"We are a people who look at the flat land, harsh climate and oftentimes lonely existence and see potential, possibilities and promise."
Those are the words of Jackie Uthus, organizer of this weekend's Holiday Glow Art Sale and Show going on this evening and Saturday in Grand Forks. Uthus is showing her newest work in acrylic paintings called, "Whimsical Snapshots of Life on the Prairie." She says the images are familiar of hardy workers who chose to settle in the plains and small towns. She feels the simple landscape backgrounds evoke the beautiful emptiness of the prairie.
Uthus did stone sculptures early in her art career, then branched out to pottery, glass, painting, weaving, felting, embellishing gourds and jewelry.
She is one the local artists who will show and sell their work at 10 different homes and dedicate a percentage of their sales to local charities. There is no admission charge to shop at the homes between 5 and 9 p.m. Friday or from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. A complete list of the artists and their addresses has been printed in the Herald and can be found online at www.jackiesart.com .
The second annual art sale bears witness to the talented people who live here. I am fascinated by the Scandinavian decorative art done by Pieper Bloomquist. She rarely sells her work that she does for relaxation. She often finds it to difficult to part with it. But she does have a mural hanging in Ben Franklin Elementary School. And she won a blue ribbon at the national Swedish Painting exhibit in Scandia, Minn., in 2001.
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Fiddle and dance
The weekend arrives with footballs and high school players flying around the Alerus Center on Saturday...The UND hockey Sioux men have gone to Wisconsin and the women are heading for Bemidji State...The UND football team will be playing the Grizzlies in Montana on Saturday...Sioux hoopsters will shoot the lights out in The Betty this weekend. The men will play Waldorf College on Friday, and the women's team will take on New Mexico State on Saturday night. The women will follow it Monday against Vermont...North Country Fiddle and Dance is sponsoring a hoedown dance Saturday evening in the Grand Forks Senior Center...Handmade gifts by area artists are on sale through November at Third Street Gallery on Kittson Avenue...The "Big Read" wraps up with a celebration Sunday afternoon in the Rydell Auto Center..."Shaking the Dew from the Lilies" is in its second of three weekend performances in Fire Hall Theatre...Disney on Ice will be presenting two shows in The Ralph on Sunday...And St. Vincent De Paul will hold its annual Empty Bowl event Monday in St. Michael's.
Ask Marilyn
Q. What's the best thing you read all week?
A. A column by Martin Rottler in the UND Dakota Student newspaper. He wrote a zany piece titled "UND rumors finally put to rest."
One of the rumors was: The UND Parking Office is out to get students, faculty and staff. The truth he wrote is: "The UND Parking Office is out to get everyone, even those parked off campus and/or outside the country."
Q. Why did you like that?
A. I got a $10 parking fine for parking on a dark and almost empty lot one evening last week near Squires Hall so I could take in a Big Read session at the Chester Fritz Library. I figured those meters don't require money after dark. Besides, I think it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a person to find parking to attend events at UND.
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Q. Have you seen any interesting vanity license plates lately?
A. Yes. Out on the highway, a car with UBPOKEY whizzed by me. Also spotted: MMABEAR, THE DOVE. And the following were seen by harp eyed readers: AV8RWYF (Aviator Wife) and LILAV8R (Little Aviator) RUN4EVR, SCRATCN and APLEMOM (which I can't figure out). It must be a Vietnam vet who has the plate: NAM1969. Someone who has finished college must own the plate NO2ISHN that was spotted on a new convertible here in Grand Forks.
Kayla and Patrick
Cheerful people of the week: Kayla Lancaster, Patrick Dame.
Reach Marilyn Hagerty at mhagerty@gra.midco.net or (701) 772-1055.
