crooked Rivers’ primary composer Jim Bryant allowed performers to unwrap two “new” songs that he had originally written for the show that didn’t make it into the inaugural performance. Bryant’s work, which is remarkable for its feel and emotion-evoking lyrics, shone with good humor and informed sensitivity to the messages of Crooked Rivers. I mean, it takes a great deal of moxie to compose a palatable song about our area’s biggest pests, sand gnats. His other new offering detailed how some who felt they might have wasted their youth on the Crooked River, after some reflection realized that those moments might not have been wasted at all. Bryant’s songs, as well as the powerful and meaningful stories that comprise the “Crooked Rivers” experience are the best and most appealing part of the show. Having Jim Bryant as a part of the “Crooked Rivers” process and product has been and continues to be a blessing for our community and for “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three.”

A personal note: this week the Third National Tour of Les Misérables closes in St. Louis. Our contingent will be present to see history made, sing the songs and share the tears. Our Jason will shine as Valjean at least one more time, and we will be reminded once again “to love another person is to see the face of God.”

Opportunities for this week and the future: Another laugh-filled Alhambra Dinner Theatre show “Love, Sex and the I.R.S.” premiered last week; try out a free family-filled ‘ Fun Day” of art at the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art from noon until 4 p.m. on Sundays; take a final summer fling to Seaworld in Orlando to see the new Shamu show, 4-6 times daily, info at www.seaworld.com; you might make plans to see these concerts: REO Speedwagon, 9.24 at the Florida Theatre; Peter Frampton, 10.18 at the Florida Theatre; Eric Clapton, 10.21 at Veteran’s Memorial Arena; Doobie Brothers, 10.25 at the Florida Theatre.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

7.19.06

Crooked Rivers Deserves Support from County Governance

Arts organizations in communities like ours do lots of things to support the efforts of artists and arts programs in and around their homes. They are organized by individuals willing to say up front that they feel arts programs and artists of all kinds are an important part of community life. Sometimes those arts patrons cannot always say for certain why they feel that way. Often their attitudes are a closely held personal belief; for others it is a commitment based on positive arts-based experiences for them or their children. However, in the past more cynical folks in communities like ours scoffed at the efforts of arts support organizations as being “fluff,” or “superfluous” to the central concerns of raising revenues and adding tangible assets to a community’s ‘quality of life’ and ‘desirability quotient.’ However, the evidence is now clear: those cynics were wrong in more than one way.

In 2002, nonprofit arts organizations from towns, cities and metropolitan areas across the U.S. participated in a national survey seeking to measure the economic impact of arts programs. The results of the research is available online at the Americans for the Arts web venue and is highly revealing. I have referenced some of the survey’s results before in this column, but some revelations deserve a second look. The essence of the study’s findings is this: Non-profit arts organizations generate billions in economic activity annually; flourishing arts programs create jobs (2.09 million), government revenue ($11 billion), and household income ($47.4 billion) annually; and audiences at non-profit arts events also provide jobs (2.76 million), revenue ($17.4 billion), and income ($42 billion) in addition to the money they spend on admission to events. You can confirm this data at http://www.artsusa.org/information_resources/research_information/services/default.asp, where the data’s methodology and results are published in full.

What this means for us is a multi-faceted answer. It might mean that the powers in charge of the Three Sisters (St. Marys, Kingsland, and Woodbine) and our lovely county might need to consider a manner to provide direct economic support of the Arts Camden and Crooked Rivers efforts. It might also mean that well-placed persons with connections to state and federal funding ought to take a look at establishing a permanent place on a budget line for the burgeoning arts programs in this community. Or, it might mean that corporations with an interest in bringing residents and visitors with disposable income to our community as workers and consumers should consider taking the first steps toward corporate sponsorships for arts programs that will sustain our beginnings over the next decade and beyond. There are numerous other possibilities that a sustained community dialogue on this subject might discover.

Opportunities for this week and the future: Portions of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” can be seen at Gilman Memorial Waterfront Park in St. Marys on Saturday (July 15) at 6:45 p.m. Scenes and songs from the show will be performed. If you missed Sisters Three in April and May, this weekend is a chance to get some of the flavor of the show; there are special prices if you take kids, and special ‘hot-tix’ prices for the show only, to see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at Alhambra Dinner Theatre, now playing through 7.16; Players by the Sea offer “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” complete with Captain Queeg and his mutineers, touching on military justice and personal responsibility through Saturday, 7.15, with special prices for military, seniors and students; check out the “Summer Splash” exhibits at the South Gallery of Florida Community College South Campus through 7.27; enjoy jazz fusion with Sypro Gyra at the Florida Theatre on 7.14, 8 p.m.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

7.12.06

The 4th and the Arts: Perfect Companions No Matter Where You Live in the USA

By the time you read this, July 4th, with all its celebration and festivities will be gone. However, I wanted to share a discovery I made while doing some research. Now, I am sure it is no revelation that during the last 48 hours in our United States, fireworks, picnics and families have celebrated our nation’s birthday. Celebrations have taken place in every city from Oxnard, CA to Milford, MA, and in every metropolis from Austin, TX to Denver, CO, and, fittingly, Philadelphia, PA. Included in these villages, towns and cities that conducted rites of summer celebrating our national history are places as diverse as Traverse City, MI and Orlando, FL, as different as Tempe, AZ and Charlotte, NC. And no places as dissimilar as Valparaiso, IN, Kent, WA and Washington, DC were exempted from the feel good moments that come when patriotic music, fireworks and barbeque are combined in the same time and place.

I wasn’t just searching for what happens on our nation’s birthday. That seemed pretty predictable. No, I was trying to find out this: how much of a role do the arts play in all this celebration? How many communities use our greatest national holiday to extol their dedication to and involvement in the arts? The results: more than 19 million articles and news stories about the arts and July 4th together. I confess I didn’t look at them all, but I did look at a lot – more than I thought I would, but it turned out to be fascinating. Was I really going to overlook the site ‘activeculture.org’ promoting the Central Alabama Performing Arts Concert on July 4th? Was I not going to take a look at July 4th events scheduled in Charleston, WV? (music by the Brass Band of the Tri-State with fireworks promptly at 10 p.m.) And what about in the hills of Happy Valley, PA? (I found a nice B & B at which to stay, near the Peoples Choice Festival of Pennsylvania Arts and Crafts.)

However, the biggest celebration by far this year took place our nation’s capitol, where Jason Alexander hosted a national tribute to the legendary Stevie Wonder. “A Capitol Fourth 2006” included blue-eyed soul hooked up with teen hip-hop, a ticklish muppet teamed with a former Miss America, and a country music singer belting it out with the National Symphony. Talk about a diverse arts celebration! Then Stevie himself performed a medley of his best-known hits, demonstrating why he is one of the most prolific artists in music history.

For millions of Americans, celebrating the 4th of July is also celebrating our national artistic accomplishments. The arts are a remarkable part of our national heritage, just like bald eagles and purple mountains’ majesty. And they are a part of our heritage all over this land, from sea to shining sea. Keeping them alive and in our cultural landscape is vital. Thanks to volunteers and communities across our land, the life of the arts is vibrant and well celebrated this time every year.

In case you missed the full length version earlier this year at Crooked River State Park, a portion of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” will be offered as part of this year’s St. Marys Summer Sizzle at the waterfront park in St. Marys on Saturday (July 15) at 6:45 p.m. You will be able to see some of the funny and informative scenes, and hear songs from the show that help tell the stories and inspire audiences. For those that have seen “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three,” this is another chance to share the charms of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” in downtown St. Marys with a friend. While the summer sizzles, discover some of the stories and music that are around every bend of the crooked rivers of Camden County.

Opportunities for this week and the future: its Wednesday, so it once again time for First Wednesday Artwalk, a self-guided tour of the downtown Jax art galleries, 5 – 9 p.m., call 904-634-0303 for information; for the cost of a short ride to St. Augustine, you can enjoy the free Music By The Sea series at the Beach Sea Pavilion on 7.5 starting at 7 p.m.; for moviegoers, last week it was Superman’s return ($21.1 million on the first day!), this week catch Capt. Jack Sparrow’s attempt to redeem his soul in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” opening 7.7 at area theatres; there are special prices if you take kids, and special ‘hot-tix’ prices for the show only, to see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at Alhambra Dinner Theatre, now playing through 7.16.

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

7.05.06

Ideas for Kingsley, Woodenia and Mary: How to Make Crooked Rivers Your Bell Cow

A couple of weeks ago, while extolling the promise of seeing “Crooked Rivers,” the county’s entertaining historical drama, in a new home in Woodbine, I suggested that I would have offer Kingsley and Mary some suggestions about how they might lay claim to Crooked Rivers’ offerings as well, at least partially blunting Woodenia’s sharpened claim to historical superiority. Although a couple of musings intervened, this week, with another holiday celebration approaching, brings me back to this point.

One thing that is so attractive about our community is that we have festivals. Lots of festivals - celebrating everything from our creativity (the Creative Palette Convention in February) to our national nativity (the 4th of July Celebration); from decapods (the Rock Shrimp Festival in October) to tributes for underwater sailors (the National Memorial Service for WWII Subvets in November). And lots of other celebrations in between, that take place in venues in or near St. Marys, Kingsland, and Woodbine.

Now this may be largess or a conceit on my part, but I can imagine how having an evening presentation of a “Crooked Rivers” offering would not only add to, but enhance all the other activities and events of a festival weekend, or of a weekend before or after one of our many festivals. This type of event can add visitors, local and tourist. It can add a layer of attractiveness and cultural heritage to the front line marketing. And here is the best part: given a suitable location nearby the festival events, it doesn’t detract or betray the event’s purported celebration points, since all of them are featured in one way or another in the Crooked Rivers’ discussion of community history.

Here is the central tenet: I am encouraging all of the planners of every community festival to look at their logistics and see if the agenda can incorporate a part or all of the “Crooked Rivers” phenomenon. If you don’t have a physical location for it, what about one nearby that can be adapted? If the Waterfront Theatre is not going to be a reality for a while, is there an area in an RV park or commercial center nearby St. Marys where “Crooked Rivers” could reside temporarily? If a new Visitor’s Center is in the works for Kingsland, how about a designing in a location in or near the Center for performances and plays as part of the plan? There is no reason that “Crooked Rivers” cannot offer its unique and crowd-pleasing blend of history and entertainment more than once a year and in more than one spot. The only impediment is if those who plan local events don’t take the time to build “Crooked Rivers” into the festival fun.

Speaking of festivals and fun, a portion of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” will be offered as part of this year’s St. Marys Summer Sizzle at the waterfront park in St. Marys on Saturday (July 15) at 6:45 p.m. Relive fishing with the Deputy, gain a renewed understanding of Grandma’s hands, and get inspired by songs like “Seventeen” and “Country Raised.” Don’t miss this chance to discover some of the charms of “Crooked Rivers’ Sisters Three” in downtown St. Marys at one of our fabulous community festivals.

Opportunities for this week and the future: this week is time to find free stuff to do for you and the kids. All summer long, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 am, at Regal Cinema locations in Jax, kids can view select G and PG movies (like “Babe” and “Wallace and Gromit”) during the Free Family Film Festival; for the cost of a short ride to St. Augustine, you can enjoy the free Music By The Sea series at the Beach Sea Pavilion on 6.28 starting at 7 p.m.; also check out the free concert at St. Augustine’s Plaza de la Constitucion on 6.29 from 7 – 9 p.m. featuring Bob & Joline’s Friends of Mine Band; add some culture to the weekend with a trip to the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art on 7.2 for the Bank of America Free Family Day activities from noon to 4 p.m. Finally, not free, but worth the admission will be “Superman Returns” in theatres starting 6.28 (with midnight sneak peeks in some locations Tuesday at 12 a.m.).

If you have ideas or events you want me to share with readers, send me a note at pkraack1@tds.net.

6.28.06