Quote of the Day: Come here, Norman. Hurry up. The loons! The loons! They’re welcoming us back. Ethel, in the play On Golden Pond, which you can see at Cream of the Crop Theater next weekend in Randall, MN.
Laura Oldham as Ethel in Cream of the Crop’s production of On Golden Pond. Photo by Mary Aalgaard
I took a little drive through lakes country to see just what was going on at the Old Creamery in Randall. The Quilt and Coffee Shop sign had caught my eye, and I’d taken a mental note to visit the place some time to check things out. Then, Beth Selinger announced that she was renovating the upstairs space into a theater, and she put out a casting call for her debut production of On Golden Pond. I almost auditioned. Then, I looked at the performance dates and realized it wouldn’t work for me. So, I sent my friend Laura Oldham over there, and here she is in all her “Ethelness!” I’m so excited to watch this play I can hardly wait for next Friday to arrive.
I asked Beth how she came to have a 60-seat theater in the upstairs meeting room of an Old Creamery. She said, “The owners of the quilt and coffee shop approached me.” Mother-daughter owners, Linda and Janelle opened their quilt and coffee shop in 2011. They looked at Beth, also a resident of Randall, and said, “You do theater, right?” Beth’s like, ya, I do. “Would you like to use the upstairs meeting room at a theater?” Um, YES!!!! They helped her with seed money to renovate the place. Other members of the community pitched in. They’ve done much of the hard work themselves, and invested their own money as well. Cream of the Crop Theater is truly a community theater. Members of the community are excited to see shows performed there that bring people into their “little town with a big heart,” that has, up until now, been know for their shoes. (Ever heard the ad for Bermel’s Shoes with the sweet, old lady voice?) Well, now, you can get shoes, quilt supplies, coffee, lunch, AND take in a show!
The quilt ladies, Linda and Janelle who asked the Theater woman…
Beth Selinger, who started Cream of the Crop Theater, who invited…
friends like C.J. Anderson who brought along his light and sound equipment, and encouraged…
community members to take a role or work behind the scenes, which lead to…
turning that meeting space into a cabin, for a production of On Golden Pond, which brought me to Randall, the Old Creamery, and a lovely drive through lakes country, so….
I grabbed the Biker Chef, who likes to take me on motorcycle rides, and gave him the task of finding me a “golden pond”…
actually, he found me a couple great spots for photos, which gave me good reason to drag along my nice camera and capture the beauty of the lake country at twilight…
and, see a swan hanging out in the reeds.
After that gorgeous ride on a practically perfect night, we rode over to Cowboy’s for a burger and sweet potato fries, basking in the glow of summer and tucking it away in a memory that we can go to on a cold, January night, and dream about moonlight over ponds, swans swimming in the reeds, peaceful scenes, people who take that leap to make their dreams come true. Hmm, makes me think this post could have been titled, “If you give a girl a dream…”
Go. Create. Inspire!
Journaling Prompt: Where might your dreams take you? And, what might they inspire in other people?
Please send me e-mails if possible with upcoming shows. Just heard about you and am dying to come see something.
Thanks. Will do!