A classic from 2015 from the cozy confines of the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. We’ll have the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers on hand for majestic choral arrangements to ease you gently out of the holiday rush, singer Ellis with a few of her joyful and uplifting compositions, and sensational seasonal songs of foreign lands from Lynn Peterson. Plus, our Royal Academy of Radio Actors — Sue Scott, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman — will show off their drama and comedy chops in scripts sure to make it onto plenty of year-end “best of” lists; and pianist. And music director Rich Dworsky and The December Boys (bassist Larry Kohut, Richard Kriehn on mandolin and fiddle, and Chris Siebold on guitar) resolve to have everyone at the Fitz boogieing right out of their seats. We’ll also get an update on the latest News from Lake Wobegon, where it’s finally cold enough to turn on the heat without shame. Join us Saturday for a listen via our Facebook page at 5 p.m. CT (or click the link below).
   
More about this week’s featured guests
Described by one reviewer as a “smart writer with a unique folk/rock style,” Ellis is a Texas native who moved to Minneapolis at the age of 16 and quickly built a strong local following singing at open mics. Word of this talented folk musician has spread nationwide. Now going by Ellis Delaney, she has released almost a dozen albums since the mid-1990s. The most recent is 2020’s Ordinary Love.
Singer-songwriter-science geek Lynn Peterson is a native Minnesotan whose career took her to New York City, where she spent eight years as a performer, composer, and studio vocalist, before returning to the Twin Cities. And the science geek part? She studied chemistry as an undergrad and continued graduate work focused on chemistry and sustainability.   
Since 1991, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers — the 32-voice core of the full VocalEssence Chorus, under the direction of Philip Brunelle — have toured widely and garnered acclaim at every stop. The Oxford Times (UK) wrote, “VocalEssence have a blend that could — and should — be the envy of every choir in the business.”  
 
Here are parts of the lyrics that run through the Fight script on this week’s classic show:

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At ’em boys, Give ’er the gun! (Give ’er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one heckuva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame.
Hey! Nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!

Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
the leaders and best
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan,
the champions of the West!

On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin, plunge right through that line
Run the ball clear down the field, boys, touchdown sure this time
U-Rah-Rah
On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin, fight on for her fame
Fight, Badgers, fight, fight, fight, we’ll win this game.

Minnesota, hats off to thee
To your colors true we shall ever be
Firm and strong united are we
Rah Rah Rah for ski-u-mah, Rah Rah Rah Rah
Rah for the U of M.

 

Saturday is New Year’s Eve, in which the old year is ushered out, and the new one welcomed in, with parties, socializing, and alcohol — often champagne. In the United States, we have a tradition of dropping, or raising, a large object exactly at midnight. The custom of dropping a ball arose out of the time signals given to ships at harbor starting in 1859. A large ball was dropped exactly at one p.m. every day (noon in the United States), so sailors could check their ship chronometers.

The Times Square celebration dates back to 1904, when the New York Times opened its headquarters on Longacre Square. The newspaper convinced the city to rename the area “Times Square,” and they hosted a big party, complete with fireworks, on New Year’s Eve. Two hundred thousand people attended, but the paper’s owner, Adolph Ochs, wanted the next celebration to be even splashier. In 1907, the paper’s head electrician constructed a giant lighted ball that was lowered from the building’s flagpole. The first Times Square Ball was made of wood and iron, weighed 700 pounds, and was lit by a hundred 25-watt bulbs. Now, it’s made of Waterford crystal, weighs almost six tons, and is lit by more than 32,000 LED lights. The party in Times Square is attended by up to a million people every year.

Other cities have developed their own ball-dropping traditions. Atlanta, Georgia, drops a giant peach. Eastport, Maine, drops a sardine. Ocean City, Maryland, drops a beach ball, and Mobile, Alabama, drops a 600-pound electric Moon Pie. In Tempe, Arizona, a giant tortilla chip descends into a massive bowl of salsa. Brasstown, North Carolina, drops a Plexiglas pyramid containing a live possum; and Key West, Florida, drops an enormous ruby slipper with a drag queen inside it. In Scotland, New Year’s Eve marks the first day of Hogmanay, a name derived from an Old French word for a gift given at the New Year. There’s a tradition at Hogmanay known as “first-footing”: If the first person to cross your threshold after midnight is a dark-haired man, you will have good luck in the coming year. Other customs vary by region within Scotland, but most involve singing and whiskey. Craig Ferguson said Hogmanay “is a time when people who can inspire awe in the Irish for the amount of alcohol that they drink decide to ramp it up a notch.”

May we still love our loved ones
on good days and bad.
May our fights be no worse
than the ones we have had.
May the house not burn down
(at least not when we’re here)
and I wish you a happy new year.

Garrison Keillor and The Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band perform a “New Year’s Song” during the January 4, 2014 broadcast.

Watch the performance >>>