Now and Then

by Jean Martin

We all hear about the celebrities who drive past the ghetto in their limos on the way to the airport so that they can jet into a third world country to pick up an orphan. Someimes we might wonder what the quieter luminaries are like. Are they really as nice as they seem?

We here in northern Michigan have taken the measure of one man and found him to be at least as good as he seems. Maybe better.

Like most arts organizations the folks who are working to restore the old opera house in Cheboygan and keep it functioning hit a dry patch in their fundraising efforts. It so happened, however, that the head of the Arts Council had a daughter who was married to a man whose family were very good friends of Garrison Keillor. For the two or three of you who have been living without books or a radio we might mention that Keillor is best known for his Prairie Home Companion that is broadcast on public radio stations throughout the nation. He also has written many books, one of which Barry Bauer is reading as we speak.

Having obtained Keillor’s personal email address, the Arts Council contacted him and told him what he already knew. Funding has dried up because of the economy. Foundatons are known to make donations from the proceeds of their investments, and we all know how that has gone lately.

Keillor contacted the folks in Cheboygan immediately and asked if they would allow him to appear in a fundraiser for them. They would. So they set up a date in early August and got busy selling tickets. Soon the 586 seats, going for $100 each, were sold out. When Keillor heard that, he wondered whether he might not also put on a matinee. He could, so the organizers got busy. Soon all of those tickets were sold out too.

When the big day arrived, Keillor flew in — at his own expense– with a few members of his regular cast. Once he was in Cheboygan he insisted on taking the whole Arts Council out to dinner — on his nickel. He balked when the Council told him that the motel rooms were already paid for. Once he understood that this was the motel ower’s contribution to the event, he and his cast relented and accepted their hospitality.

Organizers were hoping that each of the two shows might be about two hours long, including an intermission of course. Instead both programs were three hours long. When the matinee ended about 5 p.m., Keillor and his crew had about two hours to recharge before the next three-hour performance began. Keillor used that time to pose for photos with members of the audience and anyone else who wanted a souvenir of the big night.

The folks who have worked so hard to preserve the old opera house are still walking a few feet off the ground. The Arts Council cleared more than $100,000 in that one day, and more importantly they learned that there are people out there who value their work as much as they do.