Terrace Mill children's theater

A crowd of at least 300 was on hand for the first showing of 'OZ!' at the Terrace Mill children's theater stage tonight.

It was amazing! A cast and crew of around 50 youth pulled off a truly impressive performance in the scenic Terrace Mill amphitheater.

The final two shows are at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday this week.

More to follow, including a link to watch video from tonight's show.

**Update: here's a web article link to share from the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website...the show was great!! You don't want to cheat yourself or your family by missing this: https://bit.ly/2SnCOfY.

*Here's a link to the Bonanza Valley Voice photo gallery with a few of the photos taken tonight in Terrace: https://bit.ly/2LraDMr.

On the topic of Fine Arts, I read in the Echo Press newspaper that Brandon-Evansville school district is exploring a building referendum for the voters in November 2019. I didn't read a total figure for their options, but the story mentioned one number that jumped off of the computer screen: $7.6 million. That figure of $7.6 million represents their school building a new, 450-seat auditorium.

Their school district is still in the "survey" mode and hasn't come up with a clear path forward. They are getting very late in the process with where they're at. The MN Department of Education has to see their building plan by August in order for B-E to receive approval from the state.

At B-B-E, the building referendum topic has taken crystal-clear form. At Monday's (July 15) school board meeting, the building packages were formally approved. These packages will be forwarded to MDE for approval. The first ballot question has building renovations and improvements totaling $16.96 million. The second ballot question has additional improvements totaling about $2.98 million.

I'm working on a story that outlines the full building project and the costs involved.

For my family's home, the positive passage of the levy referendum and both building bond questions would raise our property taxes by $224 a year or $18.66 a month. A bargain in my opinion to help us maintain what I feel is about one-third of the value of our homes/businesses...that is what a great school district is worth.