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Times-Advocate, 1986-07-02, Page 18y Page 18 • Times -Advocate, July 2, 1986 Auspicious debut for Schipper • r (arousel still results in some tear eyes The last few minutes of Carousel still result in some teary eye blinking, surreptitious sniffling, and unob- trusive eyeglass polishing no matter how outdated the story has become. Steven Schipper's verson of the Rodgers and Hammerstein favorite need not take a back seat to any pro- duction. Huron Country Playhouse will surely play to capacity audiences tet throughout this 15th anniversary opener. The opening set for the prelude to the story is a delightful clutter of amusement park attractions, PHI OPENINGNIGHT — Grand Bend Reeve Harold Green and his wife (right) wish every success to Playhouse manager Heather Redick (left) and Board Chairman Dave Sheppard at Wednesday's opening of Carousel. Shipka area residents return from Expo trip By MRS. HUGH MORENZ Shioko Ron and Georgina Desjardine, their grand daughter, Dara, of Oshawa, ac- companied by Marilyn and Glenn Rader, Heather and Allen, of Dashwood, and Wilmer and Ethel Desjardine, have returned from a pleasant holiday at Expo in Van- couver. Side trips included the boat trip to Vancouver Island and a tour of Victoria, and Butchart Gardens, a visit to Stanley Park, Grouse Moun- tain and the fish hatchery. At Expo they visited several pavilions, ferry rides, monorail and the sky ride. Best wishes to Mabel Guenther, and Donald Fraser, of Parkhill, on their marriage, Saturday June 28, at Greenway United church, with Rev. R. Peebles officiating. Bridesmaid was Mabel's daughter, Karen Guenther, of London, and the best man was Don's son, Clare Fraser, of Amherst, Nova Scotia. A reception and dinner followed the wedding in the Sunday School rooms at the church for about- 35 guests. The wedding music was played by Mabel's nephew Kenneth Nicholson of Courtright. The couple plan to reside in Shipka. A Musselman reunion was held Sunday June 22, at the home of Jim and Judy Snyder. Out of town folks at- tending included the following: Ar- mand Musselman, Ross Musselman and finance, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Musselman and family, all of Tavistock, Mr. and Mrs. David Musselman, and Kaletta Musselman, of Kitchener, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hill, Waterloo, Gwen Musselman, Woodstock, Tom Musselman, St. Agatha, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Syder and family, Bloomingdale, John and Kathy Musselman and family, Manheim, Fermon and Leota Snyder, Suzanne and Otto Plein, Christopher and Melissa, of Elmira, Ric and Esther Storey, London, Keith and Nancy Snyder, Greenway, Ed and Gail Snyder, Strathroy. The Musselman family group are the relatives from Leota Snyder's side of the family. Congratulations to Willis Desjar- dine on his first place win in the in- termediate class at the recent Fid- dlers contest held at Hensall. A chosen baby son came to live with Gerald and Mary Ellen Zielman last week. The Zielman family attended the Zurich Mennonite annual church pic- nic weekend at the Old Homestead at Bayfield. Saturday evening were hymn sings and popping corn, follow- ed Sunday morning by a church ser- vice and pot luck dinner. Angie Zielman went camping last weekend with a group of girls to the Lambton County Retreat. The annual Shipka community pic- nic will be held July 9 at the Com- munity Centre at 7 p.m. Sports and games for all, followed by barbecued hot dogs. Each family are asked to bring a pie. visually jam-packed with interesting details and so physically alive with activity, the aisdience is drawn into the mood of the play immediately and can't get enough of it. One hopes for another glimpse at it all. The Euro- pean Beauties in their grotesque costumes contrast strongly with the humorous dancing bear that charms the children on the carousel. Taking his que from the Victorian era in which the story line is cast, designer Brian Perchaluk has pro- duced a series of scenes that elicit such -adjectives as pretty, delightful, frothy, gorgeous and colourful. In fact the sets dominate the scenes by fill- ing much of the stage, creating a mood of sentimentality, They do so with a carefully controlled minimum o[ detail, a clever economy of means. The costumes are suitably tradi- tional for the era, but are marred in some cases by the awkward addition of a lump supposedly to represent a bustle. The grey business suit of the Heavenly Friend could have been a little more inventive while Aileen Taylor -Smith's costuming as Mrs. Mullin is mercifully not too coarse. As each of the past fouryhlgs have gone by, musical conductor Michael Mulrooney has grown into the Huron Country Playhouse and the Playhouse has come to meet Mulrooney until the marriage has been made. Musically this is the best any ensemble has ever sounded. The violin was lively and gay, while trumpet and trombone never overpowered the singing voices. It would be pretty difficult to upstage any of the voices in this pro- duction. Without exception the leading roles are played and sung by professionals of high calibre. The resonance of Paul Massel's voice was spine tingling. He brought just the right amount of swagger and bravado to the part of Billie Bigelow, holding to a fine balance as the loveable scoundrel. Carrie, sung by Karen Skidmore displayed a full broadway type vocal quality in her role tempered by her skillful portrayal on a sweet young girl in love. Her fiance Mr. Enoch Snow im- mediately won your heart with his earnest open-faced freshness. Scott Hurst as Mr. Snow sings with a rich tenor voice that brings tears to the eyes. - Julie Jordan as the naive country girl who falls in love with the shiftless but handsome Billie is played so ge- nuinely by Joy Thomson -Allen it is difficult to decide which she does best -- sing or act. All these lead characters bring the experience of past appearances in Stratford Festival production and the training shows. Add to this the extensive operatic work of Gloria- Parker as Nettie Fowler and the well rehearsed talents of the rest of the cast, and it would be hard to imagine a better evening of musical entertainment. One usually pays hommage to Rodgers and Hammerstein score fill- ed with so many favorite hummable tunes, but the credit here really belongs to artistic director Steven Schipper. He has shown an outstan- ding ability to attract an array of fan- tastic talent to the Playhouse for his debut production. See Carousel now, then return with great anticipation for the rest of this promising season. . Sports Shinka mites recorded their first winof the season last week, beating Nairn by a score of 23 to 8. Jamie Baker hit a grand slam home run, and Chad Benneweiss also hit a home run. . In the T -ball game lastweek, c Shipka lost to Grand Bend with a 40-36 score. SAFE STRANGERS — Provincial Constable Don Fraser, left, and vice-president of the Ontario Block Parents Association Gwen Ogden, on the right, attended a meeting in Grand Bend Wednesday even- ing. Forming the executive of the GB Block Parents are Steve Stellingwerff, secretary, and Suzy Turn- bull, president, accepting the first Nvindow sign from Ogden. An informative slide firm was shown by Fraser to interested people. Students will be informed in the fall. • GRADUATES AT MOUNT CARMEL - Graduation exercises and mass were held Wednesday for grade 8 students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Separate School. Back, left, Bruce Andrews, Jeff O'Brien, Brian Vanneste, Dave O'Connor, Dwain Marrinon, Steve Arnold and Clint McCann. Centre, teacher Terry Wilhelm, Sheri Brennan, Neary Troeung, Glenn Ford, Pete Conlin, Jamie Wulterkens, Shannon Houston, Kim Roane and Marnie Walker. Front, Sisavanay Sengkhounmany, Kotheryn Cuillerier, Tara Houston, Kim Von Dongen, Shelley Uniac, Laurie Glavin and Andrea Becker. o T -A photo i►a 1 do. ' sr DEMONSTRATES — Forest resident Vera Sheppard, a member of Ravenswood Women's Institute demonstrates applique quilting on a large quilting frame to Bessie Hyatt, Dorothy Murray and Edna Morris of Tilbury• who visited the Lambton Museum Quilt Show on Sunday. Museum quilt show underway Welcome in any hope chest "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" - Frdm a bride's trousseau? Ab- solutely! Whether a bride of yesteryear or a modern career gal of today, a beautiful handmade quilt is an asset to anyone's "hope chest". The Lambton Heritage Museum will be hosting a Heritage Quilt Com- petition and Sale, from June 28 to Ju- ly 6, including antique quilts, some for sale, and even some you can vote on! The tea room offers not only tea and tarts, but a collection of antique quilts as well. Ada Wyatt of Strathroy has two from the 1940's, Jean Muma has several from the 1940's and 1920's and Hazel Hackney of Forest shows a quilt from 1919. There are also several quilts to be raffled. The Port Franks Action Club is of- fering a beautiful white quilt em- broidered with the flowers of the pro- vinces, and the North Lambton Rest Home Auxiliary has a quilt for raffle. The Twilight Haven Ladies Auxiliary, Petrolia, has a quilt, afghan and cushion, to be raffled on October 25. That covers something old or bor- rowed. How about the new and the blue? Well, there are about 150 quilts in every color of the rainbow, besides blue, to match any color scheme and impress you with their beauty and fine craftsmanship. Two stunning quilts by Estella Bass, of Thedford, feature exquisite hand embroidered blocks of flowers, on a green and white quilt with cross- stitch "Springtime" and a pink/green/white quilt of "Rosebuds". There are several ver- sions of each design, in as many col- ors - a colonial lady motif in brown and white, blue andpink, or shades of mauve; a Love Ring design in brown or burgundy; the Love Star in blue, burgundy, grape, brown and rose, the Honor top student at Mount Carmel Primary school came to a close for the 22 grade eight pupils of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School Wednesday evening as they attended the gradua- tion exercises at the church. Mount Carmel Pastor, Father Goyeau, assisted by the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Father Morrissey, celebrated mass for the graduates, their families and friends. Shelley Uniac and Jeff O'Brien read from the Book of Wisdom, and the school choir, under the direction of Susan Kraftcheck, provided e beautiful hymns. Father Goyeau reminded them hat they are the salt' of the earth to season and preserve not only own faith, hut the life of their Church. Following Communion, each student marched up to receive their difiloma from Father Goyeau, assisted by Father Morrissey. After mass, everyone went over to the Mount Carmel school gym, for a banquet served by the mothers of the seventh grade pupils. Separate School Board Trustee. Mike Ryan address- ed his congratulations to the graduates, emphasizing the need to learn to think, not merely follow, and praising their good teachers, who helped to make them such good students. Principal Laurie Kraftcheck and their teacher, Terry Wilhelm added their congratulations and advice. [)avid O'Connor was the class valedictorian, offering a humorous re -cap of their Bast eight years. Then it was time for presentation of the awards. The mast improved pupil, donated by the Mount Carmel Parish Council was presented to Steve Arnold by Mr. Kraftcheck. The congeniality award, from the Mount Carmel Staff, went to Jeff O'Brien, presented by Mr. Wilhelm. The math proficiency award, in honor of Sister Viola, was presented to Iaurie Glavin for a 90 percent average in math, by Mr. Kraftcheck. The David Koricina Award for en- vironmental studies (geography and science) went to Marnie Walker, presented by Mr. and Mrs. Koricina. The David Itoricina Award for athletics, also presented by the Koricinas, went to Kim Van Dongen and David O'Connor. The educational incentive award was presented to Brian Vanneste, by Mr. Kraftcheck. The history award, donated by the Mount Carmel Student Council was given to David O'Connor, by Mrs. Miotto-Wilks. The French award, also presented by Mrs. Miotto- Wilkes, went to Laurie Glavin. The Knights of Columbus award for the highest academic standing was won by Marine Walker, presented by knight D. O'Rourke. • C.W.1,. president Mrs. Diane Kaak presented a graduation gift to each graduate from the Catholic Women's League, and P.T.A. president Mrs. Roberta Walker presented a trophy to each graduate from the P.T.A. both adding their congratulations. This marked the end of the evening, and the end of studying together, as the graduates will be attending several different high schools next September. Double Wedding Ring, the Dahlia with puckered petal centers, the blue Dresden Plate, the Log Cabin, and many other familiar and well loved designs. For something a little different, how about a hockey player in red for your boy's bed? Some quilts offer pillow shams as well, like "Violets with shams" by Violet MacLauchlan, of Inwood, who has nearly a dozen quilts up for sale in the show. Eleanor Hayter, of Grand Bend, has nearly that many too, which con- stitutes many hours of creative, work for these two ladies over the past winter. There was a knockout quilt of "Sunflowers" in shades of yellow and white; a Tulip quilt, all in pastels, and a brown/white Horse print quilt for that horse fancier in your family. On the other side of the museum, you find quilts on display in competi- tion. One group had already been judged by a panel of quilting experts • and teachers. First prize went to Judy Marriott from Petrolia, for her "Sun- shine and Shadows" quilt in shades of mauve to black. Second prize was won by Jean Mutch of London, for her "Log Cabin" quilt in shades of brown. Third prize went to Susan Cooper, London, for her "Dresden Plate" in burgundy and white. Fourth prize went to Fran Nichol, Arkona, for her multicolored "Hill and Valley." Over 20 quilts were listed to be voted upon by the visitors, and the choice was very difficult. These in- cluded some of the most original designs in the show - irises in lavender, a nautical theme in navy and white, trilliums in green and white. Another gallery contained a wide selection of children's quilts for sale, made by Elva McIntyre, Grand Bend; Blancher Kerr of Goderich: Mildred Cronin of Dublin, Catherine Masse of Zurich, and several others. These pretty little quilts featured farm animals, sesame street, pets, and hobby horses - very tempting. Other finalists' quilts were also on display, and for those who want to see how it's done; there is a beautiful "Flower Patch" quilt all stretched in its frame, ready to be worked. There we even hand quilci pillows and knit- ted afghans for Me in the Calico Shop, for those who want something smaller. Even if you don't buy anything, be sure to come out and enjoy these love- ly examples of beauty and practicali- ty, which are so popular today. Who knows - you may wind up taking one home as "just the thing" to spruce up a dull bedroom. The best things in life are free, but you never know when someone's go- ing to start charging admission. 6