A few years ago I tried a fish fry at Waverly Beach and it was pretty good. Went again a couple of weeks ago and it was even better. Most of the activity at Waverly these days seems to be in the large bar area, but behind the bar overlooking Lake Winnebago is a reasonably sized dining area with good service and excellent, inexpensive food. And I really love the view of the lake.

My wife ordered a seafood combination plate with shrimp, haddock, perch, and scallops. All were deep fried. I am not normally a fan of deep fried food, but it was done so well at Waverly's that I couldn't resist. The breading was light and thin, so it didn't overwhelm the seafood or cover it in grease. What really impressed me was that at least three different batters appear to have been used: a spicy batter for the shrimp, a light batter for the perch, and a traditional batter for the haddock. I'm not quite sure, but the point is that they different seafood items were all prepared in distinct ways that helped bring out the flavor, instead of everything being teated the same and tasting the same. The scallops were perfect - not overcooked. The haddock was my favorite, but the shrimp was also excellent.

I ordered a Philly sandwich with prime rib. The meet was sliced fairly thick compared to the normal Philly style sandwiches, but was very good. Nicely seasoned. I enjoyed it - but especially enjoyed nibbling at my wife's food.

The sandwich was $9 and the seafood plate was $14, as I recall. Not bad at all! Hope to be back soon.

Here are a few photographs from Appleton's wonderful Memorial Day Parade held this morning on College Avenue. If you missed it this year, be there in 2010. For even more photos, see my page of photos from the May 25, 2009 Memorial Day Parade in Appleton. It's a big page, so be patient.

For the photos below, click to enlarge.

Representative Steve Kagen chats with some soldiers from an Airborne unit of the US Army before the parade begins. Mayor Tim Hanna can be seen in the back.

Representative Steve Kagen chats with the Honor Guard before the parade begins. Glad he was here for this event!

The tall guy near the front in this photo is my son, Mark Lindsay

Mayor Tim Hanna was toward the front of the parade. I hope he enjoys all these Appleton parades as much as I do!

I love Memorial Day and Appleton's long-standing Memorial Day Parade. This is a wonderful time to honor those who have given their all to defend this nation. It's also a time to remember those who are now serving and those who serve. I'm a big fan of veterans and am shocked at the slurs against them by certain extremists at the Department of Homeland Security. They are a source of liberty, not a threat to it. God bless our veterans and all those serving in the armed forces and their families.

The Zeltsman Marimba Festival (ZMF) is coming to Appleton, June 28-July 11, 2009. Marimba experts will be congregating and performing here, with over 20 performances scheduled. Don't miss the ZMF New Music Gala Concert Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 2pm in Harper Hall, nor the opening concert on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 8pm in Stansbury Theatre at Lawrence University. The ZMF.us site gives details on performances and tickets.

Here's the announcement from ZMF.us:

ZMF and Lawrence University present ZMF 2009: June 28 to July 11, 2009

The eighth edition of Zeltsman Marimba Festival, Inc. will be held in Appleton, Wisconsin, co-sponsored by Lawrence University, ZMF’s biennial home. The marimba seminar will be attended by nearly 60 marimbists and percussionists from around the world.

A series of eight concerts—open to the public—will feature this year’s renowned faculty, special guests (including jazz pianist Lyle Mays), and emerging marimba stars. They’ll perform music ranging from classical and contemporary to jazz, in solo and chamber music settings.

ZMF 2009 will be a landmark event in marimba history. 24 new solo marimba pieces—the fruits of a three-year project called ZMF New Music—will be unveiled by this year’s faculty. 16 of these works were written by some of the most esteemed composers of our time, and eight are the winners of an international composition contest.

The smart thing to do is to buy the Package A ticket for $35. Advance reservations are possible only for one of the shows, the one by the famous Lyle Mays on July 10. Make your reservations now!

One of the marvelous traditions of the Appleton area public schools is the Annual Commencement Concert for our three public high schools. It is held at the Lawrence Chapel on the Lawrence University campus. A handful of top soloists are selected to perform a major work accompanied by the symphony orchestras of the respective schools. Last night we had eight soloists in a beautiful program that made me extremely proud of our young people in the area and the tremendous music education programs that our Valley offers.

The soloists last night were:

• Madeleine Schoch, dance, Appleton West


• Ben Gooding, marimba, Appleton West


• Evan Hunt, trumpet, Appleton West


• Eva Knab, violin, Appleton East


• Max Feldkamp, piano, Appleton East


• Karen Chu, violin, Appleton North


• Ariana Douglas, soprano, Appleton North


• Vinodh Muthiah, piano, Appleton East but accompanied by the Appleton North Symphony Orchestra

Each performance was exemplary and beautiful. But the closing number was a tsunami of musical brilliance. Vinodh Muthiah flawlessly presented the demanding and beautiful "Rhapsofy in Blue" by Gershwin - the entire 17-minute piece, from memory. Amazing performance. It brought the house down with a spontaneous standing ovation. Bravo!

Here are a couple photos from the many highlights of the evening. The first is of Ariana Douglas, whose stunning soprano performance made several of us conclude that this girl has a career in opera. I spoke with her afterwards and was pleased tolearn that she is planning on studying opera at Madison. I think we'll be seeing her name in lights before long. She's also a very sweet and humble young lady.



The next photo is of Vinodh performing, followed by a poorly-lit shot of all eight finalists at the end. What amazing young people! Am so grateful for the musical opportunities that the Appleton area offers so many young people. A tremendous way to prepare for a meaningful life.

The musical Carmen was at the Performing Arts Center last night. The Fox Valley Symphony was terrific and the performances of many individuals and the White Heron Chorale were outstanding. One more reminder of what an incredible place Appleton is for the arts. The talent of the many voices in the cast and the Symphony were truly impressive. In larger cities, you'd have to fight an hour of traffic, pay $30 parking, and pay much more for tickets. Here in Appleton, thanks to the PAC and the tremendous arts-supporting community, we have it brought to our doorstep where people can park for $1 in the parking ramp by the PAC or for free if they walk a couple of blocks. Kudos to the cast and crew for a terrific evening. But please tell me, what was up with using real cigarettes?

There is a famous smoking scene in Carmen where women workers departing from a cigarette factory tempt soldiers as they smoke. The scene can be done without lit cigarettes. There are stage cigarettes that can be used which rely on talcum powder or use other methods to produce simulated smoke. But even unlit cigarettes are fine for a stage performance when the audience isn't too close and understands that real smoking would be unwise. Nothing would have been lost by having people wave fake cigarettes in the air and pretend to smoke. We would have gotten it. This is the modern era: we understand that smoking is dangerous, that it causes cancer and numerous other diseases, that it is offensive and irritating to many non-smokers, that it can harm nearby non-smokers, and that it is one of the worse things a singer could choose to do. But to require singers to smoke? Hello?

Not only was the use of tobacco dangerous and harmful for those who were required to smoke on stage, it also had a negative effect on everyone on stage (orchestra included) and on many in the audience. One person near the front told me after the performance that he almost had to walk out because of his physical reaction to all that smoke. At the very back of the PAC, in the cheap seats, my wife had physical irritation from the smoke in that scene (was more of a problem for her - I was OK, actually, just a touch of irritation). In a city with a smoking ban, this was really a surprise. (Though for the record, I disagree with the smoking ban for private bars and restaurants because I feel that private property owners ought to be able decide what is and is not allowed on their property. But banning it in indoor public arenas like, say, the PAC makes a lot of sense.)

During the smoking scene, long before I realized that real cigarettes were in use, I whispered to my wife, "Sponsored by the Philip Morris Corporation." Hey, maybe I was right! Hundreds of young people were exposed to the example of beautiful professional singers getting a fix of real nicotine with cigarettes, in a positive and seductive way. Would be hard to come up with a better ad than that. Is it beyond reason that Philip Morris or some other tobacco corporation night provide a little help for productions like this? At least a few cases of complimentary low-tar cigarettes? If not, they're missing a huge opportunity. ;)

OK, I'm overreacting, but I hope in the future these issues will be considered from a variety of perspectives. Across the pond, the Scotts took a difference approach. For its performance of Carmen, the Scottish Opera went beyond merely using talcum-powder cigarettes to present a revised, healthier version of that scene. Might have been a wise decision.

So here's my suggested revision (update: uh, this part is not serious - sorry if that's not clear!). In addition to using fake cigarettes, let's also fix the ending. I hate the stupidity of the final scene. Carmen is clearly at risk as her drunken ex-lover is threatening her in a public place with lots of help around. She should have simply fled, screamed for help, got a restraining order, and survived. Instead, she virtually walks into the loser's knife to let him stab her. How stupid. If Carmen must die, let's make it a little more plausible. In the final scene, as she faces Don Jose, she begins coughing and then keels over from emphysema or lung cancer as Don Jose signs a mournful song about how tobacco killed his true love. Now that would be a tragedy more people could related to, for it's one that hundreds of thousands of people have experienced due to the horrific dangers of that addictive drug, tobacco - a drug that people should never be required to use, on-stage or off, and one that audiences should never be exposed to in any presumably smoke-free theater without warning.

There's a full-page ad in the Post-Crescent tonight from a jewelry company that is coming to town for a few days to buy gold, silver, jewelry, silverware, etc. These ads sicken me because I know people are selling WAY below fair value to these operators. There are local shops in town that can give you much better prices, and I know collectors who will gladly given you much better prices as well.

I called the company and asked what they pay for ordinary old, worn silver dollars such as 1921 Morgans - a common but beautiful old silver dollar. These go for $14 to $18 on Ebay or in coin shops, more if the condition is good. Just the silver in one of those is worth about $10 right now, and you should be able to sell it for over $10 to coin shops in town. But the lady on the phone said they are paying $6, or as high as $8 if the condition is good. For old ordinary silver quarters, they pay $1.50, when these sell for about $3.00 each and coin shops will give you something like $2.50 or close to it. Before you give away your valuable goods, take it to one or two local coin shops - or better yet, wait for the value to increase. Let me know if you have questions or would like to be pointed to some great dealers.

"Former Kimberly-Clark Corp. executive Kathy Seifert a 'dynamo' in helping the Fox Cities" is the multimedia story by Ed Lowe in the Post-Crescent about a special honor just received by Kathi Seifert. Receiving the Walter L. Rugland Community Service Award for her remarkable and steady service to the community is a great honor, one well deserved. Those who have had the honor of working with Kathi know that she genuinely cares for people and really thinks and acts with the future in mind.

Be sure to watch the video at the page linked to above. That page also provides many details about Kathi and her service, and gives this information about the award:

The Walter L. Rugland Community Service Award recognizes an individual who has positively impacted the quality of life in the Fox Cities through his or her leadership influence, long-standing commitment and enthusiasm and personal and professional volunteer service to diverse organizations in the community.
Award winners receive $5,000 for their charity of choice. The Walter L. Rugland, which has been awarded since 1998, has recognized the following people:
2008: The Rev. Robert Udulutsch
2007: William Schmidt
2006: Paul Hoffman
2005: John J. and Ethel D. Keller
2004: William A. Selle
2003: John F. Bergstrom
2002: Charles E. "Chick" Fenlon, M.D.
2001: Frank and Marilyn Wiesner
2000: Joyce Bytof
1999: Dr. John and Sally Mielke
1998: James Hayes

Congratulations, Kathi!