can remember what happened years ago, but can't remember what happened
yesterday, you must be old. So, here's to you from an old person.
The Village Variety Show of March 14, 2004, named the Village Cornflakes
was indeed something to crow about. Dreamed up by Mary Weeks and Reta
Reed in 2003, the idea was presented to the Social Committee as one of
our upcoming January 2004 activities. Lois Hopkins welcomed the idea
wholeheartedly. By the time she and Jim left for home in Wisconsin, in
the Spring of 2003, many ideas had been tossed back and forth by the
trio. Reta was game for most anything, and Lois e-mailed back and forth
all Summer, so by the Fall the three had many ideas in the making. Mary
already had two clown costumes which she had made for a previous party,
so purchased material for one more. Carol Hoppe, Bea Lingle and Reta
would be our clowns whose antics would be fillers between acts. The
Monday afternoon singers and Wednesday morning dancers agreed in advance
to do some numbers for the show. Syncopated Skirts, (men's ballet) was
an idea Mary had kept in the back of her mind for many years. Martin
Aaser, Lee Hain, Jim Erie, and Stanton Rickey also agreed in advance to
take a chance on the unforeseen hilarity. Ione Johnson promised that she
would tap dance, telling Mary, "I will, if you will," so that added
another act to our show.
Reta came up with the idea of the old man and old lady on a park bench,
and we named the act, "The Hereafters." Jan and Bill Patton did a great
job of bringing the act to the stage. Lois Hopkins had heard Mike
Halvorson do an imitation of Foster Brooks at a party one night, and
convinced him he needed to do it for the show. Reta remembered a horse
trick they had pulled on a nephew at one time, and suggested we
incorporate it into the show. "Of course" said Mary, "we cannot do a
horse trick without a horse." Then she and Reta remembered a wonderful
horse costume they had seen at the Red Mountain summer theater, the
previous summer. After many phone calls they were able to locate the
horse costume and rent it for $20.00. Nancy Curtis would be the horse's
head, while Sandy Calhoun would be the horse's patoot! Earl Norton, good
sport that he is, said he would go along with the horse trick.
Jim Erickson graciously agreed to be the M.C., Lois Hopkins directed the
singers, while Maggie Green choreographed the Village Dancers. Dorothy
Aaser spent countless hours at the piano with the singers. Ken Berg was
most happy to play his ukulele as he accompanied Addey Rickey, singing,
"When I'm 64." Bob and Burnie Young volunteered to sing a number from
Fiddler On the Roof. Martin Aaser and Lee Haines did an Olie and Svwen
skit. John Kleckner would celebrate his 79th birthday by singing a solo
of "Old Man River," while Ken Berg, John Kleckner, Doris Kleckner, and
Jan Hermanson made up a beautiful quartet, singing the old song
"Juanita."
From the Internet we found the old Burma Shave slogans, and Bea made
fancy Burma Shave signs for us. They would be used by the clowns for
fillers between acts. Dark green sheets were strung up in front of the
big T.V. with the logo Village Corn Flakes printed across the front. Jim
Hopkins built a handsome stage for the affair, which was paid for in part
by the Social Committee. We will never know how much the stage actually
cost Jim. The Social Committee also reimbursed the Corn Flake committee
for a second microphone and extented microphone cords. Jim Hopkins and
Ken Libby were the stage crew, as it needed to be moved around at times.
The show committee and countless ladies baked dozens of Cornflake
cookies, and donated them to the show. Lyle Reed was in charge of the
goodies to be served after the show, while Roger Weeks video taped the
whole affair. We even had a big cast party a few nights before the show,
where the men modeled some of their tu tu's and leotards.
In the works for a year, the Village Cornflakes Variety Show was an
undertaking for only the strong hearted. At least fifty Villagers were
part of the cast, and many other unsung spouses had to be given credit
for their good humor and good sportsmanship. We believe it brought the
community together as nothing else could. Though the capacity of our
clubhouse is 105, we sold 125 tickets, knowing that many of the cast
members would be outdoors in the holding area, not occupying seats.
$350.00 was taken in. $37.50 plus untold hours of work were donated.
$164.70 was paid out for materials and supplys, and $185.30 was given to
the Social Committee after that succesful, not ever to be forgotten,
variety show.
_____________________________________________________
BONNIE BONIN 1923 - 2012 & HERB BONIN
They are survived by four children; Peggy Bonin of the Village, Brad (Louanne) Bonin, Diane (Don) Jackson, Rose Mary (Gary) Newhouse, 6 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
Herb was President of the Village at Apache Wells, H.O.A. for several years, and did a great job of policing the pool area. His favorite expression was, "Keep smiling !" Herb was not afraid to go up to a stranger at the pool and ask if they were members or invited guests of someone in the complex. More than one intruder was sent on his or her merry way.
I first remember Herb being at the pool, where he always sported a beautiful tan, and had a nice thing to say to his neighbors. He was a faithful and supportive fan to all the Iowa teams, but especially the Hawkeyes.
BONNIE (Wyvonne) BONIN passed away April 16 after a short time in Hospice. This follows Herb's passing by just one week.
Former Village resident, Herb Bonin, passed away on April 10, 2012. Herb was born on June 21, 1923, in Buckeye, Iowa. Herb had only one brother.