Artifacts 8/8

Jour de Fete at Ste. Genevieve this weekend

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- The annual Jour de Fete will be presented Saturday and Sunday in historic Ste. Genevieve.

Main Street will offer more than a mile of arts and craft exhibitions. The event will offer roaming musicians, re-enactors, classic vehicles, an exhibit from the World Bird Sanctuary and more.

Shuttle buses will run from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. both days from the Eric Scott Leathers parking lot on Route M, one-half mile west of U.S. Highway 61.

Merle Haggard to play Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Country legend Merle Haggard will perform Aug. 28 at the Black River Coliseum.

In the 1970s, Haggard became famous for the No. hit with "Okie from Muskogee," which criticized Vietnam War protesters. He has had 31 No. 1 hits.

Tickets are $21 to $29.75.

Former Cape band at Toolgathering

The former Cape Girardeau band Coeli will perform Aug. 14 through 17 at the 2003 Toolgathering in Las Vegas.

Toolgathering is a festival for fans of the band Tool. Coeli includes former Cape Girardeau resident Ryan Johnston, Kevin Loyd, Ed Strauser and Dave Hearnes.

The Coelhi band now is based in Tempe, Ariz.

'The Custard Kid' today in Jackson

Starcatchers Community Theatre will present "The Custard Kid" at 7 p.m. today in Jackson.

The 40-minute play will be brought to the stage at Cox Memorial Hall in New McKendree Methodist Church. Admission is $2 at the door.

"The Custard Kid" is a comic cowboy fantasy. Performers are participants in the theater troupe's one-week acting workshop. They range in age from 11 to 17.

The actors and actresses include Nicole Davidson, Tim Ross, Sami Gross, Sydney Wright, Alisha Peats, Rachel McCorkell, Casey Fluegge and Becky Koeller.

Wurstfest to be on network show

HERMANN, Mo. -- Wurstfest, a two-day celebration of Hermann's 160-year history of German culture, will be featured in a broadcast Tuesday on the Food Network.

The broadcast will be at 8:30 p.m.

Tunes at Twilight series to resume Aug. 15

The fall series of Tunes at Twilight will begin Aug. 15 when the Jerry Ford Orchestra plays Big Band music at the Common Pleas Courthouse Gazebo in downtown Cape Girardeau.

On Aug. 22, the series will present A Pair of Docs, featuring singer Trudy Lee. Tom Harte will do the announcing. The evening will pay tribute to Richard Rogers.

The entertainment on Aug. 29 will be the Travis Lee Band, a contemporary Christian group based in Ste. Genevieve. The band will be one of the opening acts in the ZOEgirl concert at the Show Me Center Aug. 16.

On Sept. 5, music will be by Still on the Hill, a national touring bluegrass band.

Contemporary folk music by the local band Junipurr Wind is scheduled Sept. 12.

The final concert in the series will be Sept. 19, when Jennifer Noble will play contemporary acoustic music.

The concerts are free. Audience members are invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets. All concerts will begin at 7 p.m.

Cape swing musician to receive honor

Cape Girardeau musician Bob Dolle will be inducted into the fourth hall of fame of his career in October.

Dolle, a keyboardist and fiddler, will be inducted into the Western Swing Music Society of Sacramento Hall of Fame Oct. 5. He already is a member of Western Swing Music Society Hall of Fame for Texas, Oklahoma and Seattle.

Dolle spends four months of each year in Texas performing with his Texas Variety Band.

'South Pacific' to close Muny season

ST. LOUIS -- The 85th season at The Muny closes this weekend with the final performances of "South Pacific." Shows are at 8 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets range from $8 to $54.

'Dream' auditions Aug. 25 and 27

Auditions for the fall production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" will be held at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25 and 27 at the Rose Theatre.

The play will be presented by Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Theatre and Dance. Community members are encouraged to audition as well. Dancers as well as actors of all ages are needed.

A mandatory meeting for those wanting to audition will be held at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 25. A prepared formal audition will follow. A two-minute monologue from a classic comedy or romantic work other than "A Midsummer Night's Dream" should be prepared.

Those auditioning must dress for a "professional" audition. A separate mandatory voice and movement audition will be held following the 6:30 p.m. meeting on Aug. 27. Preparation should consist of 16 bars of a song to be performed without accompaniment. Those who audition should dress for movement.

Anyone with questions about the audition can phone Dr. Kenn Stilson, chairman of the department, at 651-2489. Stilson is directing the play.

Heartland Pops present show Sept. 21

The Heartland Pops Orchestra's Band & Chorus will present "Music for a Sunday Afternoon" and "Swinging with the Pops" Sept. 21.

The 3 p.m. show at Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau will benefit Immaculate Conception School in Jackson.

Tickets are $10 and are available by phoning 238-4891, 579-6127 or 243-5013.

Botanical garden celebrates grandparents

ST. LOUIS -- Grandparents will be admitted for half price when they visit the Missouri Botanical Garden with their grandchildren on Sept. 7.

The date is National Grandparents Day.

Admission to the garden is free for children 12 and under.

Grants offered Illinois artists

CHICAGO -- The deadline for applications to two grants programs offered by the Illinois Arts Council is Sept. 1.

Applications for the Artists Fellowships Awards are available in the following disciplines: Choreography, crafts, ethnic and folk arts, media arts, new performance forms, prose and scriptworks.

The $7,000 arts fellowships are awarded to a handfu of Illinois artists of exceptional talent on a two-year-rotating cycle. In the next cycle, awards will be available in music composition, interdisciplinary/computer art, photography, poetry and visual arts.

The Ethnic and Folk Arts Master/Apprentice Program requires that a master in a traditional or classical art form and an apprentice apply under one application. Past awards have been in East Indian dance, split wood baskets, African drums and dance and traditional American folk music.

Information about the Artists Fellowship Awards is available by phoning (312) 814-4991. Information about the Ethnic and Folk Arts Master/Apprentice Program is available by calling (312) 813-6740. Those with hearing or voice impairments can call TTY (312) 814-4831.

Guidelines and applications for both programs also are available on the IAC's Web site, www.state.il.us/ agency/iac.

Cape woman writes 'Lonesome Blue'

"Lonesome Blue," a book by Cape Girardeau resident Lana Ussery, has been published by Dorrance Publishing Co.

The book tells the story of a 7-year-old girl who befriends a creature she calls "Lonesome Blue."

For information about the book, phone (800) 788-7654 or visit www.dorrancepublishing.com.

-- From staff reports