Posts (page 2)

Thanks to Sandra Hume, editor of the Homesteader for blogging about this lawsuit. I cannot believe a large production company is suing a small Laura Ingalls Wilder homesite for copyright infringement.

You can read Sandra's blog in the link below which has a link to the original newspaper article. The jest of it is Friendly Family Productions (as in Ed Friendly of LHOP TV show) is suing the Little House on the Prairie home site near Independence, Kansas for copyright infringement.

http://lauraingallswilder.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/little-lawsuit-on-the-prairie/

The LHOP site generates about $90,000 per year from admission fees, gift shop sales, etc. According to Jean Schodorf, President of LHOP, this income barely covers their expenses.

I will post any updates here. I hope to have an address, phone number, etc of Friendly Family Productions to post here so anyone interested can contact them and let them know greedy and mean they are coming across with this lawsuit.

I'm going through my back issues of the LIW Lore published by the LIW Memorial Society in De Smet. In the first issue in Fall of 1975,there is an offer that I hope every knowing LIW fan at the time took advantage of.

There is a small paragraph on page four telling of the recent destruction of the farm home of Grace and Nate Dow (idiots!) which was located south of Manchester. Then there is an offer of free relics (nails, doorknobs, etc) to anyone who writes to the Memorial Society and asks for them.

The 2008 edition of the Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant in De Smet began on Friday, July 11 and runs for the next three weekends. This year the pageant is "These Happy Golden Years".THGY is the favorite book of a lot of LIW fans because of the romance between Almanzo and Laura. I admit that I really enjoy THGY, but my favorite is "By the Shores of Silver Lake".

The De Smet news ran an article about the young lady playing Laura in this years pageant. Her name is Kristen Aanenson and I really do like her. She takes the part of Laura very seriously. She has played Laura once before and she also played Mary Power once.

I am posting the article and photos from the De Smet News, July 9th edition; that way you can read it for yourself.

Aanenson Playing Laura In Upcoming Pageant

By Amanda Palluck

Staff Writer

Pageant season is well underway, with this weekend being the opening performance of "These Happy Golden Years" for this season's performers, and Kristin Aanenson, cast , in the performance's star role, said this is the time when she feels most nervous.

"The week before the show is the I worst for me," she said. "But once we get started I am just fine. I'm not sure why that is."

This is 17 -year-old Aanenson's third year of participation in the pageant, her second playing Laura. The first year she played Mary Power.

“I got involved when a friend of mine asked me to try out, because she wouldn't be able to do it again the next year," said Aanenson. "So I did, and it was totally worth it."

Aanenson didn't specifically try out to play the part of Laura. Perhaps it is her high energy levels and bubbly personality that got her chosen. But either way, Aanenson is  happy to be involved.

"It is just such a fun show," she said. "And so many quirky things have happened already. I really have good time getting involved."

One of Aanenson's fondest memories from rehearsing for the pageant this year is the engagement scene between Laura and Almanzo.

"The guy who plays Almanzo is shorter than me," Aanenson laughed. "So the director likes to keep him on higher ground. Its a little awkward but so much fun."

Aanenson is well-equipped to perform the starring role in the performance. In high school she competes in oral interpretation, one-act and all-school plays. and in college, she hopes to continue with theater.She plans on attending the University of South Dakota to major in youth broadcasting and communications.

"It's all pretty important to me,"she said. "Especially the pageant in that you are participating in something that so many people from around the world can see."

She even has a trick to learning III of her lines as the lead character.

"I learn my blocking first," she said. “Then when I know where I am going. I associate that with what I am saying."

Aanenson plans to stick with the pageant for some time, and says her favorite part of each season is seeeing the tourists who really get really into the stories.

'They have so much fun with all of it," Aanenson said. "It's nice to see that."

The tales of Laura Ingalls Wilder have been a part of her life since she was "tiny," Aanenson said, as that's when her grandmother began reading them to her. She sees herself as a good fit to play Laura herself, as they share some character traits.

"Well." said Aanenson. "We are both pretty stubborn and kind of spontaneous!"

Kristen Aanenson

The June 18th edition of the De Smet News had several LIW related photographs. Volunteers from the Hampton Hotels recently helped with multiple improvements to the LIW Memorial Society grounds.

In the photo below, Hampton Hotel employees are shown landscaping the grounds of the LIWMS headquarters. According to the newspaper, they also scraped and painted the headquarters building, the first schoolhouse and the Surveyor's House.

As one LIW blogger has posted, this makes me want to help support the Hampton Hotel chain whenever possible. I have stayed at their properties before and they are very nice. They serve a very good breakfast in the mornings too.

Another chance to talk about one of my favorite towns in Iowa. As I posted earlier, Spillville, IA is home of the Bily Clock Museum.For info on the museum, go here.

During the summer of 1893, the home of the Bily Musum was the summer home of Antonin Dvorak and his family. Dvorak enjoyed walking along the river listening to the different American birds in the woods and fields nearby.

An email from the Composer's Datebook today, brought the news that on this date in 1893, Dvorak interrupted a fishing trip along the Turkey River to rush home and add some notes to a composition he was working on. Following is a quote from the Composer's Datebook.

Dvorák liked to walk along the river listening to the birds, who, he said, helped him come up with musical ideas -- ideas he would scribble in pencil on his stiff white shirt cuffs. Dvorák's son, Otakar, eight years old at the time, reports that on June 12, 1893, a fishing trip along the Turkey River was cut short, much to his annoyance. When Otakar asked why, Dvorák said simply: "My cuff is already full of notes -- I've got to get home and copy them down."

Less than a week later, Dvorak had finished his composition, a string quartet in F Major nick-named the "American" Quartet. It became one of his best known compositions.

Here is a video on YouTube of the first movement of the American Quartet.

Located in Storm Lake, Iowa, the Heritage Tree Museum is a wonderful collection of trees from historical places all across America. The trees include a Laura Ingalls Wilder cottonwood donated by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in De Smet, SD.

Local boy scout, Darren Johnson has taken on the task of making repairs and improving the museum. The repairs and improvements are his community project to earn his Eagle Scout badge. His initial project was to bring more trees to the museum, but after consideration to mature size of the trees, Darren decided to make repairs and improvements to the outdoor museum.

Darren repaired identification markers and other parts defaced by visitors. He constructed a walking tour complete with an audio CD of the trees and history of  the museum. Darren wrote the master script for the CD and they are available for visitors to use.

Below is a link to the map of the park with trees numbered.

http://www.stormlake.org/city/Pages/heritagetreemuseummap.htm

According to the Composer's Datebook, this is the day in 1723 that Bach began his duties as the Cantor of the Saint Thomas School in Leipzig. The city would be his home for almost three decades.

Bach was not the first choice for the appointment. It seems the town council was more interested in his teaching ability than his musical compositions. One council member wanted it on record that Mr. Bach was not to compose any "theatrical compositions". According to the Composer's Datebook, there is no record of this council member's opinion of the numerous cantatas that Bach provided each week during his stay in Leipzig.

Laura Ingalls Wilder remarked in "Little Town on the Prairie" how much she disliked false front buildings. She was proud that her Pa's building did not need a false front to make it look taller.

The photo below is of a false front that still stands in Beadle County, SD in Bonilla. The photo is by Scott Myers. Scott did the photography for Picturing the Past, Historic Places of  South Dakota I am glad I ordered my copy when it was first published, as it is out of print already.

I went through Bonilla on my 2007 trip to the LIW sites and I am sorry to say it doesn't look like this now. It is basically a sound structure, but the side windows have been closed in and it has lost a lot of it's late 19th century charm. I am grateful to Scott for getting this photo for all of us to enjoy, while in it's original condition.

False front buildings had a vertical extension on the front going up beyond the roof line to make the building look taller and give small towns a more stately appearance and also helped give easterners a feeling of home in the west. Design wise, it helped give a air of continuity to the town.

According to Oldhouse web, it was rare for homes to have false fronts, but a few did have them. One example is a home in Richmond, Maine. The false front is a Greek Revival front which hides a typical Cape Cod style house. The photo below shows the residence. Photo is by Deb Holmes.

Sandra Hume will be the first one to tell you she is not an LIW researcher. Nonetheless, with help from a few other LIW fans, she has created a very informative LIW newsletter and blog.

Sandra lives a life very close to the ones lived by Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane. Actually it is a very interesting combination of the two.

Sandra's grandparents came to Boston from Europe, but did not migrate west. Sandra migrated west from Massachusetts and landed right in the middle of a farm in western Kansas.

Besides being a full time wife and mother of two, Sandra is also a free lance writer and editor. Several years ago, Sandra created The Homesteader, a twice yearly publication with news and photographs pertaining to latest in the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the LIW homesites.

Sandra ranks high on my list of most admired people. She runs the farm home, is raising two young children, maintains a home based business, and keeps Laura fans updated with the latest news.

Thank you Sandra!

The Auburn Area Community Theater is presenting a production based on how Laura Ingalls Wilder became a writer. It is a Young Actor Performance and will be presented over four days.

Here is what the Opelika-Auburn News reporter Brittany Whitley had to say:

The Auburn Area Community Theatre Young Actor Produc­tion of "Laura Ingalls Wilder," the biographical play portray­ing the life of the woman who wrote "Little House on the. Prairie," will begin today and 'conclude Saturday, May 17 at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center.

Shows today, Thursday and Friday will begin at 6:30 p.m. There will be two shows on Saturday at 2 p.m. and at 5 p.m.

"It's not 'Little House on the Prairie,' " Tricia Oliver, director Of the play said, "This is about Laura and how she came to be a writer."

Oliver said she picked the play because she loves its main char­acter. "I enjoy the stories,. and I think women will enjoy sharing this experience with their chil­dren," she said. "Laura is such a good, positive,' strong female character."