C Saturday, May 1, 2010
MMUNITY BUILDER Extra
8 Pages
Alexandria Detroit Lakes Morris New York Mills Park Rapids Perham Wadena In this issue of Community Builder, a quarterly publication of local Forum Communications newspapers, we take a look at some of the service groups that give back to Wadena and our area.
Silent Partners
Group has worked behind the scenes on big Wadena projects SARA HACKING
sarah@wadenapj.com
Over the years every small town needs a little TLC to preserve its charm and vitality. Behind the efforts of many recent improvements in Wadena is a partnership of community-minded individuals working to give the town a face lift and spur economic development. Partners for a Healthy Wadena Region began in May 2000 to assist the city with community improvements such as the downtown streetscape and restoration of the Depot and bandstand, said Executive Director Kay Browne. People don’t always realize the role Partners has played in retaining businesses and buildings in town, said board member and treasurer LeAnn Evans. “Partners plays a unique role in this community,” she said. “Really, we’re one of the best kept secrets in town.” Partners was an outgrowth of groups interested in Wadena revitalization who were concerned about the health of
Wadena in the mid-90s. “In 1996 we had a lot of broken and boarded windows and empty storefronts,” Browne said. “Things were deteriorating.” People in Wadena saw improvements in nearby towns such as Perham and Fergus Falls and were curious about how they got money for new streetlights and sidewalks, she said. After doing some research, they discovered the Small Cities Development Grant was something all the towns had in common. “That kind of started the whole push for community improvement back in 1997,” Browne said. Once the city developed a strategic plan and received a small cities development grant, Partners was formed as a funding mechanism for the eight priority projects in the strategic plan, she said. The first project Partners worked on was the streetscape, Browne said. That was a very involved project and took around seven years. During that time, Partners also helped See PARTNERS on PAGE 7
Photo by Sara Hacking
Partners for a Healthy Wadena Region Executive Director Kay Browne is working with a dedicated group of fellow volunteers to help local government improve Wadena. A major project the group has backed is the restoration of the Depot.
Creativity in the spotlight Madhatters gives the community live theater
Photos by Sara Hacking
Betty Hedstrom has been involved with Madhatters since the 1950s and loves to tell the story of Wadena’s community theater group.
SARA HACKING
sarah@wadenapj.com
If it takes a little madness to put on community theater, then Wadena’s Madhatters are aptly named. From the spectacle of big musicals like “The Sound of Music” to one-woman shows like “Sorry, Wrong Number” to putting on summer drama camps for kids, Madhatters Community Theatre brings live performances to town. “We give back to the community ... live theater, something they can’t get very easily in this area,” said Betty Hedstrom, who has been
involved with the group since before it even became known as Madhatters. The group’s first play was “I Remember Mama” in 1954. Hedstrom joined that fall with “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” and continues to support the group. Putting on a production requires going out on a limb, according to Allan Lynk, who joined Madhatters when the theater group was revived in 1976 after not having a local production since 1961. “I suppose in a way you’re kind of mad to attempt some of the these projects,” Lynk said. He dressed up as the
Madhatter from “Alice in Wonderland,” complete with a big top hat, a pocket watch and striped socks, and greeted people in the lobby during performances of the group’s most recent production, “On Golden Pond” this spring. Lynk was good friends with Bill Bradford, a theater professional who is credited with reviving the Madhatters. Bradford’s mother, Lillian, was one of the founding members of Madhatters. The first play for the revived group in 1976 was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and Lynk played the lead. Lots of young people participated, he said.
“In those days, it was a social phenomenon,” Lynk said. Quite a few marriages came out of it, including his own to Karen Johnson. Mary Phillips also joined Madhatters when it was revived. She’s a “drama person,” she said, and was in plays in junior high, high school and college. “It’s a wonderful feeling to be part of that community working on whatever the play is,” she said. Phillips began Storyplayers for the Christmas Festival. There were no auditions and everyone who wanted to could be involved with the group storytelling, she said.
Allan Lynk steps into the role of the Madhatter as he greets people before a performance of Madhatter Community Theatre’s most recent production, “On Golden Pond.” Lynk became involved with Madhatters when the group was revived in 1976.
She has done almost everything with Madhatters from performing to sweeping the floor, Phillips said. Her children were involved with Madcaps, which was a performing group for kids. Three generations of her family have been involved with Madhatters after her son, Pete Phillips, and his daughter, Madison, participated in “On Golden Pond.” There have been some ups and downs over the years in Madhatters like there is with anything, Lynk said. Hedstrom is so glad there
is an interest in Madhatters again, she said. People are asking what they are going to do and when. Madhatters have done dinner theater shows in the past at places like the Elks in Wadena and the golf course in Perham. People enjoyed that and she would like to do it again, she said. “I would like to see our future hold a musical within the next couple of years because I think the community enjoys them and we enjoy doing See MADHATTERS on PAGE 2
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