Winter activities are underway at Litchfield Community Education and there are already opportunities to get signed up for spring activities. Several bus trips are also coming up for adults.
Litchfield Community Education Director Grant Solem says there was a well-attended bus trip last week to see “Phantom of the Opera” at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis and trips this spring include “Guys and Dolls” at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater on April 22nd, “Birthday Candles” at the Sidetrack Theater on May 14th and the Day Trippers Theater on June 24th. He says one of the enrichment classes for youth this winter is Mini-Dragonaires.
Solem says Mini-Dragonaires is for 4th and 5th graders and it will be held Tuesdays from 3:15-to-4:15 from January 13th to March 17th in the High School Choir Room. He says Val Chellin will direct “Beauty and the Beast” in May which is a good way to introduce kids to theater.
Solem says aquatics will restart in February when the pool renovation project is complete and youth can already get signed up for soccer, softball, flag football, track & field and other spring activities, and it’s not too late to get involved in basketball, wrestling and winter activities. He says they have gift certificates available at their office in the Wagner Building. For more details on any Litchfield Community Education activities, call 693-2354.
On Monday afternoon at 12:37, the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a pedestrian being struck by a train. The location was at the railroad crossing on Meeker County Road 1 in Litchfield Township. Meeker County Deputies responded and found the victim was deceased. Deputies learned the train was westbound and the victim had been walking on the tracks when she was struck. The victim was identified as 35-year-old Raihna Mathews of Cosmos. The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the BNSF Police, MN DNR, MN State Patrol, Litchfield Police and Litchfield Rescue.
On this day in music, December 9, 1989, Billy Joel began a two-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with the anthemic, “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” The artist was inspired to write the song when he met a 21-year-old friend of Sean Lennon’s during a recording session. Lennon declared, “It’s a terrible time to be 21,” which made Joel recall what was going on in the world when he turned 21. The Grammy-winning track lists an astonishing 118 global events that took place between 1949 (the year of Joel’s birth) and 1989 and marked the Long Island native’s third No.1 hit of the decade.
In 2000, U2 made their first-ever appearance on Saturday Night Live. The Irish group performed “Beautiful Day” and “Elevation,” both off their tenth studio album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
In 1978, Chic began a seven-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Le Freak.” The disco track was inspired by events that took place on New Year’s Eve, 1977, when the group’s co-founders, Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards, were refused entrance to Studio 54, despite being guests of Grace Jones. The lyrics of the hook were originally “F__k off!”
In 1991, during their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns N’ Roses played the first of three nights at Madison Square Garden. The tour was one of the longest runs in rock history, consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993.
In 1992, George Harrison was honored as the first recipient of the Century Award, presented by Tom Petty at the third annual Billboard Music Awards.
In 2013, recipients of the 36th annual Kennedy Center Honors included jazz fusion pioneer Herbie Hancock, singer-songwriter Billy Joel, and guitarist and songwriter Carlos Santana.
In 1966, Cream released their debut, Fresh Cream, in the UK. The album peaked at No.6 on the UK charts.
In 2016, The Rolling Stones hit No.1 in the UK with Blue & Lonesome, the band’s first studio album to reach the top spot in 22 years.
BORN ON DECEMBER 9
1932: Junior Wells
1941: Sammy Strain (The O’Jays)
1950: Joan Armatrading
1957: Donny Osmond
1964: Paul H. Landers (Rammstein)
1968: Brian Bell (Weezer)
1969: Jakob Dylan (The Wallflowers)
1971: Geoff Barrow (Portishead)
1972: Tre Cool (Green Day)