Good morning! I'm Sable Reding!
I'm Ashley Waller!
And I'm Kathy Kohlhaas! Welcome to another episode of the "Bear Facts", where we've got some good news to celebrate here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
"Perfectly executed ... smooth and pro-fesh". That's a line from the one-act play
The Last
Touchy-Feely Drama on the American Stage. It might as well have been a description of how many of Garrigan's speech students performed at state, though. Garrigan received four Division One ratings, and for the first time ever
two different groups of Golden Bears were judged
"Outstanding
Performers" and were invited to perform at the All-State Speech
Festival. Speech directors Mary McCall and David Burrow could not be more excited-and all the students who were nominated think it's pretty cool, too.
Getting to all-state in group speech is a big honor. In one-act play, for instance, there were 190 entries from around the state, and only eight of those will be performing at all-state. Garrigan was one of only two schools in northwest Iowa whose plays were selected to perform, and it will be by far the smallest school at the festival presenting a one-act play. The Last Touchy-Feely Drama on the American Stage explores what it would be like if sportscasters presented play-by-play commentary on a Broadway show in the same manner they do for sporting events. Jeff Hellman, Keshar Nadkarni, and John Kohlhaas play the sportscasters, while David Murphy and Eric Cassmann play two crackerjack off-Broadway actors who do a monstrously bad job of performing the play within a play.
The odds against getting to all-state in Ensemble Acting are even steeper. Out of 740 entries around the state, just 25 will be performing at all-state. One of those performances will be Steven Kellner and Autumn Thompson in "Sure Thing". The scene shows a couple who are meeting for the first time. Everything goes wrong, but each time one of the characters snaps their fingers, they can start over fresh. Steve tries every pick-up line in the book, and Autumn gives him every possible rejection. It's all in the timing, though. In the end, they hit it off and become a perfect match.
The Large Group All-State Speech Festival will be in Ames next Saturday, February 22. Opening ceremonies will be at eight o'clock. The Last Touchy-Feely Drama on the American Stage will perform at ISU's Fisher Theatre at 10:40am, and you can see "Sure Thing" in the Scheman Building at Iowa State Center at 2:10pm. Then at 4:45pm Autumn Thompson will accept the all-state awards on behalf of the school in a formal ceremony at the Stephens Auditorium. Admission is by $6 wristbands, which are available now at Garrigan. Be sure to get yours, and then go down to Ames to cheer on our all-state performers.
The all-state nominees were not the only success Garrigan had at state contest last weekend. Another acting ensemble called "The Committee Meeting" received straight Division One ratings and rave reviews. Sarah Erdman, Janel Richter, Andrea Schiltz, Rosalind Kirsch, and Keshar Nadkarni star in the show, which shows how people will use any excuse to keep from having to do something themselves. Garrigan's other Division One was in Group Improvisation. Jeff Hellman, Eric Cassmann, David Murphy, Rosalind Kirsch, and Steven Kellner earned the excellent rating for their portrayal of "being robbed by an inexperienced thief". Four other BGHS entries received Division Two, or "good", ratings at state.
Basketball play-offs begin next week. Next Wednesday the Golden Bear girls will host West Hancock in the first round of district action. The winner will then play next Saturday night versus either Clarion/Goldfield or Eagle Grove. Boys play-offs begin the following week, with the Bears playing Southern Cal at Manson on Monday the 24th. Good luck all through play-offs to all the Golden Bears!
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Tony Hilbert and Mark Kohlhaas. Here with the scoop on them is
Denise Kohlhaas..
Tony Hilbert comes to Garrigan from the Luverne area. Over the years his activities have included football, basketball, and intramurals. He has also won awards for his accomplishments in FFA. Tony is an avid sports fan who comes to almost every Golden Bear game. In the future he plans a career in agriculture, and we wish him all the best.
Mark Kohlhaas is a West Bend native who is a member of the National Honor Society. He is an award-winner in football, he enjoys intramural basketball, and in the past he ran track. Mark is also active in FFA and 4-H. He'll be off to college next year. Good luck to both Mark and Tony!
Thanks, Denise! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, tomorrow intramural action continues. Then next Tuesday the Golden Bear boys wrap up their regular season at Iowa Falls.
Wednesday the girls start district play as they host West Hancock. Then next Saturday there's the All-State Speech Festival at Iowa State University in Ames.
That's the "Bear Facts" for this week. Thanks for setting your dial here, and be sure to tune in again next week to hear more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
