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Including Academy Award nominated “Heroin(e),” and Luther College Professor Thomas C. Johnson and Luther Director of Visual Media Aaron Lurth’s new short film “Marieke,” the 2018 Oneota Film Festival will be held April 19-22, on the Luther campus and in downtown Decorah.

Featuring more than 85 films from around the world, the Oneota Film Festival is open to the public. Festival goers may purchase individual day passes for $10 each or an all-access pass that admits them for all three days plus access to the opening night event and the filmmaker’s reception for a discounted rate of $25. Tickets and passes are available online at oneotafilmfestival.org.

The festival opens at The Elks Lodge in downtown Decorah at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 19, with the first Oneota Film Festival film “Saving Brinton.” This work follows the journey of Historian Michael Zahs who discovers a rare collection of film and attempts to restore and exhibit his findings. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow this showing.

Following the opening event, films will be available from 6 to 10:30 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, and from noon to 4:15 p.m. on Sunday; all on Luther’s campus. in Valders Hall of Science Rooms 206 and 362, Olin Room 102, and in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall. Each room features a variety of films and documentaries; the full schedule is available at: oneotafilmfestival.org/2018-schedule.

The festival’s feature film “Heroin(e)” is a documentary highlighting the efforts of three women working to change the narrative and cycle of drug abuse one person at a time in Huntington, West Virginia. The film will be shown at 3 p.m. on Saturday and is open to the public with no charge for admission.

The festival closing films begin at 2:10 p.m. Sunday, April 22, on Luther’s campus.

Festival passes may be picked up at the opening event on Thursday, April 19; at the festival headquarters in Luther’s Valders Hall of Science anytime during the festival from 4 p.m. Friday, April 20, to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 22; or at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at the doors of the event located in the T-Bock’s Upstairs, in downtown Decorah.

The Oneota Film Festival was founded and is run by a group of representatives from Luther and local film lovers who have formed a non-profit corporation to host the festival. The mission of the festival is to “build and sustain a community of film lovers through screenings and discussions.”

This year’s festival focus is on themes related to making connections, and the weekend will provide many opportunities to connect with filmmakers, friends and members of the broader community. The board of directors hopes that through this festival, viewers and filmmakers alike will be inspired to view and discuss compelling issues in today’s society.

This will be the ninth year that the Oneota Film Festival has been held in Decorah. Inspired by Luther alumnus Walter Ordway, a world traveler and filmmaker, the Oneota Film Festival board has arranged a weekend of eclectic, artistic films intended to delight a diverse audience.

More information and a full schedule of events is available at oneotafilmfestival.org.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: www.luther.edu.

Decorah Public Library staff are hosting three book discussions in April. All groups are open to the public and newcomers are encouraged to attend. Anyone interested should call the library at 382-3717 to learn more or to reserve a book.

The Friday Book Group will meet at 2:00 p.m. Fri. April 20 on the 2nd floor of the library to discuss Paula McLain’s “Circling the Sun.” Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl Markham is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. She forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart.

For more information, contact Kristin Torresdal (Happy Hour and History Book Groups) at 563-382-3717 or Carmen Buss (Friday Book Group) at cbuss@decorah.lib.ia.us.

WHERE BETTER TO BE ON A FRIDAY NIGHT THAN AT THE ONEOTA FILM FESTIVAL ON THE LUTHER COLLEGE CAMPUS?

The next question is “What films should I see?”
Here’s a small sampling of what will be shown from the more than 30 films to be shown that night at 4 different venues between 6:00pm and 10:30pm.

TO THIS DAY: REMEMBERING NORDIC CHOIR FIRST INTERNATIONAL TOUR directed by Aiden Spencer, Decorah Iowa.
Valders 206, 6:00pm.
Best of the Fest: Student Documentary Award Winner

DEPRESSION! THE MUSICAL followed by Q&A with the filmmaker.
Olin 102, 6:00pm.

PICTURES FROM A HIROSHIMA SCHOOLYARD (FREE No pass required) directed by Bryan Reichhardt
CFL Recital Hall, 7:45pm

More information on films and the daily schedule and membership can be found at www.oneotafilmfestival.org.
Tickets are $10 for a day pass, $25 for an ALL ACCESS pass or FREE with your membership support of $30 or more.

Lanesboro Arts presents “Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” at the St. Mane Theatre in Lanesboro on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m.  Patrick Scully, a Minnesota native and the founder of Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis, summons the spirit of Walt Whitman in this one-man show, voicing the poet’s words and adding his own artistic flavor. The performance is a physical embodiment of Whitman’s work through dance and a reflection of the poet’s art, spirituality, sexuality, and gender expression.

“Leave of Grass” was Walt Whitman’s life project. First published in 1855, the book of poems was controversial at best and offensive at worst. The collection has continued to inspire thought, interpretation, and speculation ever since.

“Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” pulls from history, art, literature, even opera, and presents aspects of Whitman’s life and work that are fascinating in our time, now that discussions of male/male relations have finally moved out of the shadows into the light of day. On stage, this world includes projected video images of eighteen men dancing together, ranging from tender and sensual to boisterous.  The audience is invited to interpret the presence of the dancers. Are they Whitman’s fantasy? A memory? The future? Or something else altogether? The video work by created by Bessie Award winner Nancy Mason Hauser.

Scully explained that his life as a performer has been about performing his own work on stage, most of it autobiographical. “I have dealt a lot with being a gay man in a world that wasn’t quite ready for gay people to be as out and as open as I was eager to be,” he said.

“With ‘Whitman,’ I continue to work with these very similar themes, but just on someone from a different historical period—someone whose life has mirrored my own in some ways, but someone whose challenges have been different.” Scully considered it an opportunity to work with someone whose name was well recognized but whose sensuality is often not known. He called the one-man play a way to out Walt Whitman in a manner that Whitman would have liked.

He uses Whitman as a vehicle to address the same themes the poet sought to tackle – the struggle for liberation and human rights – but to do it in a way that has a broader reach. “Whitman had a utopian vision of what men’s relationships could be, and how that could transform not just locally but the world,” Scully said. “He saw it as a balm for the crass materialism that he saw in his time.”

“You think about Whitman as a gardener,” Scully continued. “He was not only someone who tended his garden but expanded it as life went on. So although ‘Leaves of Grass’ was his life’s work, when he first published it in 1855, it was a very thin volume. When he published the deathbed version in 1892, it was a pretty fat volume. He didn’t just add to it. Like a gardener, he pruned and trimmed.”

This show is the product of over 10 years of research and development. Over the past few years, Scully has read 55 books by and about Whitman. “The intention was to have a broad enough understanding of him so that if I were doing a show for Whitman scholars, I could morph this show to make it more specifically interesting for them. Or if I’m doing it in Germany, I could make it more relevant to German literature and German writers.”

This incarnation of the show: “Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” manifests Scully’s original vision for this work, as a high-tech one-man show. “Leaves of Grass – Uncut,” the full cast version of the show, opened in Minneapolis to critical acclaim in 2014. Scully’s workshop process led to a residency at MANCC at Florida Sate University in 2015, followed by “Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” premiering in NYC in May of 2017.  Scully explains, “I call this version ‘Leaves of Grass – Illuminated’ because of the clear reference to shining a light on something, but also illuminated manuscripts with added beauty on the page. And I use the video projectors to illuminate parts of the set.”

Through the show, you may learn something about Whitman, something tiny or something profound you didn’t know about the literary icon. Though much of the show focuses on Whitman’s struggle with sexuality, Scully says sexuality is “not necessarily what may make you feel out of sync with the times. People can vibrate at different frequencies than those around them. The question is how we stay true to ourselves and adapt the world to us, not the other way around.”

Scully, who got his master’s in 2008 in teaching English as a second language, is currently teaching part-time at the University of Minnesota. But most of his artistic focus is on the Whitman shows. “Right now in my creative life, this pretty much takes up all the space and energy I have,” he said. “Recently I have been thinking about other things I might do. There’s nothing concrete yet, but little wisps of thought come drifting through my head and then evaporate and drift away.”

“Both Whitman and Scully are major figures; they contain multitudes.” (Village Voice)

“Patrick Scully was born to play Walt Whitman.” (Lavender Magazine)

“Scully is the perfect caretaker for Whitman’s legacy.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

BRING YOUR KIDS TO VALDERS 206 ON THE LUTHER COLLEGE CAMPUS FOR A

MORNING OF FILMS FROM THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM

FESTIVAL.

9:10am –KID FLIX Part 1

Short animated films from the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Intended for Ages 3+. All films are in English or without dialogue.

10:45am–THE PITCH (23 mins)

Directed by Colin Sprigg

Ten-year-old Madison Halley is the star Pitcher of The Comets. Her father is the team manager and raised Madison to pitch, play ball, and to “never quit.” Yet, he secretly plans to divorce his wife and leave Madison. In the midst of the championship game a mysterious legend from baseball’s past brings Madison a chance to see the reality of her parent’s relationship, and to influence her father at his darkest hour.

For Madison Halley, everything in life comes down to the last pitch.

11:10am–KID FLIX Part 2

Short live action and animated films from the New York International Children’s Film Festival. Intended for Ages 8+. All films are in English or with English subtitles.

There’s something for everyone and some very special movies on Saturday. You’ll find more than 26 films, including short films by local Decorah school students, an Academy Award Nominee, and films from the New York International Children’s Film Festival as well as Luis Argueta’s third film in his immigration trilogy, The U Turn. (CFL Recital Hall 4:45pm). At the end of of the day please join us at 7:30 pm for the Filmmakers Reception at T-Bock’s Upstairs with introductions, awards and a special showing of the film Losing Sight of  Shore.

Here is sampling of what will be on the screens at Luther College:

Valders 206

Kid Flix 1&2 9:10am-12pm; Jane …”an unprecedented, intimate portrait of Jane Goodall..one of the world’s most admired conservationists.” 1:10pm-2pm; Heroin(E) 3 women in Huntington W.V. work together to combat the crisis of opioid addiction (2018 Academy Award Nominee) FREE (no pass required) followed by local panel Q&A 3pm-4pm; Bird of Prey “finding and saving the rarest eagle on the planet” Q&A with filmmakers 4:45-6:45;

Valders 362

Student Narrative Short Film Set with Q&A with filmmakers 9am-12:30pm; Down and Yonder “coming-of-age…friendship… growing up in a small, Southern town” 3pm-4:30pm.

Olin102

Score: A Film Music Documentary 9am-10:30am; Joe’s Violin (2017 Academy Award Nominee) 10:45am-11:10am; Chicago Mixtape with Q&A filmmaker “…using poetry as a vehicle for change..” 11:15am-12pm; From Seed to Seed with Q&A with filmmaker 1pm-3;30; Decorah Middle and High School Short Films with film makers Q&A 4:45pm-5:45pm.

CFL Recital Hall

Rodents of Unusual Size “Gigantic orange-toothed nutria are eating up the coastal wetlands of Louisiana …and fishermen turned bounty hunters defend their land.” 9am-10:15am; Uranium Derby “the story, centered in Ames, Iowa, begins with a curious filmmaker looking into her hometown’s involvement in the Manhattan Project. ..controversy, cover-up and unintended environmental consequences.” 3pm-4:30pm. The U Turn directed by Luis Argueta is the third of his immigration trilogy. “It tells the transformational journey of the immigrant workers at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, who break their silence about the abuses they endured and community that supported them. Q&A with filmmaker 4:45-6:00pm.

For more information about all the films and a complete schedule visit www.oneotafilmfestival.org.

Ticket prices are $10 for a Day Access pass, $25 for an All Festival Pass (T.Fri.Sat.Sun) or a FREE Festival Pass with your member support of $30 or more.

FREE ADMISSION! HEART Animal Rescue’s Wag ‘N’ Wag is a family friendly event with a beautiful 3-mile walk with your dogs at Prairie’s Edge Nature Center in Cresco, Iowa. We will also have Dog Tricks being performed from members of the Upper Iowa Training Club and YOU and your dogs can join in on the fun! There is also food/drinks, $25 Microchipping, a Hunt Test Demo, Door Prizes, Raffle, Prizes along the walk, Vendors, Bake Sale, & Garage Sale. Mark your calendars for this fun event that helps those without a voice❤ Visit our facebook event at https://www.facebook.com/events/148861742451273/ or email us at heartrescue2016@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Join us as we examine the foundational pillars of mindfulness: Beginner’s Mind, Trust, Patience, Non-Judgment, Non-Striving, Acceptance, and Letting Go. Participants will explore ways to expand and strengthen their personal mindful awareness practice. Pre-requisite: Mindful Living 101 (or equivalent).

Facilitators: Michelle Williams & Karen Bergan

Cost: $50 / person

Location: Morning Glory Retreat – 113 Winnebago Street

IowaWORKS to host Real Colors Workshop. The Real Colors® personality instrument is presented in a fast, fun, interactive format where participants can learn how to quickly identify the four temperaments (Blue, Gold, Green or Orange). It provides users with an effective tool for understanding human behavior, for uncovering motivators specific to each temperament, and for improving communication skills such as how to relate more effectively to others in the workplace.

Real Colors workshop will take place on February 21 from 9:30-12:30 at the IowaWORKS Center located at 312 Winnebago St. in Decorah. This workshop is open to any individual who wishes to attend. Registration in advance is required. To register, email amy.chicos@iwd.iowa.gov or call 563-379-9638. There is no cost to participants.

You can help by coming to our bake sale and “rainbowade” stand on Saturday, April 21 from 10 am to 1 pm in Water Street Park (314 W. Water Street, Decorah or the park next to the Oneota Co-op). Donate to a great cause and receive baked goods, rainbow-colored lemonade, and handmade rainbow swag. You can also become a Glitter Sponsor of 2018 Decorah Pride with a gift of $10 or more!

The Northeast Iowa Peace & Justice Center will host a discussion of Robert Wolf’s Building the Agricultural City: A Handbook for Rural Renewal at 1 p.m. on April 21. Wolf’s book seeks to encourage the development of cooperatives and other businesses in northeast Iowa as well as foster greater collaboration between the area’s towns, cities and counties.
The book proposes tools and ideas for local and regional self-reliance that have been appearing simultaneously around the country for several years as people see the need to chart their future on a grassroots level.
This is a nonpartisan effort that hopes to get people thinking in the same frame of mind as the people who settled this area: people who built farms and industry without the benefit of federal and state grants.
Copies of Building the Agricultural City are available at the Decorah Public Library and at Dragonfly Books.

Luther College and the Oneota Film Festival are hosting a screening of the documentary “Heroin(e)” at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 21 in Valders Hall of Science Room 206 on the Luther campus. A panel, hosted by Helping Services for Youth and Families, will held following the screening and both the panel and screening are open to the public with no charge for admission.

“Heroin(e)” is a 2017 Academy Award nominated documentary highlighting the efforts of three women working to change the narrative and cycle of drug abuse one person at a time in Huntington, West Virginia. With an overdose rate 10 times higher than the national average, the city struggles with a cycle of generational addiction, lawlessness and poverty. Fire Chief Jan Rader, Judge Patricia Keller and Necia Freeman of Brown Bag Ministry all are working towards ending the opioid epidemic through a chain of compassion.

The showing is a part of the 2018 Oneota Film Festival running April 19-22. The rest of the festival requires a pass to attend; details available at oneotafilmfestival.org. Founded and run by a group of representatives from Luther and local film lovers who have formed a non-profit corporation to host the festival. The mission of the festival is to “build and sustain a community of film lovers through screenings and discussions.” This year’s festival focus is on themes related to making connections, and the weekend will provide many opportunities to connect with filmmakers, friends and members of the broader community.

More information and a full schedule of events is available at oneotafilmfestival.org.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.

Find out all about sprang, an ancient textile method that dates as far back as the Bronze Age! Fiber artist Carol James will give the presentation Sprang—What Is It? in the Amdal-Odland Heritage Center at 523 W. Water St. This event is free and open to the public.

Sprang has recently been “red-listed” by the Norwegian government, meaning it is in danger of extinction. James has spent the last 30 years rediscovering sprang and keeping this technique alive. She has studied items in collections across North America and Europe and was invited to be a guest speaker/instructor at a sprang conference in Norway. She has authored three books Fingerweaving Untangled, Sprang Unsprung, and Sprang Lace Patterns.

James is teaching the class Springing Sprang April 21-24 at Vesterheim’s Folk Art School and her books are available in the Museum Store.

Lanesboro Arts presents “Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” at the St. Mane Theatre in Lanesboro on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m.  Patrick Scully, a Minnesota native and the founder of Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis, summons the spirit of Walt Whitman in this one-man show, voicing the poet’s words and adding his own artistic flavor. The performance is a physical embodiment of Whitman’s work through dance and a reflection of the poet’s art, spirituality, sexuality, and gender expression.

“Leave of Grass” was Walt Whitman’s life project. First published in 1855, the book of poems was controversial at best and offensive at worst. The collection has continued to inspire thought, interpretation, and speculation ever since.

“Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” pulls from history, art, literature, even opera, and presents aspects of Whitman’s life and work that are fascinating in our time, now that discussions of male/male relations have finally moved out of the shadows into the light of day. On stage, this world includes projected video images of eighteen men dancing together, ranging from tender and sensual to boisterous.  The audience is invited to interpret the presence of the dancers. Are they Whitman’s fantasy? A memory? The future? Or something else altogether? The video work by created by Bessie Award winner Nancy Mason Hauser.

Scully explained that his life as a performer has been about performing his own work on stage, most of it autobiographical. “I have dealt a lot with being a gay man in a world that wasn’t quite ready for gay people to be as out and as open as I was eager to be,” he said.

“With ‘Whitman,’ I continue to work with these very similar themes, but just on someone from a different historical period—someone whose life has mirrored my own in some ways, but someone whose challenges have been different.” Scully considered it an opportunity to work with someone whose name was well recognized but whose sensuality is often not known. He called the one-man play a way to out Walt Whitman in a manner that Whitman would have liked.

He uses Whitman as a vehicle to address the same themes the poet sought to tackle – the struggle for liberation and human rights – but to do it in a way that has a broader reach. “Whitman had a utopian vision of what men’s relationships could be, and how that could transform not just locally but the world,” Scully said. “He saw it as a balm for the crass materialism that he saw in his time.”

“You think about Whitman as a gardener,” Scully continued. “He was not only someone who tended his garden but expanded it as life went on. So although ‘Leaves of Grass’ was his life’s work, when he first published it in 1855, it was a very thin volume. When he published the deathbed version in 1892, it was a pretty fat volume. He didn’t just add to it. Like a gardener, he pruned and trimmed.”

This show is the product of over 10 years of research and development. Over the past few years, Scully has read 55 books by and about Whitman. “The intention was to have a broad enough understanding of him so that if I were doing a show for Whitman scholars, I could morph this show to make it more specifically interesting for them. Or if I’m doing it in Germany, I could make it more relevant to German literature and German writers.”

This incarnation of the show: “Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” manifests Scully’s original vision for this work, as a high-tech one-man show. “Leaves of Grass – Uncut,” the full cast version of the show, opened in Minneapolis to critical acclaim in 2014. Scully’s workshop process led to a residency at MANCC at Florida Sate University in 2015, followed by “Leaves of Grass – Illuminated” premiering in NYC in May of 2017.  Scully explains, “I call this version ‘Leaves of Grass – Illuminated’ because of the clear reference to shining a light on something, but also illuminated manuscripts with added beauty on the page. And I use the video projectors to illuminate parts of the set.”

Through the show, you may learn something about Whitman, something tiny or something profound you didn’t know about the literary icon. Though much of the show focuses on Whitman’s struggle with sexuality, Scully says sexuality is “not necessarily what may make you feel out of sync with the times. People can vibrate at different frequencies than those around them. The question is how we stay true to ourselves and adapt the world to us, not the other way around.”

Scully, who got his master’s in 2008 in teaching English as a second language, is currently teaching part-time at the University of Minnesota. But most of his artistic focus is on the Whitman shows. “Right now in my creative life, this pretty much takes up all the space and energy I have,” he said. “Recently I have been thinking about other things I might do. There’s nothing concrete yet, but little wisps of thought come drifting through my head and then evaporate and drift away.”

“Both Whitman and Scully are major figures; they contain multitudes.” (Village Voice)

“Patrick Scully was born to play Walt Whitman.” (Lavender Magazine)

“Scully is the perfect caretaker for Whitman’s legacy.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Plan to attend the FILMMAKERS’ RECEPTION at T-Bock’s Upstairs in downtown Decorah for a screening of the film LOSING SIGHT OF SHORE, introductions to filmmakers attending the festival and award presentations.

Doors open at 7:30pm with hors d’oeuvres being served and a cash bar. Screening of LOSING SIGHT OF SHORE will begin at 8:30pm.

LOSING SIGHT OF SHORE follows the journey of four women as they attempt to row over 8,000 miles from America to Australia. Their journey of 9 months is an inspiring story of perseverance, friendship and the power of the human spirit.

For more information visit oneotafilmfestival.org.  You will find a schedule and description of all films, membership information and volunteer opportunities.

Cost: $5 pass for reception; other options include a non-member ALL ACCESS Pass to the entire festival $25; DAILY ACCESS Pass $10; FREE ALL ACCESS pass with member support of $30 or more.

Come celebrate the release of Michael’s latest album – A Matter of Time.

WHAT BETTER WAY TO END THE WEEKEND THAN WITH THE GREAT FILMS BEING SHOWN AT LUTHER COLLEGE BY THE ONEOTA FILM FESTIVAL?

There are so many great movies being shown Sunday, April 22, between noon and 4:30pm that its hard to make a choice. Here’s a small sampling of what you can see:

Valders 206

Honda Film 12 noon; An Inconvenient Sequel 12:30pm with Al Gore;

Tomorrow (sponsored by Decorah Power) 2:30pm Q&A panel.

Valders 326

Documentary Short Film Set; International Films from Egypt; Rural Route Films 12pm to 4:15

Olin 102

Denial 12:40; Bride of Frankie (Best of Fest Narrative Short Award winner) 2:25;

Bill Evans Time Remembered 2:45.

CFL Recital Hall

Sailor, Sufi, Spy 12 noon; Daughters of the Forest 1:00pm;

Kokota: Islet of Hope 2:21pm; Jura: With Deep Roots in Their Land (Best of Fest Documentary Feature Award Winner) 3:00pm.

For a complete schedule and descriptions of all films being shown, visit the website

www.oneotafilmfestival.org.

Tickets are $10 for a Sunday Pass, $25.00 for an ALL FESTIVAL ACCESS pass, or FREE with your member support of $30 or more.

Also appearing as Guest Artists:  The Singing Educators

Andrew Ellingsen, Jane Kolarich, Rachael Buresh ,Jason Rausch

We’re celebrating the planet at the Co-op on Earth Day, Sunday, April 22nd from 5 to 7 pm. Join us in Water Street Park in downtown Decorah and savor the flavor of a fresh-grilled, local, Thousand Hills 100% grass-fed burger or hot dog – plus tasty brats and veggie burgers, and Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Company ice cream and sorbet, all the while listening to the live music of Absolute Hoot! Come out, grab a bite, take in some music and enjoy the company of friends and neighbors. (food is for-purchase) Rain Location: Community Building at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds, 900 E Main Street, Decorah.

Do you ever get to the end of a month and wonder where all your money went? Are accumulating loans and credit card bills giving you anxiety? Do you and your spouse have different ideas about spending and saving money? Perhaps you made a new year’s resolution to make better financial decisions? If any of these are true for you, then Financial Peace University is for you.

Financial Peace University is a nine-lesson, money-management class taught by America’s most trusted financial guru, Dave Ramsey. Dave and his teaching team will walk you through the basics of budgeting, dumping debt, planning for the future, and much more.

Decorah Covenant Church will be hosting Financial Peace University on Sundays from 6:00-7:45 pm, starting on February 11th, in the sanctuary at DCC. Registration is now open! Each session includes a DVD lesson from Dave Ramsey as well as small group discussion.

The class is open to anyone in the community interested in learning more about financial stewardship and handling money God’s way. Lessons focus on getting out of debt, saving for the future, and taking control of your finances using biblical principles. Free childcare will be provided.

Dan Volz is the facilitator; contact at speedynorse@gmail.com with questions.
To Register: Follow the link https://fpu.com/1059440 and complete the registration information prior to the class. Cost is $109 for materials, which include class membership, class workbook, one year subscription to online budgeting tools, and other money management tools.

Children 18 months to 3 years of age (with a parent, grandparent, or caregiver) are invited to join us for lively stories, classic songs, and finger plays in the Public Program Room of the library. Older and younger siblings are welcome to attend. Families are encouraged to stay and play for an additional 1/2 hour after story time. Toys courtesy of Toys Go ‘Round.

For additional information, please contact Joan Roach, Children’s and Youth Librarian, at jroach@decorah.lib.ia.us or (563)382-3717.

This class will take Master Builder’s ideas and bring them to life by building a 2 ft x 2 ft x 2ft, Rube Goldberg machine that actually functions! There will be a common goal for the machine but each one will take on the unique design of the sculptor- that’s YOU! A mix of LEGOs, pulleys, pipes and more.

Time: Mondays, 3:15-5:00pm
Instructors: Jane Busch

Register by March 17: $65 $25 materials ($5.40 an hour)
Register after March 17: $75 $25 materials ($6.25 an hour)

It’s time to head outside with Lilly Jensen, from Winneshiek County Conservation, as spring returns! Join us for a walk through the woods, looking for the unique wildflowers that emerge only briefly in the spring, and other signs that winter is finally ending.

Designed for girls in 5th – 8th grade. Space is limited, so please register early at www.decorah.lib.ia.us. For additional information, please contact Joan Roach, Children’s and Youth Librarian, at jroach@decorah.lib.ia.us or (563)382-3717.

Mobile Mamma is a Non-Profit organization that is focused on empowering the adults to have a better understanding what their youth are doing, seeing, and accessing online with their devices. Kids today can speak fluent technology, we as adults do not. In our tech-driven society, we need to know how to parent like our parents did and mix it with the new school tech. Come let us introduce ourselves, get to know our organization and learn a thing or two about what our youth are doing.
Every 7 minutes a youth is bullied in some form, only 4% of adults know how to intervene. Kids now spend an average of 9 hours on social media and their devices. Do these numbers alarm you? Let’s come together and figure decrease the number of youth-related issues and raise the percent of awareness from the adults.

Current and former mentors, Mentors For A Day, mentees, supporters, and their families are invited to celebrate an evening including a catered meal, entertainment, and reflections on 20 years. If you are able to attend, please RSVP to kathys@helpingservices.org. If you are not able to attend, please share your memories at the same address. Please also contact others you know who have been involved to be sure they can share or attend. 20 YEARS, wow!

April showers bring everlasting May flowers. A beginning class exploring the Venetian art of making faux flowers with tiny class beads and wire. Learn basic techniques to create leaves and petals that will be assembled into everlasting floral stems. A minimum of 6 students are needed to hold the class.

Dates: April 3 – May 8
Time: Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm
Instructor: Marcia Cook

Register by March 17: $65 $25 ($5.40 an hour)
Register after March 17: $75 $25 materials ($6.20 an hour)

Participants are welcome to share any recent or past literature that has helped them see American history through the lens of black Americans. You may share informally or read passages meaningful to you. No assigned text, but you may want to choose a book from our loaning library at Peace and Justice Center. You may also come to just listen to others. We hope for a diverse group.
If you attended the classes on White Privilege, this could be a perfect follow up.
Questions: call Julie at 563-382-5695

A presentation about Bird Friendly Iowa and the criteria necessary for Decorah to be designated a “Bird Friendly Iowa Community”, will be presented by Doug Harr, Iowa Audubon Society President Tuesday, April 24, 7 PM at the Decorah Public Library.
Bird Friendly Iowa is a new program unveiled in 2017 by a partnership of several Iowa conservation organizations, agencies and individuals including Iowa Audubon. Modeled after similar programs in Wisconsin and Minnesota, the purpose is to encourage communities to focus upon bird conservation by meeting certain established criteria. Once a community has applied and met the criteria a “Bird Friendly Community” designation can be awarded by the project partnership. When effort is made to conserve resident and migratory birds, communities actually help our environment, because the diversity and number of birds attracted often serve as good barometers of local environmental health.

All Upper Iowa Audubon Society programs are free and open to the public. For more information please contact Connie Hvitved, 563-547-4685.

The Dreamery Rural Arts Initiative has invited Minneapolis’s Ten Thousand Things to Wykoff to perform The Good Woman of Szechwan by Berthold Brecht on April 24 at 7pm in the Wykoff Community Center. The performance is free and open to the public, with ADA accessibility. No tickets nor reservations are necessary.
(Minneapolis, MN, March 16, 2018) — Michelle Hensley ends her tenure as Ten Thousand Things’ Artistic Director with a return to the first show TTT performed: Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan. The tale, told with music and humor, follows a poor woman who receives a bag of gold from the gods and is torn in two as she tries to help all her struggling friends but take care of herself at the same time. Hensley directs a cast of Christina Baldwin, Sun Mee Chomet, Joy Dolo, Tyson Forbes, Elise Langer, Harry Water Jr, Karen Wiese-Thompson and Max Wojtanowicz.

TTT first performed Good Person in 1989 at a homeless shelter in Santa Monica, California. Hensley moved the company to Minneapolis in the early 1990s. “The circle that is so important to Ten Thousand Things brings me back one last time to the Brecht play that started it all,” said Hensley. “I am eager to see how our very changed world will shed new light on this timeless story.”

Hensley has directed and produced more than 70 tours for the company. She also has staged TTT-style Shakespeare tours for The Public Theater in NYC and California Shakespeare Theatre. San Diego’s Old Globe, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Delaware Shakespeare Festival and Cripple Creek Theater in New Orleans are now among many theaters using TTT’s model. She has been named City Pages Best Director in multiple years and Best Artistic Director in the Twin Cities by the Star Tribune in 2012. In fall 2017, she received the Ivey Award for Lifetime Achievement. She is a recipient of a McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship and the Francesca Primus Prize for outstanding contribution to the American theater by a female artist. Her book about TTT, All the Lights On, was published by the Minnesota Historical Press/Howlround Press in 2015.

ABOUT TEN THOUSAND THINGS
Ten Thousand Things bring lively, intelligent, professional theater to people with little access to the wealth of the arts—who in turn help our artists and traditional audiences re-imagine what theater can be. Theater-goers experience the immediacy and vibrancy of theater through a performance in which there is no stage and actors perform in the middle of the audience, inches away from patrons. With minimal sets and costumes, the finest quality actors in the region fully engage the audience by distilling the story to its essence. Marcela Lorca has been selected as the company’s next Artistic Director.

ABOUT THE DREAMERY
 The Dreamery Rural Arts Initiative is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting and expanding arts experiences in rural Fillmore County, and to making use of renewable/sustainable energy sources to do so. Summer 2018 events, including the Play! in the Barn Series, are generously supported by individual donors. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.
Visit websites at www.dreamacresfarm.org. or www.dreameryruralartsinitiative.org.

Kindergarten to second grade students are invited to learn about saving energy, sustainability, and healthy eating. During this 6 week program, kids will engage in fun, hands-on activities to learn about how to be environmental stewards. Parents should drop children off at Oneota Co-op Kitchen Classroom at 7:30am, students who attend John Cline Elementary School will be escorted to school by 8:50am via walking school bus. Those who attend St. Ben’s or are homeschooled should be picked up by parents by 8:35am.

Taught by Green Iowa AmeriCorps Members Ashley Lookenhouse and Hannah Haugen, this is a FREE hands-on class with a limit of 10 students. Call 563-382-4666, or register online at http://oneotacoop.com/education-events/ to reserve a place.

Join us for a yoga adventure! Children 18 months – 5 years old, with a parent or caregiver, are invited to come to the library for a special yoga storytime with Laree Schouweiler, owner of Reefuel indoor cycling and yoga studio. Meshing stories with yoga postures and games, this program is bound to be fun!!

Yoga and mindfulness have many benefits for children, including flexibility, alertness, and a greater sense of calm. Laree has been teaching NE Iowans full-time since 2013 and looks forward to sharing the yogi-love with you!

This program will be offered at 10:30 am on Thursday mornings (April 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th). It is free and open to the public. No yoga experience is required. Space is limited, so please register in advance at www.decorah.lib.ia.us. Parents or caregivers will need to sign a physical activity waiver/permission slip the day of the program.

For additional information, please contact Joan Roach, Children’s and Youth Librarian, at jroach@decorah.lib.ia.us or (563)382-3717.

Are you interested in Something Good? Join artist in residence Erin Lavelle for a happy hour tea party and discussion on value, commodities, sustainability and the power of the stories embedded in an object’s history in the intimate confines of Anna V’s Bed & Breakfast (507 Fillmore Ave S) on Thursday, April 26 between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Welcome Erin to Lanesboro and learn about her unique public art exchange project, entitled “Something Good.”

Local Cheeses and fruit and some cookies with a selection of wines and tea will be provided! Advance registration is encouraged, but not required. Please contact Program Director Adam Wiltgen at adam@lanesboroarts.org or 507-467-2446.

Erin is a Minneapolis-based artist that believes that the meaningful exchange of stories and goods amongst neighbors has the power to move a community forward in the way members relate to each other; promoting problem-solving through deeper listening skills. “Something Good” is a public art exchange project based on the Buddhist concept of dana (generosity) where both the specific gift and the recipient are considered when giving.

Erin will join the Lanesboro community for two residencies in 2018, with the first taking place April 23 – May 7 and the second August 6 – 20. Locals will have an opportunity to participate in April by offering up ‘something good’ to the project through a donation and storytelling event series. The future of those goods and stories will be revealed in August when Erin returns to complete the project, and again, residents and visitors will have an opportunity to participate.

For more on Erin and her residency at Lanesboro Arts, please visit: https://lanesboroarts.org/lavelle/

In honor of Child Abuse Prevention month, Allamakee County Community Partnerships for Protecting Children in conjunction with Helping Services for Youth and Families, HAWC Partnerships for Children, Riverview Center, and Crisis Intervention Service are offering this FREE event for families!

Snacks and Family Resources will be provided. Activities will include: an obstacle course, family fitness challenges, nature crafts, seed planting activity, and family photo opportunities.

There is no registration required, and families are welcome to arrive at anytime! All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Questions? Call or text Shelby at: (563) 380-1300 or shenkelman@helpingservices.org

NEW DATE AND TIME!

This soft, fresh, South Asian-style cheese is delicious in traditional Indian foods, but it’s also flexible enough to be used on pizza, in burritos, crumbled on top of salads or soup, or as a spread on bagels. We will demonstrate how to make this delicious staple in class, then taste the finished product cooked into a classic curry of baby spinach. Recipes included so you can experience how easy it is to create the freshest cheese in your own home.

Lead by the Co-op’s own Beth Rotto and Andrea Springmeier, this is a demonstration-style class that is gluten-free and vegetarian friendly with a limit of 16 participants. Cost is $12 for Co-op Members, $15 for community members. Call 563-382-4666, or sign-up online at http://oneotacoop.com/education-events/ to reserve your seat.

NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group is a free, peer-led support group for adults living with mental illness. You will gain insight from hearing the challenges and successes of others, and the groups are led by NAMI-trained facilitators who’ve been there.

NAMI’s Support Groups are unique because they follow a structured model to ensure you and others in the group have an opportunity to be heard and to get what you need.

By sharing your experiences in a safe and confidential setting, you gain hope and develop relationships. The group encourages empathy, productive discussion and a sense of community.

Luther College Admissions will hold a Preview Day on Friday, April 27, to give prospective students an introduction to Luther College.

The day includes a campus tour, an academic department visit, a student activities and services fair, complimentary lunch in Luther’s cafeteria, a financial aid session, a current student Q&A session, and a trolley tour of Decorah.

The deadline to register is Sunday, April 22, at https://tinyurl.com/april-27-preview-day. This is the final Preview Day of the academic year.

Located in Decorah, Iowa, Luther College is a four-year liberal arts college that is nationally recognized for academic excellence, exceptional study abroad experiences, an outstanding music program and successful NCAA Division III athletics.

More information about Preview Day and other Luther College visit events, are available at: visit.luther.edu.

Luther College presents a biology colloquium by Mark Borchardt titled “Cows or People? Sources of Fecal Contamination in the Karst-like Aquifer in Northeast Wisconsin” 9:40 a.m., Thursday, April 26, in Valders Hall of Science, Room 206 on the Luther campus.

The colloquium is open to the public with no charge for admission.

In his lecture, Borchardt will explain how he uses viruses and gut bacteria to determine the source of bacterial contaminants in well water.

Borchardt is the director of the Laboratory for Infectious Disease and the Environment in Marshfield, Wisconsin. LIDE is an interagency laboratory between USDA-Agriculture Research Service and USGS Wisconsin Water Science Center. LIDE collaborates with researchers around the world to work on problems involving the environmental transmission of disease from human and agricultural sources.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.

In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month and to celebrate great childhoods, Clayton County Community Partnerships for Protecting Children, in conjunction with Helping Services for Youth and Families, Clayton County Collaboration Council, SASC, Riverview Center, Crisis Intervention Service, and HAWC Partnerships for Children are offering this FREE event for families!

Families with children of all ages are invited for the 3rd Annual Family Bowling Night at C.J. Lanes in Elkader.

Free open bowling and shoe rentals will be provided, as well as snacks, games, and family resources.

There is no registration required, and families are welcome to arrive at any time. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Questions? Call or text Shelby at (563) 380-1300 or shenkelman@helpingservices.org

 “Confessions of a Gay Catholic” — coming to Decorah! $10 TICKETS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE AT ONEOTA COMMUNITY COOP or from Shirley Vermace & Ruth Jenkins – limited seating, get your tickets early!

Writer/performer Joe Jennison will bring his one-man show “Confessions of a Gay Catholic” to The Lingonberry, 218 West Water Street in downtown Decorah on Friday, April 27 at 7pm. Tickets are $10 and are available at Oneota Coop or at the door the night of the event.  

The play is a series of true stories that track Jennison’s relationship with the Catholic Church, from his earliest memories as a 7-year-old until today. The play ultimately details his reconciliation with the church after 32 years away. The play will be followed by a brief talkback and reception with the actor/writer.

Jennison was born and raised in Iowa, the fourth of five children in a close, loving Catholic family. Despite feeling ostracized by the very church he was baptized in, he continues to attend and advocate for the church he loves. He is the director of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group. “Confessions of a Gay Catholic” is his 25th and most personal play to date.

“In 2011, I had a supernatural experience while attending confession,” said Jennison of his one-man show. “And I started to realize that my own personal story and struggle with my faith and my church is far more interesting than any fictional story I’ve ever written. These stories I tell are personal and true and are written and performed with honesty and love.”

Jennison has been writing and performing plays since 1985. His play “A Beautiful Man” was voted Best Play and Best Comedy at the 2003 San Francisco Fringe Festival. He also won the Dean Goodman Award for Best Play that same year. Some titles of his plays include “The Night I Kissed Osama bin Laden,” “Twinsburg,” “Cedar Rapids Famous” and “My Five Husbands,” and have been performed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Minneapolis. “Confessions of a Gay Catholic” was featured most recently in the Theatre Cedar Rapids Underground Play Festival.

The Friday, April 27, performance and reception at The Lingonberry is open to all, but seating is limited. Advance tickets are available at the Oneota Community Coop in downtown Decorah or contact: Shirley Vermace 563.419.2999 or Ruth Jenkins 319.504.5128.

Lanesboro Community Theatre in cooperation with New Minowa Players will present a multi-media performance, And Then They Came for Me, Remembering the World of Anne Frank. The show weaves together videotaped interviews with Holocaust survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss with scenes from their lives, recreated by 10 live actors on stage.

Luther College performing ensembles Cantorei and the Luther Ringers will perform a spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 27, in the Noble Recital Hall of the Jenson-Noble Hall of Music on Luther’s campus.
The concert is open to the public with no charge for admission. Those unable to attend may view the concert live online at stream.luther.edu/music.
Cantorei will perform selections from a variety of genres, including “Confitemini Domini” by Alessandro Constantini; “O Vos Omnes” by Thomas Juneau; “If Ye Love Me” by Thomas Tallis; “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing” by Andrea Ramsey; “Tantum Ergo” by Gabriel Fauré; “Njoktje” by Frode Fjellheim; “Voice Dance” by Greg Jasperse; and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” a traditional Appalachian piece arranged by J. David Moore.
The Luther Ringers’ portion of the concert follows the theme “From Peril to Peace to Joy” taken from the first piece on the program. The piece was composed by 1971 Luther alumnus Lee J. Afdahl who serves as the director of music at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, Minnesota.
Further works to be performed by Luther Ringers include “Processional in E-flat” by Sandra Eithun; “Prayer for the Innocents” by Michael Helman; “It Is Well With My Soul” and “Beautiful Savior” by Cathy Moklebust; “Blackbird” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arranged by Sandra K. Tucker; and “Synergy” by Kevin McChesney. “A Canon of Praise” by Natalie Sleeth will be performed as a combined piece by Luther Ringers and Cantorei.

Akwi Nji joins us once again to celebrate the spoken word. Share the stage with your original voices poem (3 min or less of your own poetry) or the Slam (a good natured competition, complete with prizes). Recommended for adults, 16 and up. All poems are welcome, but nature inspired poems are encouraged. Register online. https://goo.gl/forms/hNaupWAKjIWzNF5d2

Tickets are $5-$10 (your choice), and it is free to performers.

Sponsored by Dragonfly Books.

Join in the fun at Pinter’s Gardens & Pumpkins annual Spring Festival and Open House, April 28th and 29th.   

The Spring Festival and Open House is a family tradition in NE Iowa and the surrounding driftless area. The festival is a time for families to visit Pinter’s Gardens and Pumpkins for all their gardening needs. Visitors will find the grounds and greenhouse filled with a vast selection of flowers, vegetable starts, shrubs, and trees for planting. Our staff and the Winneshiek County Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions about gardening and plants. In addition, a weekend of family fun events and specials is planned for all ages.

Visitors on Saturday, April 28, and Sunday, April 29 can register for a chance to win $200.

On Saturday, April 28, at 10:00 a.m., Horticulturist, Jessi Jablonski, will demonstrate how to create a pansy bowl for adults. Students will then create their own pansy bowl. The $18 class includes a 9” bowl, pansies, potting soil, and instructions. Maximum 25 adults. At 2:00 p.m.children will learn how to make an origami environmentally friendly newspaper pot and with the help of Jessi plant a pansy. The children/youth class is free and includes one origami pot, potting soil, pansy, and instructions. Maximum 50 children. Pre-registration is required for both classes at Eventbrite.

Enjoy a kite decorating contest and flying event on Sunday, April 29 at 2:00 p.m. Children will decorate kites from 2-3:00 p.m. $25/$15/$5 gift certificates from Pinter’s Candy & Certificates will be awarded to the top three “Most Creative” kites at 3:00 p.m. Participants are invited to fly their kites in the open field east of the greenhouse. Cost to participate is $5 per child. Maximum 50 kids. Pre-registration is required at Eventbrite.

Enjoy a tasty lunch of a hotdog, chips, applesauce for $4.99 plus drink will be available both days from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Festival and Open Hours:

Saturday, April 28 from 9:00 a.m to 5:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Would you like more peace, more resilience in your life? Would you like tools for greater clarity? Would you like to like you more?

In this class, you will learn: Tools and techniques to create change in
whatever area of your life you are looking for; How to ‘run’ bars; you will
receive two Bars® sessions AND gift 2 sessions. No prerequisites are
required – just the willingness to learn something new. For your $355
You will also receive: A manual full of questions, techniques and a whole
new toolbox of change; Your Access Bars® Practitioner’s Certificate;
On-line resources for support and continued learning. After you
complete the class you will be qualified to give Access Bars® to others
which may include your family, friends and/or clients.

8 NCBTMB CE’s available for Massage Therapists
CE’s available for Social Work and Counseling through NICC
(Ask about Nursing CEs)

Register with NICC Business and Community Solutions
563-557-8271 Ext 380 and at
www.accessconsciousness.com/victoriaoestmann

James Griesheimer, musicologist, presents “Mozart at His Most Personal: The Piano Concerto.” Can music be a window on biography, politics and social trends? Come and see!

Cost: $5-$10 your choice or one punch

Join Scotty Hendricks on April 28 at 7:00 p.m. for the presentation “Journey to the East: My Observations of Religion in China.” This event will be held at the Lingonberry at 218 W. Water St. in Decorah.

The presentation will include stories and observations of how Chinese religious and cultural practices blend together, are practiced on a daily basis, and exist in a communist regime. The focus will be on the three most visible religious practices in China today—Buddhism, Maoism, and Chinese folk religion in Mainland China. Hendricks will emphasize the situation in Tibet as seen by a foreigner, and he will contrast Mainland China with Macau and Hong Kong, both autonomous territories of China. 

Hendricks is a graduate of Decorah High School with a B.A. from the University of Iowa. He recently spent a year in China teaching the English language. “Having studied philosophy, I was fascinated by how some of the most interesting ideologies and religions blended, conflicted, and harmonized in the eternally evolving Chinese civilization,” Hendricks said. He currently writes out of Chicago for the online knowledge forum BigThink.com.

This presentation is organized by the Decorah Zen Center with thanks to the Tergar Decorah Meditation and Study Group. Contact decorahzencenter@gmail.com with questions.

Dancing With Luther Stars is a ballroom dance performance organized by Luther College Ballroom and Swing Club. The student organized show features three staffs from Luther College: Bradley B. Phillips from the ticket office, Erin Zidlicky from Technology Help Desk, and Justin Scardina from Sodexo Luther Cafeteria. The three stars started from zero experience, devoted five months to learn ballroom dance and will perform and compete for the 1st place on April 28th, on the stage of Center For Faith and Life, Luther College. They will partner with three students, Kjerstin Nelson, Jason Sczypiorski, and Natalie Wade, respectively. The three students from Luther College Ballroom and Swing Club worked closely with the three stars and mentored them throughout the five months.
Come to Center for Faith and Life on April 28th at 7:30 pm for a night of sassy moves and contagious passion.
Free for Luther College students with CAF. The admission fee for community members and Luther students without CAF is $5.

Three Luther College staff members paired with three students from Luther’s ballroom club go head to head in the annual performance of “Dancing with the Luther Stars.”

Inspired by the popular ABC show, the event returns for the third season to bring excitement and friendly rivalry to the Luther campus at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall.

Tickets, on sale in Luther’s Ticket Office, are $5, and may be purchased online at www.tickets.luther.edu or via the Luther Ticket Office, (563) 387-1357 or tickets@luther.edu. Ticket Office hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9-10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Tuesday 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; with extended hours on Thursdays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.

Let us delight your appetite with our brunch in Peace Dining Room on selected Sundays. Be our guest as you enjoy this delicious event while admiring the view to the west of the beautiful, meandering Upper Iowa River.

Bill of Fare
Rotating Crepe Bar/Made to Order Omelets Bar
Rotating Waffle/Pancake/French Toast Bar with Toppings
Scrambled Eggs & Weekly Specialty Eggs
Sausage & Bacon
Rotating Carved Meat Station with Accompanying Starch & Vegetable
Hash Browns
Assorted Cheeses
Fresh Fruit
Yogurt
Assorted Breakfast Pastries
Delicious Cakes, Pies & Desserts from the Norse Bakery
Location and Hours
Peace Dining Room
Dahl Centennial Union (2nd Level)
10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Prices
Adult $14.50
Children 5-10 $6.75
Children 1-4 Free
Luther Students $12.00
Reservations are encouraged for all Peace Brunch Sundays. Call 563-387-1514 to make reservations.

Join Winneshiek County Conservation staff in walking the woods to see what spring wildflowers have finally emerged after the long winter and searching for other signs that spring has at last arrived.

The event is free and no registration is required.

Please meet at the East parking lot above the boat ramp. Participants should wear clothes and shoes appropriate for a muddy trail.

For more information, visit www.winneshiekwild.com or call (563) 534-7145.

Oneota Valley Community Orchestra
“Russian Romantics”
At Decorah High School Auditorium
Sunday, April 29th at 3:00 pm
Season Sponsors: The Marion E. Jerome Foundation and The Depot Outlet

The community is invited to join the Oneota Valley Community Orchestra for their Season 4 finale concert on Sunday, April 29th at 3:00 pm. The OVCO will feature impressive works by famous Russian composers Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, and Tchaikovsky. This free concert will take place at Decorah High School Auditorium.

Guest lecturer Joshua Palkki will address how gender stereotypes appear in choral classrooms as well as musical and social issues involving LGBTQ students in ensembles at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 29, in Valders room 206 on the Luther College campus.

The lecture, “Creating Safe Space in the Music Classroom,” is open to the public with no charge for admission.

Palkki is a member of the faculty of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, where he leads the University Choir, teaches courses in music education (including choral repertoire and pedagogy), interfaces with the College of Education and mentors graduate students in music education. Palkki is passionate about teacher education and preparing preservice teachers to be competent and caring teachers with the knowledge and skills to address issues of social justice through music education.

Palkki’s writing appears in the Choral Journal, Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, Journal of Research in Music Education, Research and Issues in Music Education and Research Studies in Music Education. Palkki currently serves on the editorial board for two journals: TOPICS and New Directions in Music Education. In addition, Palkki curates http://www.queeringchoir.com/, an online resource regarding LBGTQ issues in choral music education.

This lecture is sponsored by the Luther College Lecture and Fine Arts Series.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.

Children 18 months to 3 years of age (with a parent, grandparent, or caregiver) are invited to join us for lively stories, classic songs, and finger plays in the Public Program Room of the library. Older and younger siblings are welcome to attend. Families are encouraged to stay and play for an additional 1/2 hour after story time. Toys courtesy of Toys Go ‘Round.

For additional information, please contact Joan Roach, Children’s and Youth Librarian, at jroach@decorah.lib.ia.us or (563)382-3717.

This class will take Master Builder’s ideas and bring them to life by building a 2 ft x 2 ft x 2ft, Rube Goldberg machine that actually functions! There will be a common goal for the machine but each one will take on the unique design of the sculptor- that’s YOU! A mix of LEGOs, pulleys, pipes and more.

Time: Mondays, 3:15-5:00pm
Instructors: Jane Busch

Register by March 17: $65 $25 materials ($5.40 an hour)
Register after March 17: $75 $25 materials ($6.25 an hour)

The classic silent film “Metropolis” will spring to life with a newly composed musical score by students at Luther College. Directed by Brooke Joyce, Luther composer-in-residence and associate professor of music, the original film will be shown with their original electronic score at 9 p.m. Monday, April 30, in the Recital Hall of the Center for Faith and Life on the Luther campus.
The event is open to the public with no charge for admission.
The featured composers include first-years Taizo Heimer, Jacob Southerland and Peter Stelter, sophomores Troy Downey and Emily Stifter, juniors John Kuntz and Caleb Linville, and seniors Zane Larson, Andrew Murray and Hunter Prueger. All are students of Brooke Joyce.
First released in Germany in 1927, “Metropolis” is considered one of the earliest and finest examples of the science-fiction film genre, spawning many imitations over the years. With its stylized sets, iconic imagery and allegorical plot, the film influenced generations of subsequent filmmakers.
Each of the 10 composers involved in the project composed a portion of the score, using a set of common leitmotifs, recurring themes associated with a particular image, and musical ideas that were produced by the group as a whole. The entire musical score was realized using both recorded and synthesized sounds.
This is the third such silent film project undertaken at Luther, the other projects being “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (2014) and “Nosferatu” (2010). For more information about the composition program at Luther, visit http://www.luther.edu/composition.
Luther is home to one of the largest collegiate music programs in the nation with six choirs, three bands, three orchestras, two jazz bands and more than 800 student musicians. Luther students participate in large ensembles, faculty-coached chamber groups, private lessons and master classes. More than 275 music majors study music theory/ear training, history, education, composition, jazz, church music and performance.

Dragonfly Books is thrilled to celebrate Children’s Book Week and Screen-Free Week with Winneshiek County Conservation! On Tuesday, May 1 at 3:30 pm, children of all ages and families are invited to Phelps Park for stories with Dragonfly Books, outdoor activities with Lilly Jensen from Winneshiek County Conservation, and a special guest — Pete the Cat!

Children will have the opportunity to meet Pete the Cat, go on a scavenger hunt, make a nature mask, and other fun outdoor activities.

This event is sponsored by Dragonfly Books and Winneshiek County Conservation. It will take place at Phelps Park in Decorah and is free and open to the public. In case of inclement weather, the event will be moved to Dragonfly Books, 112 W. Water St., Decorah.

April showers bring everlasting May flowers. A beginning class exploring the Venetian art of making faux flowers with tiny class beads and wire. Learn basic techniques to create leaves and petals that will be assembled into everlasting floral stems. A minimum of 6 students are needed to hold the class.

Dates: April 3 – May 8
Time: Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm
Instructor: Marcia Cook

Register by March 17: $65 $25 ($5.40 an hour)
Register after March 17: $75 $25 materials ($6.20 an hour)

Longtime anchor of ABC News’ Nightline, Ted Koppel, will give Luther College’s 2018 Roslien Distinguished Lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 1, in Luther’s Center for Faith and Life Main Hall.
The lecture, “Science and Policy: Communication in the Twenty-First-Century World of Fake News,” is open to the public with no charge for admission. A question and answer session will follow the lecture.
Koppel’s lecture discusses the issue of science information, public policy and “fake news” as a communication black hole that must be addressed with priority for the world to have a chance of making critical decisions about issues that will greatly affect the future of the youth of today. His experience and credibility informing the public about many issues of critical importance over the course of his broadcast career makes him a natural for this discussion.
In addition to the lecture, Koppel will engage with students, hold a press session and have signed books available for public purchase.
Koppel became the longest-serving news anchor in U.S. broadcast history over the course of his 26 years as anchor and managing editor of Nightline. After 42 years with ABC News, Koppel was the most honored reporter in the network’s history with eight Peabody Awards and 42 Emmy Awards—including one for lifetime achievement. Koppel has been awarded 12 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards—the Pulitzer Prize of television. He has also garnered 11 Overseas Press Club Awards, which is one more than the previous record holder and Koppel’s mentor, Edward R. Murrow.
In addition to his air time with ABC, Koppel has served as a contributing columnist for the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, and senior contributor to the CBS Sunday Morning Show. Since 2005 he has served as managing editor of the Discovery Channel, as a news analyst for BBC America, as a special correspondent for Rock Center, and continues to function as commentator and nonfiction book critic for National Public Radio.
His most recent book, “Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath,” was released in 2016 and quickly became a New York Times’ best-seller. He is also the author of “Off Camera,” another NYT best-seller. He co-authored “Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television,” with Kyle Gibson, and his first book “Estonian Army Uniforms and Insignia 1936-1944,” with Fred Limberg.
Koppel, the son of German-Jewish refugees, came to the United States when he was 13, and became an American citizen 10 years later. He holds degrees from Syracuse University and Stanford University.
A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.

Kindergarten to second grade students are invited to learn about saving energy, sustainability, and healthy eating. During this 6 week program, kids will engage in fun, hands-on activities to learn about how to be environmental stewards. Parents should drop children off at Oneota Co-op Kitchen Classroom at 7:30am, students who attend John Cline Elementary School will be escorted to school by 8:50am via walking school bus. Those who attend St. Ben’s or are homeschooled should be picked up by parents by 8:35am.

Taught by Green Iowa AmeriCorps Members Ashley Lookenhouse and Hannah Haugen, this is a FREE hands-on class with a limit of 10 students. Call 563-382-4666, or register online at http://oneotacoop.com/education-events/ to reserve a place.

Thank you for your patience and understanding with the rescheduling of this performance. We will do our best to make it worth the wait!

An intimate (and fun) night of music, stories and laughter is coming to Decorah. Live at the Lingonberry, it’s Mike Munson and the Avey/Grouws Duo! Wednesday night, May 2 from 7 to 9. BYOB and enjoy an opportunity to hear homegrown music in a beautiful listening room. Tickets are $8 in advance at the Oneota Community Coop starting 4/10 and $10 at the door. Big thanks go to RocketDog Books and FM 100.5 for sponsoring this event.

Yes, it’s a Wednesday. That day doesn’t get enough love.

Mike Munson
– “Munson’s too-good-to-be-true slide guitar and wry delivery give [these] cuts an irresistible swagger.” Hymies Vintage Records, Minneapolis
– “The only complaint I ever have about his sets is that they come to an end. Mike (the man and musician) exudes quality.” Ed Hoffman, Owner of Ed’s(no name) Bar, Winona
Making his home in the Mississippi River town of Winona, Minnesota, Mike Munson is well known for playing slide guitar blues. The driving rhythms in his songs are reminiscent of the trains that barrel through his neighborhood. Munson makes regular appearances throughout the Midwest, and is currently working on his third release following a debut studio recording and the acclaimed “Live at Ed’s” releases in 2014. Mike Munson, along with
Mikkel Beckman, represented the state of Minnesota in the Solo/Duo category of the 2017 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

Avey/Grouws Duo
Chris Avey and Jeni Grouws are the leaders of the Iowa Blues Challenge winners, Avey/Grouws Band. The Avey/Grouws Duo formed after the two met at a blues jam in the Quad Cities. Chris Avey has been called a ‘younger, more fiery Coco Montoya’ and captivates audiences with his incredible skill on both electric and acoustic guitar, his gritty growl and his sense of humor. Jeni Grouws has been called a ‘shooting star’ with a voice that is like ‘a choir of angels on a runaway train’. The duo has penned original music with a Roots/Americana feel, and they continue to reinterpret songs they love. Chris Avey and Jeni Grouws have spent the last 2 years playing festivals such as Hambone Music Festival, the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival and Prairie Dog Blues Fest, as well as bars and music joints across the Midwest. The band just released the EP “Avey/Grouws Band: Road to Memphis”. The Avey/Grouws Band just returned from a Semi Finals finish at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

DECORAH COMMUNITY FREE MEAL
Building Community Plate by Plate

Join with family, friends and neighbors for a FREE meal* served between 5 pm and 6:15 pm on the first Thursday of the month at First Lutheran Church in Decorah.
All ages are welcome.

The meal is served on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month beginning at 5 pm.

Main dishes are supplied by Sodexo at Luther College or by local restaurants. Salads and desserts are provided by volunteers from local community groups.

*Gluten free options are always available.
Donations welcome.

NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group is a free, peer-led support group for adults living with mental illness. You will gain insight from hearing the challenges and successes of others, and the groups are led by NAMI-trained facilitators who’ve been there.

NAMI’s Support Groups are unique because they follow a structured model to ensure you and others in the group have an opportunity to be heard and to get what you need.

By sharing your experiences in a safe and confidential setting, you gain hope and develop relationships. The group encourages empathy, productive discussion and a sense of community.

The Luther College Jazz Band will perform their spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 3, in the Main Hall of Luther’s Center for Faith and Life.
The concert is open to the public with no charge for admission. It will also be available via livestream at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/luthermusic/.
The concert program features “Cottontail” by Duke Ellington, a piece based on the same chords as Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” The band will perform “The Peanut Vendor” by Cuban composer Moises Simons, “Tickletoe” by Lester Young and the swing ballad “Kids are Pretty People” by Thad Jones. Rounding out the concert, jazz band will also play a piece arranged by Al Cohn and jazz standards composed by Neal Hefti, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus.
The Luther jazz combo Free Time is featured on a lyrical waltz referencing the California town Bolinas, “Hullo Bolinas” by Steve Swallow.
Directed by Jon Ailabouni, adjunct faculty in music, the Luther College Jazz Band is a 20-member group that performs throughout the academic year, including Family Weekend, Homecoming Jazz Night at Marty’s and a formal concert each semester. Jazz Band introduces students to the jazz traditions of swing, contemporary jazz and new compositions.
A trumpeter, jazz musician, and educator, 2010 Luther graduate Jon Ailabouni received a Master of Music from Western Michigan University. Ailabouni has toured internationally in France, Puerto Rico and Brazil, in addition to domestic festivals and conferences. He also enjoys collaborating on interdisciplinary works featuring his compositions with authors, choreographers and actors. At Luther, Ailabouni directs the Luther College Jazz Band, jazz combo program and teaches improvisation, jazz theory and arranging, jazz history, studio improvisation and trumpet lessons.
Luther is home to one of the largest undergraduate music programs in the nation with six choirs, three bands, three orchestras, two jazz bands and nearly 800 student musicians. Luther students participate in large ensembles, faculty-coached chamber groups, private lessons and master classes. Nearly 275 music majors study music theory, ear training, history, education, composition, jazz, church music and performance.

The Luther College Theatre Department will present David Adjmi’s play “Marie Antoinette” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 3; Friday, May 11; and Saturday, May 12; and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, in the Jewel Theatre of Luther’s Center for the Arts.
Tickets for the performance are $10 and can be purchased at tickets.luther.edu or via the Luther Ticket Office, (563) 387-1357 or boxoffice@luther.edu. The Ticket Office is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9-10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Tuesday, 9 a.m.-3p.m.; with extended hours on Thursdays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
Adjmi’s contemporary take on the life of the young queen of France highlights the ideals and pressures of society in 1776 that shaped Marie Antoinette’s historical image as a frivolous woman.
The lighthearted and witty tone of the play takes a dark turn as revolution threatens Marie Antoinette’s sheltered life. With social commentary that challenges modern viewers, “Marie Antoinette” forces the audience to question what is necessary for a fulfilling life.
A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.

The Luther College Dance Department will present their spring show “Soil Turning” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 4; Saturday, May 5; and Thursday, May 10, and at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 12, in Luther’s Jewel Theatre in the Center for the Arts.
The performance is open to the public with no charge for admission.
Choreographed by Andrea Vazquez-Aguirre, visiting assistant professor of dance, the show “Soil Turning” is inspired by exploring the identities of thirteen performers including a social activist, a philosopher and cultural theorist and a writer.
Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types such as digging, stirring and overturning. The audience may experience their own creative and academic tillage as they reflect on factors that play a role in defining identity.
As engaged scholars and citizens, the performers and the audience share in the message of moving away from assumptions based on stereotypes to the notion that identity is fluid and shifts throughout one’s life.
A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.

Visit our plant sale to discover rare family heirlooms and historic varieties to plant and grow in your garden. Visit https://www.seedsavers.org/heritage-farm-plant-sale for a full list of available plants.

Dragonfly Books is thrilled to celebrate Children’s Book Week with local children’s author and illustrator Katherine Hannigan. Hannigan will lead two free events at Dragonfly Books, including Illustration for Kids at 10:00 AM and a story time at 10:35 AM on Saturday, May 5.

On May 5th, Children ages 5 are invited to join Dragonfly Books for a morning of illustration and instruction at 10:00 AM. Hannigan will lead kids through simple methods of drawing to create fun illustrations of their own. This event is free and no registration is required.

At 10:35 AM, children of all ages and families are invited for a special story time with Katherine Hannigan. Hannigan will pull children into imaginative worlds with her entertaining stories and vibrant illustrations.

This event is sponsored by Dragonfly Books at 112 W. Water St., Decorah and is free and open to the public. To learn more about this and other events at Dragonfly Books, please visit www.dragonflybooks.com, or contact us at events@dragonflybooks.com or 563-382-4275.

Dragonfly Books is thrilled to celebrate Children’s Book Week with local children’s author and illustrator Katherine Hannigan. Hannigan will lead two free events at Dragonfly Books, including Illustration for Kids at 10:00 AM and a story time at 10:35 AM on Saturday, May 5.

On May 5th, Children ages 5 are invited to join Dragonfly Books for a morning of illustration and instruction at 10:00 AM. Hannigan will lead kids through simple methods of drawing to create fun illustrations of their own. This event is free and no registration is required.

At 10:35 AM, children of all ages and families are invited for a special story time with Katherine Hannigan. Hannigan will pull children into imaginative worlds with her entertaining stories and vibrant illustrations.

This event is sponsored by Dragonfly Books at 112 W. Water St., Decorah and is free and open to the public. To learn more about this and other events at Dragonfly Books, please visit www.dragonflybooks.com, or contact us at events@dragonflybooks.com or 563-382-4275.

The Spring Grove Public Library sponsors this free event monthly- the first Thursday. It is hosted at the Spring Grove Cinema right across from the library. Each month we offer an award winning film from a different country. Most are adult content and have subtitles. Please call the library if you have any questions, 507-498-5800

With chart topping hits like “Take It All Back” and “Suit and Jacket,” bluegrass-hip hop-rock band Judah & the Lion are touring the U.S. and will make a stop in Decorah to perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, in Luther College’s Regents Center. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets for the performance are $40 and can be purchased at tickets.luther.edu or via the Luther Ticket Office, (563) 387-1357 or boxoffice@luther.edu. The Ticket Office is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9-10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Tuesday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; with extended hours on Thursdays, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
Members of Judah & the Lion grew up in separate regions of the United States, listening to diverse genres of music. Coming to Tennessee for college brought the band members and their love of folk, hip-hop, rock and roll and pop music together. Comprised of front man Judah Akers, mandolin player Brian Macdonald and banjo player Nate Zuercher, Judah & the Lion “wanted to make something raw, something with attitude… so why not make an album that has the grit of Run DMC or Beastie Boys, along with all the folk instruments that we play?” Playing more than 150 shows in 2015 alone, the group has tried to remain an independent band whose success has come through touring. The tour stop in Decorah will open with a performance by singer-songwriter Billy Raffoul.
Named iHeartRadio’s Artist on the Verge, for their single “Take It All Back,” the band began to climb the charts of alternative radio. At the beginning of 2017, they topped the charts for three weeks. In early 2017, Judah & the Lion, recorded four new songs for the Going to Mars Collection. A recent release Suit and Jacket debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2017 and again topped the alternative charts. Touring in 2018, the group released the new single “Going to Mars” in February.
Sharing stages with artists such as Twenty One Pilots, Ben Rector and Incubus, the group cares about the experience they give the audience. “We throw an absolute rage. And all the songs were made with that in mind. They’re fun, carefree, and youthful, and we live our lives that way, too.”
The performance is sponsored by Luther’s Student Activities Council Concerts Committee.
A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.

Let us delight your appetite with our brunch in Peace Dining Room on selected Sundays. Be our guest as you enjoy this delicious event while admiring the view to the west of the beautiful, meandering Upper Iowa River.

Bill of Fare
Rotating Crepe Bar/Made to Order Omelets Bar
Rotating Waffle/Pancake/French Toast Bar with Toppings
Scrambled Eggs & Weekly Specialty Eggs
Sausage & Bacon
Rotating Carved Meat Station with Accompanying Starch & Vegetable
Hash Browns
Assorted Cheeses
Fresh Fruit
Yogurt
Assorted Breakfast Pastries
Delicious Cakes, Pies & Desserts from the Norse Bakery
Location and Hours
Peace Dining Room
Dahl Centennial Union (2nd Level)
10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Prices
Adult $14.50
Children 5-10 $6.75
Children 1-4 Free
Luther Students $12.00
Reservations are encouraged for all Peace Brunch Sundays. Call 563-387-1514 to make reservations.

United States Representative Eric Swalwell will visit Decorah on Sunday, May 6, 2018, from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m., at Pulpit Rock Brewery, to keynote a major fundraising effort for the Iowa Democratic Party. The Iowa native, who now represents California’s 15th district, is ranking member of the House CIA Intelligence Subcommittee and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. He plays a key role in Washington and is a frequent contributor to news programs.