Entertainment Briefs — Aug. 10

The Brainerd Book Club will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, at the Brainerd Public Library at 416 S. Fifth St. for its next book discussion: “The 7 ½ Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle” by Stuart Turton.

In the novel, Hardcastle will die every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Bishop wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others.

Library staff members lead the discussion and often recommend related books and other materials available through the library.

Copies of this book are available for checkout at the front desk of the Brainerd Public Library at 416 S. Fifth St. The Friends of the Brainerd Public Library support this book club by providing the funds to purchase 10 copies of a title for patrons to borrow.

Performances in the Park will continue with Norm’s Bait & Tackle at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, in Gregory Park in Brainerd.

Norm’s Bait & Tackle Choir is a Brainerd lakes area group that plays a wide variety of music and has delighted audiences throughout central Minnesota, according to a news release, and their unique style, zany antics and humorous song parodies are sure to tickle your funny bone.

They play the best hunting and fishing tunes of all times and their arrangements of classic, rock 'n’ roll and country favorites are sure to make you clap your hands and sing along, according to the event’s organizers.

All the members of this group have played in other bands for many years and have entertained audiences at convention centers, community centers, fairs and festivals throughout Minnesota.

Performances in the Park is a collaboration between the Brainerd Parks and Recreation Department and The Center. Those attending should bring a blanket or lawn chair. The rain site during inclement weather is The Center at 803 Kingwood St.

A night filled with your favorite Eagles music performed by The Fabulous Armadillos and Collective Unconscious will take place from 6-10 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, on the driving range at the Pines Golf Course in Nisswa.

The cost is $40 per person and tickets are available online at https://bit.ly/3ylIL2b .

Brainerd Dispatch archives

“Rain & Red Clay” is the title of the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, performance presented by the Lakes Area Music Festival at the Tornstrom Auditorium at 804 Oak St. in Brainerd.

For many of us, the land of our ancestors holds a special power. For the Afro-British composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, that fascination drew him to the music and culture of Black America, where his forebears had been enslaved.

The festival will present his clarinet quintet alongside two of his influences: the European tradition of composers like Brahms; and Black American music, which uses blues riffs to create a woodwind quintet with a southern accent.

In the weekend’s “Ariadne auf Naxos,” hilarity and misadventure ensue when two productions — one a grand opera and the other a comedic farce — are forced to perform their shows simultaneously.

For the Lakes Area Music Festivals annual opera production, organizers will present a masterpiece by Richard Strauss which satirizes showbusiness as it explores the widest range of musical and theatrical possibility, from Greek tragedy to irreverent Commedia dell’arte.

Performances will be at the 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12, and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts at 702 S. Fifth St. in Brainerd.

The Crossing Arts Alliance will distribute creativity kits 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 13, on tables inside of the Crossing Arts building, 711 Laurel St., downtown Brainerd.

These kits have two art projects, a coloring sheet and more.This month, we will be creating stick people and learning about bookbinding. Creativity kits are free to the public. Kits are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Creativity kits are a way of engaging our young artists and spreading the joy of art to our community,” stated Martin Nelson, Crossing Arts Alliance media support specialist and gallery exhibition coordinator, in a news release. “Our goal is to offer projects that show the many different ways of being creative because you never know what's going to light up a kid's imagination and help their creativity bloom.”

The kits are brought to the community by Crossing Arts members and supporters, and sponsored by Midwest Security and Fire.

“We offer them for free so that everyone can enjoy them, and receive the support of numerous businesses, individuals and Crossing Arts members who believe that the arts are for everyone,” Nelson said.

The kits are partially funded by the voters of Minnesota through grants from Five Wings Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

For more information, contact the nonprofit art center at 218-833-0416 or info@crossingarts.org .

The Johnny Holm Band will perform again at the 2022 Manna for Malawi benefit fundraiser from 2-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Bridge Tavern north of Crosby.

In addition to the music, attendees can eat pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw and chips while checking out the raffle ticket and silent auction items.

The cost to participate is a free-will offering to help feed and educate orphans in Malawi in southeastern Africa, one of the poorest nations in the world.

Last year's event raised more than $42,000. Money from the fundraiser last year sent students to high school and college. The Malawi government does not pay for universal education for its youth past eighth grade.

Money raised this year will go for the feeding program, farm equipment and education for orphan children and working to build a safe space for Malawi girls to protect them from forced marriages.

Manna for Malawi supports the Malawi Orphan Care Project, a nonprofit organization. For more information, visit www.malawiorphancareproject.org .