NASCAR fans, the No. 12 Alltel Dodge is making a pit stop in Appleton this Thursday, June 28 and Sunday July 1. Fans can even practice their pit crew skills! See the press release below:

---

APPLETON, Wis. – This week, race fans in Appleton, Wis. will have a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with an authentic race car and test their skills with interactive pit crew challenges. Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, today announced that a replica of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, driven by Ryan Newman, will make pit stops from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 28 at the authorized Alltel agent at 3525 E. Calumet St. and from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 1 at the Alltel retail store at 307 Mall Dr. in Appleton, Wis.

For the ultimate pit crew experience, fans can grab an air gun and demo the interactive tire changer on an actual quarter panel of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger. There, fans can clock their speed in changing a tire and compare it to the 13-second pit stops routinely recorded by the Alltel Race team. Gas can kiosks will also be available for those who wish to test their skills on video game units featuring Ryan Newman’s signature racing game.

“Our show car experience provides a unique opportunity to bring the Alltel Racing program to the fans in their own communities,” said Samira Zebian, director sponsorship marketing for Alltel Wireless. “Despite their distance to a track, attendees will get a hands-on look at stock car racing complete with a team pit box and memorabilia. Plus, they can preview Alltel’s latest products and services, navigate the alltelracing.com website, and take home prizes to commemorate their experience.”

To find out where the No. 12 Alltel Dodge will make its next pit stop, and for more information on Ryan Newman and the Alltel Race Team, please visit www.alltelracing.com.

If you're new to the Appleton area, you should know about an excellent group that might be just what you need: The Appleton Area Newcomer's Club. I've known a number of people that received a lot of help from the Club in making new friends, and learning about and adjusting to the area. From their Website:

The Appleton Area Newcomer's Club was founded over 40 years ago. The main purpose of the club is to provide an opportunity for new residents to develop friendships, learn about the area, and become involved through a number of social, cultural, and community service activities. We are a social organization for couples, singles and their families. Our activities are organized around the interests of the club members and provide a great way to make new friends and at the same time have fun.

As a member of the Newcomer's Club, you will receive a monthly newsletter with the detailed information about our many socials and all the activities that we host and coordinate. You will also receive a member directory which is invaluable for communicating with the people you will meet at the various club functions.

Go to their Website and contact them today if you are new or will be moving here soon. Great resource!

According to the Appleton Art Center, Art in the Park will be July 29, 2007. Held in beautiful City Park, Art in the Park is an annual tradition that brings hundreds of artists into Appleton to showcase their work. It's a wonderful experience, part of Appleton's rich legacy of the arts.

The Far East Restaurant on south Oneida Street in Appleton, near St. Elizabeth's hospital, is one I've stubbornly avoided for years. I had a bad experience with the previous restaurant in that building, and unfairly kept that mental image as a barrier. But after hearing several people tell me how good the sushi was, I decided it was time to ignore an irrelevant past and give it a try. Good idea! The Far East Restaurant offers some of the finest sushi in the Fox Valley, in my opinion. The unagi - fresh water eel - was the best I've had, done perfectly and beautifully with a delightful sauce. The combination plate of sushi and sashimi was truly a pleasant surprise, with remarkably rich and tender fish and wonderful sushi rice. The tuna and salmon were rich and full in flavor, and the squid was some of the best I've had, tender and more flavorful than usual. So much was a pleasant surprise.

For three people, the cost, including tax and tip, was $72. That included two extra appetizers and four sushi orders in addition to the combination plate, which was priced at $38. (No drinks were ordered.) Everything is a la carte. Given that the Fuji Sushi buffer is $12 a person for dinner or $10 for lunch, as I recall, the Far East Restaurant might be viewed as on the pricey side, but if you're looking for great sushi, this should be on your list.

Ambience is pleasant and a bit dark. Quiet, comfortable. Excellent service. No complaints.

Far East Korean and Japanese: 1330 South Oneida Street, Appleton, WI 54915. Phone:
(920) 830-9810.

Be sure to try the unagi!

With nearly 200 floats and groups, the Flag Day Parade in Appleton is said to be the nation's longest Flag Day Parade. I love our Flag Day Parades, but I will admit that they are awfully long! But they are interesting throughout the lengthy time span, and represent an impressive amount of work on the part of organizers and participants. Here are some photos from our June 9 annual Flag Day Parade.

My son Mark having a banner day with Appleton East High School's Patriots - in the best uniforms for Flag Day, too!

A float from the Borthertown Indian Tribe.

A veteran from the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin.

Former Mayor DeBroux and his wife, Jean. Appleton's legacy of honorable and effective mayors is one of many things we can be proud of in this community.

Current Appleton Mayor Timothy Hanna - an outstanding leader that has done a wonderful job in steering Appleton forward. Former Mayor Dorothy Johnson is on the right - another of my favorite people and an ongoing force for good in the community.

Representative Al Ott from the Wisconsin Legislature. A popular leader from the area.

My son Stephen and my granddaughter.

I love Appleton for its parades. Our Memorial Day Parade is a great tradition, giving many marching bands in the area a chance to show off, and giving the community a chance to recognize the heroes who have fought for our freedoms. Here are a few images from the May 28, 2007 Memorial Day Parade along College Avenue on a beautiful Saturday morning. (One of my sons is featured in the second photo with the Appleton East High School Patriots.) Some of our local Hmong military volunteers are shown in a couple of the photos also.

Appleton East High School's graduation was supposed to be Thursday night. There was concern about a severe storm hitting the area that night, so on Thursday afternoon, the graduation was postponed to the next evening - the same time my wife and I were going to see The Lion King. Our son's graduation won out, so we gave our tickets to my oldest son and daughter-in-law (lucky break for them!) and enjoyed the commencement at Appleton East. It was great, though not quite the same as Broadway. Here are a few random photos from the event, including one of my son:





Turns out the dreaded storm was a non-event in this area. A little wind was all.

Over at FoxPolitics.net (an outstanding blog on politics and government in the Fox Valley), Jo Egelhoff explains what's happening with Valley Transit. With the loss of Federal funds, they have to look for new ways to maintain their business. A logical route is to work with the State to become a regional authority with State assistance - meaning some of your property taxes would be used. Jo points out the potential trouble: politicians can use that as a painless way to increase taxes and tap into more of your money. Interesting dilemma.

We do have a pretty good bus system in Appleton, but the buses are largely empty. Maybe when gas gets to $20 a gallon that will change?

Thursday I had a backstage tour of The Lion King, right between a matinee performance and the evening performance. The Company Director, Frank Lott, gave the tour to a group of about 15 lucky people. Many thanks to a kind member of the PAC Board for the chance to use her ticket for this tour.

We got to see the vast array of scenery, props, masks, costumes, equipment, and even cosmetics that are part of this incredible Broadway musical by Disney. Fifty-five actors tour with this company, one of six national companies and one of nine worldwide (including the new addition of a Lion King company in South Africa, whose opening night was Thursday), soon to be eleven. Frank Lott is the man in charge of all the hiring, the logistics, and pretty much the whole show. It's an incredible, intense experience.

Frank began by telling us how fabulous the Performing Arts Center is - "the most spectacular theatre" he has ever seen. He said it is absolutely perfect, that the designers thought of everything - including the need to have more extensive bathroom space for women to reduce lines during intermission. As we stood on the stage and looked out to the nearly 2000 seats of the theater, I could see what he meant when he said there isn't a bad seat in the house. Unbeknownst to Frank, Tom Boldt of Boldt Construction was in our tour group, so Tom was pleasantly surprised with the ringing endorsement of the building his company built.

I was especially impressed with the masks. Though they look heavy, the use of carbon fiber fabrics, molded and hand painted, allows them to be extremely light. Large masks two-feet tall might only weight 11 ounces. The puppets were also fascinating. Clever materials and engineering allow them to move in many ways guided by skilled operators.

Under the the deck is a mass of electronics and wires - 9 miles of wires - that are used in controlling and guiding scenery and other devices. Interestingly, in one city, I think it was St. Louis, they had repeated trouble with the motion of Pride Rock at the end of the play. It would roll automatically out onto the stage, but would stop early. They struggled for many days trying to find what was wring in the wiring of the wirelessly operated system and the associated electronics. They tore up parts of the deck and took many things apart to find the flaw. They finally tracked down the problem: near the end of the play, a stage hand was using a cheap microwave oven to heat up wet towels to help the actors remove makeup. The interference from the microwave oven was shutting down a major prop on the stage.

Frank also talked about the music. There are 11 musicians that travel with the company, and several local musicians are picked up in each city they go to for parts that aren't especially demanding. Among the 11 traveling musicians, I was intrigued to learn that the flutist has an extremely challenging role that requires playing on 13 different flutes during the course of the evening. Four of those flutes were especially made for The Lion King, such as unusual pan pipes.

Julie Taymor, the mastermind behind the stage rendition, was concerned that the cartoon version had no African music, so in developing the musical, a composer from South Africa was commissioned to provide a true African flavor to the music. Beautiful and also quite challenging at times.

Nine South African natives are part of Frank's company. For most, joining The Lion King and going to New York City represented their first time in the US. Several wanted to go on the Appleton tour to see what the rest of the United States was like.

The selection of Appleton as the first Wisconsin location for the Broadway Musical, The Lion King, is just huge for Appleton. Not Milwaukee, not Madison, not Green Bay or La Crosse or Racine, but Appleton. It's playing here through June 17. Tickets are sold out, but if you call the ticket office of the Performing Arts Center each morning at 10:00 am, you might be able to snatch some tickets that get turned back occasionally. I'm going this Friday night. Can't wait!