Cream of the Crop
Consuming Fire School of Dance
Consuming Fire School of Dance will present a variety show of Tap, Clogging, Modern,
Musical Theater, and a debut of one of the dance from the Nutcracker Ballet, to be
performed this December.
Alliana Hurd
Allaina Hurd lives in Gordon, Nebraska, with her parents, Jason and Laura Hurd, and her little sister, Courtney. She is thirteen years old and is in eighth grade. She has been performing publicly since she was five years old and specializes in vocal, ukulele, guitar, and piano. She is also a songwriter. Allaina has competed in several music competitions (winning $1,200 in college scholarships for vocal performance and songwriting) and is a two-year state champion of the Nebraska Lion’s Club Talent Contest. She will be performing various types of music including Broadway tunes, Christian worship songs, and some original compositions.
B.J. Jamison
From the Sandhills of southwest Cherry County hails 15 year old, B.J. Jamison. B.J. began experimenting with an electric guitar when he was 13, and taught himself how to play mostly by ear. It wasn’t long before he bought his own electric guitar and his desire to learn intensified. B.J. entered a talent show when he was 14, playing and singing Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”. He is a huge Johnny Cash fan and tends to lean toward traditional country music when he looks for new songs to learn. Brett Burress gave B.J. his first opportunity to play with a band last year when the Cobb Family Band was playing at the Cherry County Fair. A few weeks later Brett invited him to play and sing with the Twin River Band in Cody, and he’s been with them ever since. Brett and B.J. soon started having practice sessions and Brett continues to help B.J. develop his guitar skills, along with the other band members and the Cobb family.
Athena Peppel and Students
Featured on the Cream-of-the-Crop stage this year is Athena Peppel and some of her diversely talented local music students. They will be performing music from the Old West, gospel songs, and a bunch of old favorites. The group will be playing music on the piano and several stringed instruments with some vocals thrown in too. With their youngest performer at only 6 years old, it promises to be a fun and crowd-engaging program!
Chris Douglas
Chris Douglas lives in Kilgore where he operates Welker Manufacturing,the Sandhills’ premier manufacturer of bulk feed storage and handling equipment. Chris began playing the piano at age six when his mother informed him he would take piano lessons and practice on a daily basis. His piano education continued on through college at Texas A&M University – Commerce where he studied math, engineering and some music, and graduated in 2003 with a B.S. mathematics. He currently plays piano once a month for church services at the First Presbyterian Church in Gordon. In his “spare time” he enjoys doing construction work, flying his plane, and traveling with his girlfriend, Dawn. Chris’ repertoire includes very few compositions from the Classical era, several from the Romantic and Impressionistic eras and many from popular artists of the last forty years.
Yvonne Hollenbeck
Yvonne Hollenbeck, a Gordon native, has previously appeared with her award-winning cowboy poetry, or accompanying her father, Harry Hanson, and his music partner, Billy Gibbons, on the piano, but this year her presentations will involve quilts and quilting from five generations of her family, all of whom lived on the prairies of Nebraska. Her first show, Patchwork of the Prairie, will be a trunk show of family quilts made on the prairies of Nebraska, beginning in 1875. These quilts will be accompanied by photos of the makers and the homes they lived in accompanied by an original poem or two. The second show, The Fabulous Feedsack Era, will revisit an era in the not-so-long ago, when money was scarce and printed cotton feed and flour sacks were the fabric of choice. This will be an entertaining program where you will see actual unused sacks, historical photos, items and quilts made from sacks, and even a style show of feedsack aprons. Yvonne lives on a cattle ranch in South Central South Dakota, near the tiny village of Clearfield. Her popular programs are presented across America and are on both the South Dakota and Nebraska Humanities roster.
Jim Salestrom
Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley were American Superstars – They were easily the most famous Americans of their time – in the 1880’s and 1890’s
They were more famous than Theodore Roosevelt. The year is 1917. Come with us and experience a celebration of William F. Cody’s life
100 years ago…
Two Years in the making, this tribute to Buffalo Bill is a multi media event (large projected images from archives at the Buffalo Bill Grave and Museum), with original songs from the Emmy award winning song writer Jim Salestrom.
Jim will also be performing his John Denver tribute with behind the scenes stories, songs and a special video of the legendary performer.
