Audience, Philip Brunelle, Dan Dressen, Garrison Keillor, Tom Keith, John Koerner, Elizabeth Como Nelson. Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra,
Hark the herald angels sing (Audience ) The First Noel (Audience ) Steamboat Waltz ( Philip Brunelle ) Ice Music Suite ( Garrison Keillor ) Chestnuts Roasting in the Microwave ( Garrison Keillor ) A Tenor In a Department Store ( Dan Dressen ) The Frozen Fountain ( Philip Brunelle , Elizabeth Como Nelson ) The Christmas Cowboy ( Garrison Keillor ) Sail Away Ladies ( John Koerner ) Tumbling Tumbleweeds ( John Koerner ) The St. Paul Suite ( Philip Brunelle ) A Christmas Poem ( Garrison Keillor ) Land of Smiles ( Dan Dressen , Elizabeth Como Nelson ) O Come All Ye Faithful ( Garrison Keillor , Audience ) On The Road To Boston (Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra ) Merry Christmas ( Garrison Keillor ) Cowboy's Christmas ( Garrison Keillor ) Danville Girl ( John Koerner )
Bertha's Kitty Boutique (Isolation rooms for cats.) Fearmonger's Shop (The potential of getting VD from a public bathroom door knob.) Powdermilk Biscuits The Cough (A brief skit with Garrison, Phillip and Dan about coughing during a symphony.) The Dales Shopping Malls (Roy and Dale, Clydesdale, Airbdale, Teasdale, Chippendale and Mondale; Fine Shopping Centers near you!)
GK reads a letter from the only artist in the LW class of 1960, a painter. He did not write his usual letter because he had bought a word processor. At the last class reunion, he had mentioned to GK that he was worried because he was 44 and he had not had a mid-life crisis. He now makes his living painting Christmas cards. He lives in a neighborhood of expensive restored old Victorian houses. There are lots of bookstores about you can't buy a 2 x 4 or caulking compound. His car has a funny click in the axle but the mechanics he takes it to are really artists. They charge him $120 and they don't fix the car. He is looking for the secret of happiness. As a youth he switched from Christmas to sex as the secret of happiness. He got married to cross the river into the land of bliss. Today the kids make trial crossings but then the Lutheran church owned all of the boats. He walked around the lake two days before he was to be married. He rehearsed ecstatic cries of sexual joy. Maybe sex wouldn't be that exciting. He went to his wife-to-be's house and they crossed the river two days early. Today he thinks about going to Australia. He fears that despite his advantages, he and his wife may not reach the level of their parents. Wealth works against people's achievements like the word processor works against writing.
The LW Christmas tree has been erected. The tree was lit and so were some of those who put it up! Coughing in concerts. PHC really comes from Los Angeles. GK reads poems about winter and Christmas.
Sioux City Journal Dec 12 1986
Archival contributors: Frank Berto, Ken Kuhl