“Thinking about homeschooling your kids? (Gretna Breeze)” plus 2 more

Thinking about homeschooling your kids? (Gretna Breeze)
Williams, Sears bring three ‘Tuna Does Vegas’ performances to Hub City (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)
Parents hear options for reconfiguring schools (Garden City Observer)

Thinking about homeschooling your kids? (Gretna Breeze)

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 01:26 AM PST

The orientation meeting will give new homeschoolers or families interested in homeschooling the opportunity to ask questions, obtain help with paperwork, receive lots of helpful information about resources and activities in the Omaha metro area, as well as connect with other parents who are just beginning the home education journey.

Call or e-mail Shana Baker for information at sbaker5@cox.net or 332-4449.

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Williams, Sears bring three ‘Tuna Does Vegas’ performances to Hub City (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 01:02 AM PST

"Jaston (Williams) may be the funniest human I know," said Richard Privitt.

A great many theatergoers are bound to agree, seeing as how Williams and Joe Sears have sparked laughter nationwide for years with "Greater Tuna," "A Tuna Christmas" and "Red, White and Tuna."

Privitt, an audience relations specialist for Texas Tech Theatre, is referring to Williams both on and off stage, adding, "I know that he is a master storyteller, and there is usually something hysterical that he uncovers in the process. He is bright and perky and wicked, wicked, wicked. Just a wonderful person to spend time with.

"I'm so glad I saw ('Blame It On) Valentine, Texas,' because Jaston connected with not just the humor, but the pathos, of growing up in West Texas. He is a true home-grown talent."

There is more to Williams than comedy. In fact, he's spread his wings quite a bit on stage, performing personal one-man shows, taking part in an anniversary production of "The Laramie Project," and earning raves for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the one-man show "Tru."

Offstage has been no less challenging, as Williams and his partner adopted a Chinese child five years ago. His son, now 12, was given the English name of Kenneth, but prefers using his Chinese name, Song.

"So that's what we call him," said Williams. One can sense his smile when he says, "Our life has become very Asian."

This month, however, also finds Williams and stage co-writer and co-star Joe Sears taking at least a dozen of their funniest Tuna, Texas residents across the state line.

The fourth play in the "Tuna" series is "Tuna Does Vegas."

It will enjoy its Lubbock premiere with performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, at the City Bank Auditorium.

Mind you, early Tuna discussions proved frustrating. "They all sounded so derivative," Williams explained.

"It was just another day in Tuna on a different holiday, like Halloween. But then we asked, what if we took them out of their environment: Let's just take them to Sin City."

The playwright took what he calls "research trips" to Las Vegas, and insists what he saw was so strange that it couldn't be made up. "I saw a big Hooters resort next to the Catholic church, and I met the most hostile professional bridesmaid.

"One too many weddings is my guess."

He described the woman — "sleeveless bridesmaid dress with an itchy tattoo" — in detail. While she is not a character in "Tuna Does Vegas," she definitely is discussed.

Sears and Williams wrote the play in secret, completing it in eight months.

When another producer kept delaying an opening, Williams and Sears — busy as writers and performers — decided to produce the new play themselves. That meant extra pressures, but the positive was that they could control the hiring of their own management staff.

It was impossible to keep "Tuna Does Vegas" a secret any longer, and the owner of the Grand Opera House in Galveston was begging them to let her announce an opening.

Six weeks later, the show debuted. "And by the fourth night, we were in the black for the entire run," said Williams.

With Song already 12 years old and Sears wanting to spend time with his granddaughter, both performers want to spend less time on the road. Now there's no outside producer hounding them to perform more shows.

Williams enjoys writing more than acting. One example is his personal play about growing up in Crosbyton and later studying theater at Texas Tech. He came to Lubbock last year and gave a benefit performance of "Blame It on Valentine, Texas," giving all of the proceeds to Lubbock Community Theatre. Before leaving town, he also gave a one-day master class.

"I loved being able to encourage writers from this part of the world to write about what they know," he said.

In fact, he said he wants to do another benefit for Lubbock Community Theatre and, when he returns, next time he wants to oversee an "intensive three-day writing workshop."

He remains close with Lubbock theater veterans, mentioning Pam and Jay Brown, Privitt, Kim Ansolabehere and more by name.

"It was an emotional time for me, and extremely rewarding, to do something in Lubbock," said Williams. "Which may be why I'm writing about that time of my life. When I did 'Valentine," I also saw Cliff and Sylvia Ashby in the audience.

"And all my friends from high school were there."

Brown, now managing director at Lubbock Community Theatre, mentions seeing Williams, as a Tech freshman, perform opposite Privitt and G.W. Bailey in "A Man for All Seasons." Brown also recalls that Williams won an acting award for playing Prince John in "The Lion in Winter."

"He beat me out for a role in 'The Boys in the Band,' " said Brown. "Those were great years. It is wonderful to see Jaston attain success."

Cathy Jung, who works with Tech's College of Visual and Performing Arts, has her own memories of Williams. They grew up together in Crosbyton.

Years later, she was in the audience with Steve Martin and Lorne Michaels when "Greater Tuna" was performed for the first time off-Broadway.

Martin and Michaels wanted to meet Williams. As everyone congregated backstage after the show, Jung said, "Jaston rushed over to me and gave me a hug, and we immediately started reminiscing.

"I'm not even sure he realized at first who else was there."

Williams has another reason for devoting more time to writing: a near-death experience that struck eight years ago.

He had almost every symptom of a heart attack, but pulled through. "It got me thinking there was a lot of stuff I wanted to do besides 'Tuna.'

"I got home and began writing about personal experiences. Now I drag notebooks with me, and I am toying with a novel. I know I'll write it; I can't guarantee it will get published."

Researching his own life, Williams said, "There were so many wonderful folks where I grew up, and I've had a good time dealing with them satirically with 'Tuna.' But now I think more about reality. I grew up here in the late 1960s. That was an amazing period, but that's my perspective as a kid.

"So I've been digging into old Avalanche-Journals on microfilm at the library. I'm always looking to see what was playing at the movies. I found one drive-in in Lubbock showing a double feature of 'Poor White Trash' and 'I Hate Your Guts.' Again, that's something I could never make up.

"And it has to be in the book."

For now, he must focus on "Tuna Does Vegas." But because he and his partner are homeschooling Song, he is able to take his son on the road with him at times.

It is an experience Williams had given up hope of enjoying.

He lost a son to a car accident many years ago, and said, "After that happened, I thought that period of my life was over."

When he was asked to temporarily care for a friend's adopted Russian boy, the idea just hit him one day: "We can do this. We can adopt. We can make this happen."

Williams said, "Song is a special needs child. He has a cleft lip and a cleft palate. He has processing issues, so language can be tough. But he has a heart like no one I have ever known. I am overwhelmed by it. He has such an enormous capacity to love you.

"I've never been this happy."

To comment on this story:

william.kerns@lubbockonline.com l 766-8712

charles.reinken@lubbockonline.com l 766-8706

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Parents hear options for reconfiguring schools (Garden City Observer)

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 04:03 AM PST

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"This is not a new situation for the school district, it's the next step in a progression," said Michael Wilmot, a former Garden City school superintendent. "The programs you have today is the one parents complained about when the district was reconfigured the last time."

Wilmot, who is the president and CEO and southeast regional president of the Michigan Leadership Institute and who is donating his services to the district in working on the reconfiguration, said the district's financial difficulties aren't "a new problem, it's something the district has struggled with for years and because it's been a struggle, there's not a lot of good options left."

"Garden City has done so much trimming that there's no fat left, so they have to rethink how they deliver the educational program or cut out major programs," he said.

A big concern among parents at the meeting was having elementary students and their siblings at different schools.

"When we decide on the reconfiguration, we will look at making sure kids are on the bus together, we'll take that into consideration," Cline assured them.

"This is going to be hard for parents," said one resident. "Have you thought about how parents leaving or homeschooling their kids? I have four kids and four schools. I don't like change, but I understand that it's because of the bottom line."

Cline told the parents she had worked in a school district that had one of the proposed configurations and that it was "amazing."

"I think you're going to very happy with this," she said. "Amazing things are going to happen and people are going to flock to Garden City."

The presentation included the steps that have been taken by the district over the years to cut expenses. The reconfiguration is just one part of what will be done to balance the budget.

"This is one-sixth of what needs to be done," said Associate Superintendent Gary Murrell. "This is just one recommendation. There's going to be many more recommendations to the board."

However, another parent said school officials are "going on a hope and a prayer for nominal savings and it's only 18 percent of the pie."

Cline told the crowd that the transition will be easier and cost less.

"Garden City is small enough that you're not far from a school," she said. "Every school is easily accessible, every building a neighborhood school."

smason@hometownlife.com | (313) 222-6751

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