Ross Begins NIACC and Moves to an Apartment

College classes began for Ross on August 25. Enrolled in the Engineering program--Pre-Calc, Chemistry, Speech & Comp, and an Engineering course made him a full-time student.

The 7:40 a.m. Pre-Calculus class was one of the reasons Ross wanted to be closer to campus; so on September 7, we moved Ross and his high school friend, Jake, into an apartment in Mason City.

Ross continues to tend bar at the Diamond Jo Casino, but is hoping to find a job closer to his new home. If you would like to send Christmas greetings to him, his address is 340 S. Yorktown Pike Apt. 14G, Mason City, IA 50401.

Ask him to show you his tattoo sometime.

Confessions of a Pre-Teen Drama Queen

Mary began her third year in drama class this fall and continues to enjoy the weekly thespian experience in Mason City. Last May as the nearly nine-month session of her second year was coming to a close, she enjoyed participating in the Stebens Children's Theatre annual variety show, "Stepping Out at Stebens." Along with her other Tier 2 classmates, she performed a fun song and dance routine to the "Happy Working Song" from the movie "Enchanted." The picture here was on the front page of the entertainment section in the Mason City Globe Gazette.



This year's Tier 3 class continues scene study and acting techniques but focuses on the realm of musical theatre; music videos, singing and dancing, and will again end in a variety show performance. At age 9, Mary is now eligible to try out for Stebens' main stage productions and is looking forward to the opportunity.

In addition to drama class, Mary began taking piano lessons this year. This fits right into her long-term plan to become a professional entertainer.

Clay County Fair and the Corbin Bleu Concert

On Saturday, September 13, we drove to Spencer, Iowa, to the Clay County Fair. Corbin Bleu of the Disney's High School Musical movies was scheduled to appear in concert, and we had purchased our tickets two months in advance at Mary's behest.

Mary was absolutely giddy, and we had arrived early to walk around and check out the exhibits. She began asking what the time was shortly after we arrived and continued asking every four to six minutes until concert time. It was all we could do to contain her excitement until we were finally able to enter the grandstand and find our seats.

During the concert, Mary was mesmerized. She danced, screamed, clapped, sang along, cheered and just plain beamed with joy. For Joel and I, it was more fun watching her than the teeny-bopper performing on stage--When did I get old??? The bass was more than I could stand reverberating in my chest like an unwanted pacemaker, and I actually felt my hair being blown back by the sound coming out of the skyscraper-sized speakers directly in front of our section. Joel commented that his vision blurred and jumped with each BLAM of the drum.

Mary, who is usually very sensitive to noise and bothered by high decibels, was oblivious to the fact that her parents' hearing was being irreparably damaged.

After the final encore of the concert, the fireworks commenced. Mary who had not flinched or complained once during the entire deafening concert now huddled into Joel's shoulder...and cupped her hands over her ears.