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ZACH BARTZ FUND: Honors legacy, pursues research PAGE 14
Ukulele Bears strum with one accord BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER
premiered in 1957 starring Julie Andrews. It was remade in 1997, starring Whitney Houston. Suoja emphasized that, while
“Rainbow Stew,” the 1981 country song by Merle Haggard, speaks of a utopia achieved through innovation and harmony with one’s neighbors. That dream becomes a reality—for 90 minutes, at least—during jam sessions with Ukulele Bears. Ukulele Bears started in 2017 when Paul Wolleat was attending a woodcarving class at the White Bear Area Senior Center. A staff member asked attendees for future activity ideas, when a classmate mentioned that Wolleat knew music and could teach everybody. Wolleat had been playing various instruments since he was 8 years old, and he believed the ukulele was an easy one to pick up. “You can do hundreds of songs with a couple of chords. You can do almost any song with three chords,” Wolleat said. “I tell people, ‘I can teach you to play a uke in about a minute. Two, if you’re slow.’” “I thought he told me three minutes …” joked longtime member Dick Ingberg, whose favorite song, “Rainbow Stew,” was the theme of a recent jam session with over 40 ukulele players. “All of a sudden, a lot more people showed up,” Ingberg said. “They must like it, you know?”
SEE CINDERELLA, PAGE 16
SEE UKULELE BEARS, PAGE 20
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Fellow cast members look on as a moment between Prince Topher and Cinderella (Ethan Christensen and Holly Flood) is interupted by Sebastian (Lucas Maahs) during a rehearsal for the upcoming fall musical production of “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.”
‘Cinderella’ glides into Performing Arts Center BY LOGAN GION CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The White Bear Lake Area High School fall musical is always enchanting, but director
Wendy Suoja wanted the first musical in the Performing Arts Center to be truly magical. Thus, this fall’s show is “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” which originally
Energy Action Plan goes forward for Vadnais Heights BY ERIK SUCHY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
New energy-saving methods are on their way to the city of Vadnais Heights, thanks to the city’s newly approved Energy Action Plan. The plan was created in partnership by the Vadnais Heights Energy Action Team and the Xcel Energy Partners in Energy program, a collaborative initiative that provides communities with tools and resources to develop energy-saving strategies. The team comprises residents, business representatives, city and Ramsey County staff and Xcel Energy and Connexus
Energy representatives to outline and implement gas-powered cars off the road from 2025 to 2030, or planting 307,404 tree seedlings and letting strategies and provide data on the city’s overall them grow for 10 years.” energy use. “Removing those emissions is The plan contains 19 differNatural Resource Specialequal to taking 3,885 ent strategies for saving enerist Erin Spry said the plan’s overall goal is to increase gas-powered cars off the road gy; among them are energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy program participafrom 2025 to 2030,” reducing the energy burden tion by 30% between 2025 for lower-income residents. To and 2030. She said this will Erin Spry spread awareness of energy save about $4.2 million Natural Resource Specialist efficiency, plan members will in energy costs and avoid create outreach campaigns to help residents save nearly 20,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. “Removing those emissions is equal to taking 3,885 SEE ACTION PLAN, PAGE 11
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