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Vital Signs, Extra
by Helen Warren
Mount Pleasant News July 26, 2000, Mount Pleasant, Iowa

Is There Really Nothing to Do Around Here?

  "There is nothing to do around here." How many times have you heard this declaration from bored teenagers or work weary adults? How many times have you drawn this conclusion yourself?
    It is more than an idle complaint. Economic developers and employment recruiters contend against this sentiment everyday as they attempt to attract businesses and workers to southeast Iowa.
    Now the state legislature has responded to the lament, "There is nothing to do around here." It set aside a pile of money for projects to give Iowans more to do in their leisure time. The governor has appointed a distinguished board to decide how to spend that money on projects that will enhance our cultural and recreational options.
   All this is well and good. A collective effort can do much to make "There is nothing to do around here" a false statement. But while the machinery of the state gears up, each of us can do our part to disprove the declaration. All it takes is a little detective work and a willingness to accept and extend invitations.
As evidence, I submit one item from my social calendar. A few weeks ago, Pat Hazell, the blues pianist from Washington, IA, e-mailed an invitation to hear him play at the Blue Shop in Burlington. He would share the stage with Bahri Karacay, a singer and musician from Turkey. Bahri is also a cancer researcher at the University of Iowa. In Turkey, he is a well-known singer and saz (Turkish guitar) player. Pat would play the first set and Bahri would do the next and then they would combine their efforts.
   I had been to the Blue Shop once before and was impressed. It is located in a narrow storefront in downtown Burlington. The performers mount a stage in the front window. The tables and booths accommodate about 50 patrons. No alcohol is sold and no smoking is permitted. The focus is on the music and the relationship between performer and audience. It is the kind of place big city reviewers call "intimate."
I invited a Rotary exchange student from France and one of his friends to go with me. I caught up on their summer plans on the drive over to Burlington.
Pat Hazell's opening set was a blues tribute to summer. He told stories about summers growing up in Burlington, selling popsicles from a cart he pushed up and down the hills.
  Then Pat introduced Bahri. Though I knew almost nothing about Turkish music, I found it delightful. The melodies were more lyrical and familiar than I expected. Between each number, Bahri showed slides of Turkish scenes and answered questions from the audience. The patrons asked good, cordial questions. It was a gracious cultural exchange, just the kind experts dream about when they speak of the global village.
Then the Turkish singer and the American blues artist joined forces. They improvised on a traditional Turkish song, a melodic line approached from two sides of the globe. The harmonies were rich where the two cultures met.
  Sound too high brow for teenagers to enjoy? Not a bit. Both of my guests were charmed by the performances. They were comfortable among an audience much older than they. They both conversed with the performers after the show. When we parted that evening, their thank yous were genuine. They introduced other family members to Turkish music the next morning when they played the CDs they purchases.
A few days later Bahri, the Turkish musician, telephoned me. We talked about a possible performance of his full band in the Iowa Wesleyan College Chapel in September. Bahri was eager to return to Southeast Iowa. He said the concert in Burlington was one of the best he's given in his ten years in the U.S. The audience was so open and appreciative, he said.
  My point is not that one outstanding, unexpected musical performance occurred in Southeast Iowa. My point is that evenings like this can happen whenever we refuse to believe "There is nothing to do around here." Evenings like this occur when you make an effort to find out what is going on and invite other people along for new experiences.
  I'm sure it occurred to my young guests that an evening in an unknown place with unknown performers could have been a drag. But they were willing to risk that. They knew there was a chance they would see something they never expected to see in Burlington, IA. Taking that chance was a better option than believing the lie, "There is nothing to do around here."