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(10/29/12 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU organizations and local nonprofits came together in support of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters annual Fall Fair and Haunted House Friday.At the Crestmont Boys and Girls Club on North Summit Street, the event provided an alternative for children in the community who might not have a chance to safely go trick-or-treating. Big Brothers, Big Sisters’ Community Programs Director Mark Voland said former Crestmont Resident Council President Donnie Hampton created the event.“He wanted to provide something for all the residents in the Crestmont community that would promote family togetherness, and a lot of the residents don’t have the funds to celebrate Halloween,” Voland said.The School of Public and Environmental Affairs V362 Nonprofit Management and Leadership class has helped organize this event for the last two years.Professor Al Lyons said he encouraged autonomy for his students as they helped Big Brothers, Big Sisters set up the event.“They’re pretty much an independent group,” Lyons said. “They’ve got to work with the organization to make sure they know what’s supposed to happen, and then they’ve got to make their part of it all work.”Class member Molly Newell said the students were responsible for contacting organizations and organizing the Haunted House, among other things.Newell said she was interested in this event because of what it would mean to kids in the area.“The Crestmont area is one of the less financially well-off areas of Bloomington,” she said. “Many don’t have transportation, so this is kind of their Halloween. It’s a great environment for them to come out, have fun activities to do, get candy and dress up.” Boys and Girls Club Unit Director Shawna Meyer-Neiderman said her organization supports this event every year because of what it brings to the community.“We are a part of the Crestmont community, so it’s a great way to bring the community together,” Meyer-Neiderman said. “We want kids in our door no matter which way we can get them.”Voland said the event was a resounding success this year and credits that success to all the help provided from Bloomington residents and IU student volunteers. “Over 400 people in the community came away smiling and laughing,” he said. “They shared an experience and felt good about the community they live in. That is no small thing.”
(10/25/12 2:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hoosiers cannot resist the evil of the thriller.On Saturday at 3 p.m., about 80 people from the Bloomington area will transform into zombies and gather at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater for the annual Thrill the World event.Created by Ines Markeljevic in 2006, Thrill the World allows people from all over the world to be “together” for a simultaneous performance of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance. Though not physically together, the event occurs at the same time worldwide. Bloomington residents have participated in the event since 2009 when University Division adviser and Thrill the World Bloomington organizer, Alice Dobie-Galuska, helped start the local edition in honor and remembrance of Michael Jackson.“The year he died, I felt, like many people, that I wanted to do something,” Dobie-Galuska said. “Plus, I was in high school when that song came out, so it was a big deal. I’m a big fan of his.” Each event raises money for a local non-profit organization of the local event organizer’s choice. This year, all money raised from the event will benefit The Cardinal Stage Company. Most of the event’s recruitment takes place via social networking sites. Participant Meaghan Herstad said she stumbled upon Thrill the World unintentionally. “The summer before the 2009 event, I was just surfing the Web and found a photo slideshow of flash mobs, and Thrill the World was in there,” Herstad said. “I looked into it a little more and found the event in Bloomington and joined right away.”For dance instruction, Dobie-Galuska said Panache Dance studio has always offered practice space and assistance. However, she said securing a venue has proved more difficult than getting the steps down. This year the event will take place at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.“The fact that we have the theater has appealed to people,” she said. “They’re doing it because they want to perform on that stage.”Herstad said due to the speed of the dance, it is usually taught at a slower pace and builds from there. She said she attributes her own success in learning the dance to practice.“I’ve gone to the group practices, and I’ve pushed the furniture aside and practiced in my living room,” she said. While dressing up like a zombie and performing one of the most beloved dances in history has its perks, Dobie-Galuska said what she really loves about Thrill the World is having people come together to participate in something important and fun.“There’s this community of people that learn ‘Thriller’ now, many of whom aren’t dancers or maybe never danced before,” she said. “They really love the song, they really love the video, they’re big fans of Michael Jackson and they wanted to be a part of this.”Dobie-Galuska said she also gets a kick out of the connection to the King of Pop.“Nobody dances like Michael Jackson,” she said. “His dancing is very inspiring to people. Even to dance kind of like him is thrilling.”
(10/18/12 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On Friday and Saturday, Bloomington venues will come together for Bloomingtone, a music festival that celebrates and introduces Hoosiers to a variety of music styles. The festival, run by IU’s Business Careers in Entertainment Club, benefits the Artful Learning program at the local Fairview Elementary School. Tickets can be purchased at the door of each venue for $5, or wristbands can be purchased for one or both nights for $10 and $15, respectively, at Landlocked Music on North Walnut Street.Festival Director and BCEC Vice President Stefan Scherer-Emunds said the focus of Bloomingtone is to give students and residents a chance to experience musical genres they might not be familiar with. “The festival is based off of the idea that a lot of people have eclectic music tastes, but usually programming is centered around one genre,” Scherer-Emunds said. “So, what we want to do is give people the chance to express their varied music taste.”Evan Chapman, a member of the classical percussion quartet Square Peg Round Hole, will perform at the festival.Chapman said the benefits for Fairview’s Artful Learning program make the festival special.“Any fundraiser for the arts is something that’s worth hosting and participating in,” Chapman said. BCEC previously organized a festival called Rock for Kids’ Sake, a one-day festival dedicated to showcasing rock music and benefiting the Artful Learning program. While the festival’s name has changed and its offerings have broadened, Fairview Elementary’s program remained the beneficiary, he said.“Obviously, music is the main focus,” Scherer-Emunds said. “But the other focus is the localness of it, and that program satisfies both of the focuses.”Bloomingtone features eight musical genres, including jazz, indie rock and classical, in nine different venues around Bloomington.Scherer-Emunds said he finds it exciting that the event could expose his band to a whole new group of people.“Bloomingtone will be a good opportunity for the public to see a group they might not normally see,” he said. “The group is very excited to be a part of something as big and diverse as Bloomingtone, and we are looking forward to playing for people that might not be a part of the percussion circle.”Scherer-Emunds said the most important reason to go to Bloomingtone is to support the Artful Learning program.“It’s something that people in the club and the artists involved can all unite around and feel passionate about, giving younger kids the opportunity to get into art the same way that we are,” he said.