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Ready
Or Not, Summer 2005 Is Here
by Bob Lowe
May 31, 2005
The
calendar tells us that the kickoff to the Summer of 2005
is already upon us. It’s time
to replace winter coats and heavy boots, snow shovels and
ice scrapers with shorts, t-shirts, swim suits, the barbecue
and volleyball nets to indulge in a host of summer activities.
While some activities, like outdoor music festivals, parades,
cookouts, baseball games and swimming are almost entirely
weather-dependent, others, like live performances at theaters,
museums, planetariums, movies, comedy clubs, indoor concerts
and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame at Lambeau Field are
practically weather-proof.
For
example, through June 12 the Fox Cities Performing Arts
Center in downtown Appleton will be staging the Broadway
touring production of “Hairspray,” which could
be the sleeper hit.
At
8 p.m. Friday June 3, the Lawrence University Symphony
Orchestra, the Concert Choir, the Chorale, the Women’s
Choir and the White Heron Chorale will be presenting a concert
titled “A Beethoven Gala” at the Lawrence Memorial
Concert.
The
concert will feature the music from several of Beethoven’s
works, including “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” “Symphony
No. 9 Chorale” and “Lenore Overture No. 3.” Soloists
will be Patrice Michaels, soprano, Karen Brunssen, mezzo-soprano,
Robert Breault, tenor and Kurt Link, bass-baritone, all under
the direction of Robert Debbaut, visiting director of orchestral
studies at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 seniors and students.
Another
Lawrence event is 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 1, in the Cloak
Theater. The Theatre of the Air Fifth Annual Live Taping
Session will present “Favorite Family Sit-Coms.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students.
To order tickets for the events, call 832-6749.
For
those venturing outdoors, a stroll in downtown Appleton
is now considered “cool.” At least, that is the
designation that the Appleton Downtown, Inc. has given to
a new logo and theme to promote the central business district.
The new theme is designed to showcase the variety of downtown
offerings, including coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries,
live music venues, farmer’s markets, the Outagamie
Museum, the PAC and Octoberfest.
The Village of Little Chute is hosting its 17th annual
Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival on June 3- June 5 at Doyle
Park.
Packer
fans who can’t wait for football season to
see their gridiron heroes, can attend the annual Brett Favre
Celebrity Softball Game at Fox Cities Stadium at noon Sunday,
June 5. The team’s offensive players will take on the
defense. General admission tickets are $10.
The Packers training camp opens on July 26. The first pre-season
game is against San Diego at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, at
Lambeau Field. The Packers play the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo
at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, and host the New England Patriots
at 7 p.m., Friday ,Aug. 26. They visit the Tennessee Titans
at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 1. The regular season starts in
Detroit at 3:15 p.m. Sunday Sept. 11.
Waterfest celebrates is 20th year this summer, with performances
each Thursday from May 26 through Sept. 1 at Riverside Park
in Oshkosh.
This
year’s line up includes Sha Na Na (June 2),
Cosmo (featuring the members of Boston on June 9), Big Bad
Voodoo Daddy (June 16), Davy Jones (June 23), Three Dog Night
(June 30), Cowboy Mouth (July 7), Marcia Ball July 14, The
Guess Who (July 21), Chicago Blues Reunion (July 28), Pat
Benatar (Aug. 4), Marshall Tucker Band (Aug. 11), the BoDeans
(Aug. 18), Collective Soul (Aug. 25) and Rick Springfield
(Sept. 1). Call 920-236-8170 for tickets.
A major Oshkosh outdoor event for the past 10 years has
been Country USA, scheduled June 22-26 at Sunnyview Expo
Center in Oshkosh.
This
year’s headliners include Brooks & Dunn,
LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Sawyer Brown, Patty Loveless,
Travis Tritt and Neal McCoy.
The music festival has grown so big over the past decade
that its promoter, Starshow Presents, is considering moving
it to another larger venue next year. Sites under consideration
are a farmland in the Town of Nekimi, off Ripple Avenue and
Washburn Street, and an undecided location in Calumet County.
Two
other outdoor events in Oshkosh this summer are Lifefest,
the state’s largest Christian music festival, July
7-10 at Sunnyview Expo Center and the annual Experimental
Aircraft Association AirVenture fly-in July 25-31 at Wittman
Regional Airport.
Bayfest
comes to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay June 9-12,
featuring 30 bands, fireworks, carnival events, food and
children’s activities. The event draws 80,000
to the campus each year and raises money for athletic scholarships
for students.
Communityfest, the family-oriented event in Neenah and
Menasha July 1-4, will include a street parade, food, fireworks
and music.
The second annual Fox Jazz Fest will expand this year from
a two-day Labor Day weekend event to a festival running from
Sept. 2-4. It starts at Leach Park in Menasha with Charlie
Hunter and Eugene Chadbourne with Violent Femmes. Other national
and regional acts will appear on two stages at Jefferson
Park in Menasha Sept. 3-4.
Neenah’s
14th Annual StreetBall Challenge 3-on-3 basketball tournament
is set for June 11-12 in the city’s
downtown. More than 600 teams played on 37 courts last year.
Summerfest,
Milwaukee’s Big Gig on the Lake Michigan
shores, runs from June 30-July 10. Look for headliners John
Mellencamp (June 30), Tom Petty (July 1), Kenny Chesney (July
2), Santana (July 3), the Allman Brothers Band (July 5),
the BoDeans (July 8), Tim McGraw (July 9) and James Taylor
(July 10) Purchase tickets at www.summerfest.com.
The
Wisconsin State Fair will be held Aug. 4-14 in West Allis.
Visitors will experience Wisconsin’s agricultural
offerings and livestock, along with music and the world-famous
cream puffs.
Appleton
Downtown Farm Market will take place from 7:30 a.m. to
noon each Saturday, June 18 through Oct. 31. The Downtown
Kaukauna Farmer’s Market gets underway each
Saturday the same time, from June 25-Oct 22.
Bay Beach Amusement Park opened May 31. Cost is 25 cents.
Attic
Theater begins its summer stock theater productions in
a brand new venue in the YouthFutures Valley Fair Mall
in Appleton, beginning on June 21-22 with “Scenes,
Songs & Monologues.” The musical, “Forever
Plaid,” will be held at the Fox Cities Performing Arts
Center June 14-17. Other shows scheduled are “Under
Milk Wood” July 12-13, “Honky Tonk Laundry July
26-30, “Visiting Mr. Green” Aug. 16-19 and “He
Done Her Wrong or Wedding But No Wife!” Aug. 23-24.
Up
the Resch Center in Green Bay, the Def Leppard performs
on June 21. The “American Idols Live” tour
comes to the Resch at 7 p.m. Aug. 30, featuring Bo Bice,
Anthony Dedorov, Constantine Maroulis, Anwar Robinson,
Scott Savol, Jessica Sierra, Nikko Smith, Vonzell Solomon,
Nadia Turner and Carrie Underwood.
The
Outagamie County Fair in Seymour will run from July 6 through
July 10. This year’s grandstand lineup includes
Darryl Worley and Trick Pony (July 7), REO Speedwagon (July
8), Grand Funk Railroad and Night Ranger (July 9) and the
traditional demolition derby on July 10
The
City of Seymour’s claim to be the home of the
hamburger will be celebrated again this year with Burger
Fest on Aug. 6 in that city.
The 32nd Annual Oneida Nation Pow-Wow will be held July
1-3 at the Norbert Hill Center on Seminary Road in Oneida.
The pow-wow features traditional drums and dances and American
and Indian foods.
The Oneida Bingo and Casino is bringing back Pavilion Nights,
which this year will include Social Distortion on May 31,
Everclear on June 8, Cheap Trick on June 23, Los Lonely Boys
on June 27, Whitesnake on July 7, Dwight Yoakam on July 27,
Velvet Revolver on Aug. 15, Buddy Guy and Johnny Lang on
Aug. 25 and Martina McBride on Sept. 1. For tickets: 1-800-238-4263
or www.pavilionnights.net.
The
Tundra Lodge in Green Bay, Wisconsin’s largest
water park north of Wisconsin Dells, is welcoming visitors.
The lodge hosts a 30,000 square foot indoor and outdoor water
park and outdoor splash pad and whirlpool, an arcade with
more than 100 video and interactive games and 161 suites
and a banquet facility for 180.
Art
in the Park and Art Off the Park, Appleton’s
outdoor art and crafts festival, return to City Park and
the Lawrence on July 31.
The Annual Community First Fox Cities Marathon is Sept.
24-25, the same weekend as Octoberfest, which kicks off Friday
Sept. 23 with the License to Cruise car show on College Avenue
in downtown Appleton.
And
the long-awaited trestle trail spanning Little Lake Butte
des Morts makes its debut with an official name – the
Fox Cities Trestle-Friendship Trail – on Aug. 27 with
a gala grand opening ceremony in Menasha and the Town of
Menasha.
For
comments or questions, boblowe@juno.com or
by phone at (920) 731-4603.
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