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T h u r s d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 1
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Theater brings 1970s flare to musical parable
CATCH A STAR
By Amanda Joering Alley ajoering@nky.com
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Jacob Violand, 9, of Fort Thomas, shops for animal treats, food and toys at a store the week after Christmas.
Fort Thomas 9-year-old donates Christmas money As the holiday season tailed off, 9-year-old Fort Thomas resident Jacob Violand came up with a “pawfect” way to spend Christmas money given to him by donating it to a nokill animal shelter. Violand donated $85 and four bags of items he purchased at a pet store including food, toys and treats with a $50 gift card to the The Pet Castle Animal Rescue in Florence the week after Christmas. “There wasn’t anything that I really wanted to buy, and I just love animals,” he said. Violand said he plans to donate money to help animals at least a few more times. “It really makes me feel good about myself, and I think I made a difference,” he said. The family has a yellow Labrador retriever, two cats, and a guinea pig, and all of them are from rescues, said Jacob’s mother Ellen Violand. Jacob talks about wanting to become a veterinarian,
and he’s always asking to bring another one home, but they have enough, she said. He wasn’t prompted to donate the money, but his decision brought proud tears to her eyes, Ellen said. “I’m just absolutely blown away that he came up with this on his own and just completely proud of him,” she said Ellen said she even asked Jacob if he wanted to keep a small portion of the money for himself, and he declined, and said he wanted it all to go to animals. After talking it over, they decided to search for a no-kill shelter, and when they took the money and four bags of donations to the Pet Castle, the staff talked to Jacob about how it will help prevent animals from being euthanized, she said. “I think because he’s always grown up with animals in our house that he’s just very attached to animals,” she said. He has a lot of compassion to animals, and he just wanted to help out.”
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Volunteers Needed
• Life Coach for Mentoring Plus, Dayton. Call 859982-5895. Meet with a teen one evening weekly at the Newport Salvation Army to lend support as a positive role model. • Physical education monitor for Notre Dame Urban Education Center, Covington. Call 859-2614487. Instruct and assist children with their daily physical education activity, which may include simple ball games, use of a Wii system, exercise equipment or group games. Provide supervision of children and compliance with rules. Set up and clean up at end of session. The program encourages children to be active and in good physical shape. • Math coaches for elementary schools for North-
ern Kentucky Education Council, Florence. Call 859282-9214. Each volunteer will work on a one-to-one basis with second grade student for 35 minutes per week on basic math skills that are essential for academic progress. Training (3-hours) will be held in late January and commitment is through end of this academic year. • Mailroom operations assistant for Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, Cincinnati. Call 513-287-7025. The Cincinnati Museum Center mailroom operations assistant will sort incoming and outgoing mail, pick up and deliver mail throughout the beautiful historic Union Terminal, prepare outgoing mail with proper postage and deliver copy paper and mailing supplies. Schedule can be flexible, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
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The Fort Thomas Independent Schools’ Community Theatre is bringing their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to the stage with a little twist. “We are staying true to the script, but using our costuming to add some hippy 70s flare,” said Director John Williamson. The musical, written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice in the 1960s, is the biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors. Williamson said after seeing how big the hit was when the middle school students performed it several years ago, he thought it would be perfect for the community theater. The production includes a large cast of 25 adults and 40 children from throughout the area. Kevin Duke, a 26-yearold Highlands High School graduate, said he participated in theater in high school and had Williamson as a teacher at the time, so he thought it would be fun to be part of the district’s community theater, which was formed a couple years ago. “We are really having a lot of fun, and even with our whirlwind rehearsal schedule, everything is coming together,” Duke said. In total, the cast is only rehearsing for about four weeks, which is unheard of considering most productions rehearse for around eight weeks, Williamson said. Vickie Pelgen, whose daughter goes to Highlands and is involved in theater,
said until this show, she hasn’t done theater work since high school. “I guess I just missed it,” Pelgen said. “I think it’s going great, everybody is working really hard, and I think it’s going to be a fabulous show.” Emily Carroll-Martin, a 1996 Highlands graduate who went on to get a theater degree in college, said she wishes there would have something like the Fort Thomas Community Theatre when she was younger. “I’m really glad to see that they got something like this started here,” CarrollMartin said. The show will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3; Friday, Feb. 4; Saturday, Feb.5 and Monday, Feb. 7 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, in the high school’s Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students/children and can be purchased in advance at www.showtix4u.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door one hour before each show. For more about your community, visit www.nky.com/fortthomas
AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/STAFF
From left: Lyttle German, Robert Breslin and Coleman Holmes act out a scene of the Fort Thomas Community Theatre’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
AMANDA JOERING ALLEY/STAFF
Amanda Sims and Kevin Duke rehearse a scene.
NKU Chase team second at arbitration competition Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law’s Arbitration Team took second place at the American Bar Association’s National Arbitration Competition held Jan. 21-22, in Chicago, Ill. The Chase Arbitration Team earned the right to compete in the national competition by winning a regional competition in November. “The team was ready to win from day one,” said Professor Richard Bales, director of Chase’s Center for Excellence in Advocacy and coach of the arbitration team. “They couldn’t have done it without the incredibly valuable assistance of the many Chase friends and alumni who contributed their time and talent to helping the students prepare for the competition.” The team of Alyse Bender, Jessica Biddle, Jonathan Davis and MyLinda Sims defeated teams from Stetson University College of Law, Chapman University School of Law and Fordham University School of Law. In the final round, the Chase team lost a split decision to Georgia State University College of Law. "The Arbitration Team has taught me how to dis-
NKU Chase Arbitration Team: MyLinda Sims, Alyse Bender, Jessica Biddle and Jonathan Davis. sect legal issues as a cohesive group, how to cultivate creative solutions to those issues, and ultimately, how to present a persuasive and professional case for a particular resolution to those issues," said Davis, a thirdyear Chase student. “It has been a privilege to be a part of an amazing team and to represent Chase on a national level,” said Sims, a third-year Chase student. “I believe our expe-
rience in the ABA National Arbitration Competition has provided us a tremendous opportunity beyond the classroom to obtain practice skills, which will aid us in our future legal careers.” The team owes special thanks to the following practitioners and professors who offered judging feedback prior to the national competition: Professor Ljubomir Nacev, David Bender, Rebecca Cull and
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Marielle Peck. Many other practitioners and professors provided judging feedback to the team prior to the November regional competition. “The experience gained from working together as a team to build a case and advocate for a client is invaluable,” said Biddle, a third-year Chase student. “I will continue to be proud of my teammates’ efforts in representing Chase.”