Shepherd of the Hills Super Summer Cruise Car Show; Branson, Missouri; 2016

These are photos I taken at this year's Super Summer Cruise Car Show in Branson, Missouri; August, 2016.

 

2013 reopening planned for Jubilee Foods- Branson Tri-Lakes News News Free - 2013 reopening planned: News Free

 

Almost seven months to the day after being knocked out of business by the Feb. 29 tornado in Branson, officials with Jubilee Foods announced this week that it plans to re-open for business by late spring 2013 in its same location on 76 Country Boulevard.

2013 reopening planned - Branson Tri-Lakes News News Free - 2013 reopening planned: News Free

Andy Williams, TV star and ‘Moon River’ singer, dies at 84 - The Washington Post

*I used to work right near his theater at the Radisson Hotel in Branson and walk by it on the way to Jubilee Foods to work my other job.  Would have loved to have seen his show while living there and never have.  I heard he was a pretty good entertainer.  Heard a few of his songs that I really liked.  what a great voice he had!  R.I.P, Andy.*

Andy Williams, whose languid crooning style and disarming presence propelled him to recording and television stardom in the 1960s, with hits including “Moon River” and the inescapable holiday jingle “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” died Sept. 25 at his home in Branson, Mo. He was 84.

Andy Williams, TV star and ‘Moon River’ singer, dies at 84 - The Washington Post

Keep Branson, Missouri in your prayers!

My mom and I drove up to Branson this afternoon and I had a chance to see a lot more than I saw the last couple of times I went up.

All of 76 is finally open again but a part of the road there you have to drive in the turning lane - it's all a mess. The shopping center where mazzio's pizza is is gone but it left mazzio's. Guess it wasn't too hungry for pizza, lol. And it looked like the worse damage was done in that little area, so no wander it was blocked off for a few days, lol. - it's a major mess.

Also went by the store I work at to pay my respects but a construction guy wouldn't let me near the building said the city said it's unsafe and could fall at anytime. When it's done I think it'll be the best looking store in the region!

We also drove down by the landing. Hilton is now boarded up where the windows were blown out and drove to the neighborhood my ex-wife and I lived. Some trailers were destroyed while some (including the one her and I lived in) just looked like it got shook up really bad. But the neighborhood itself is a mess of damage and debris. And the Branson landing didn't look too bad. We walked a ways of it, not much damage at all. Looked like most of the damage there was done to the condos.

I Think if nothing is going on the weekend of march 23-25, I will try to see if I can help somewhere in the cleanup.  Maybe some other weekends also,  I'm not sure how much yet, but also plan to donate some amount of money. Even if it's just $10 or $20.

Some people will not be working anytime soon in Branson because of this tornado, including myself and all my co-workers.

The health store by mazios (one of mom's favorite places to shop while in Branson) is completely gone, 2 gift shops near Walgreens there have sides and a wall gone etc. Right before the beginning of the tourist season to start kicking into high gear. Be sure to keep us all in prayer.

This will also be a definite year to see Branson shows. I'm sure they will put on special shows to say hey, we survived and will stand strong!

The haygoods and grand country jubilee did shows the day after the tornado to say Hey, Branson still going strong - we're not closed we are open. Just remodeling! I even heard the haygoods recorded a song as a reminder of this and proceeds of it will go to benefit the relief efforts. Guess you can get it at the theater they play at.

And I'm sure when our store re-opens we'll have a grand opening blowout special!

Tornado Hits Branson, Missouri

If you don’t know already, there was a tornado that hit Branson, MO last night at about 2 in the morning.  Most of the damage done was on highway 76 (the strip there).  I work at Jubilee Foods there on the strip and luckily I was off today so haven’t had a chance to see what it looks like at this point but as soon as I’m able to I will be driving up there to see what it looks like.  A recent picture I saw on facebook showed the shape of the roof which looked severely damaged.  could be another couple of weeks or months before I go back to work.

If you’re interested in volunteer clean-up efforts go to http://www.volunteer.branson.org.  There are also 2 facebook pages “Branson recovery” and “Branson tornado info” which have posted current information about the clean-up efforts.  I’ll keep you posted when I know anything also.

Spring 2007 Performance At The Lyric Theatre, Harrison, Arkansas

 

For those of you who weren’t at the Lyric Theater in Harrison, Arkansas you missed such a great show! I was with one of the acts, so of course I didn’t have to pay the $10 fee to get in. It started at 8:00pm and lasted until 10:00pm. It had this little 4 year old girl sing a country song - which was really cute. (http://www.thelyricharrison.com).

The Kingtut Blues Band (which I am happy and proud to say that I am very involved a lot with. My best friend is the leader of the group. I try to help the band out a lot when I’m needed because I’m younger, and they need some help loading/unloading equipment. – I am one of the few people who is proud to call themselves a roadie. I just love music, so I wouldn’t care if I’m just a rodie). The band sounds much better than it had a few years ago. Now because of new personnel with the band, they play quite a few originals, also. Griz Adams (who plays keys, harp and sax for the band) sings "Start Singin' The Blues" which he wrote, which is a very good blues song. Bill Lusk (on rhythm guitar) sings "Too Much Time." A song he wrote a few years back. Both are very good numbers in there own right. Tut and I both agree each is a great asset to the band. After there set, the band than played for “Elvis”! Cody Slaughter is a 15 year old kid who is an awesome Elvis Impersonator. I swear, he must eat sleep and dream Elvis! He was that good! There is a performance on May 12th with this Elvis Impersonator at the Lyric Theater on May 12th. If you are in the area, you should see him. The Kingtut Blues Band will be backing him too, so if you go you are most definitely in for a real treat!!! After that, there was a great accordion player. And that was all before the intermission! Just wait, it gets even better - and Tut even joined us in the audience to watch the rest of the show too! (http://www.kingtutbluesband.com).

After the intermission, the host of the show (who is from the country station KHOZ) came back on stage and was looking for guys without much hair. Tut was busy talking to someone so he didn't really know what was going on. I motioned him to get up there and he just gives me this look and asks me why. I just told him to get up there. When he got up there, he figured out why he was going up there soon enough. That was when he put his cap back on. The host from KHOZ yelled at him for that, making him take it off.

They were looking for the guy with the least amount of hair, so I had our group clap harder when they came up to Tut. They voted for a 3rd place winner, 2nd place winner, and a 1st place winner. The 3rd and 2nd place winners won tickets to a Branson show and the 1st place winner won 2 tickets to see the Titanic Museum in Branson. Tut didn't win anything though.

And then there was a 16 year old dancer who did a couple routines (a country song I can't remember and than "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas). She was such a great dancer (and runs her own dance studio in Harrison by the way). Her name was Dalia Garrison and her dance troupe is called "High Voltage." They'll be on the TV show "America's Got Talent" sometime soon, so be on the look-out for her on national TV. Very awesome dancing routine she has, which she choreographed herself!

After that, they brought out Taylor Reed to do some magic (yes, the Taylor Reed that performs in Branson). He is a really awesome magician and he has really great stage presence. I have never had the honor to see his show yet, but after what I saw tonight, it's definitely on my list of definite must see Branson shows. I did have the honor to shake his hand though, and tell him how great he was - so I guess you could say I got to meet him. He was loading up his "supplies" after the show tonight when I was helping Tut load up his gear, and I joked with him for a second by saying, "Now don't be sawing any more people in half, that'll cause a major lawsuit," and he thought it was funny. (http://www.taylorreed.com).

The next act was a great one in their own right. It was the "From Patsy To Present" show in Branson. They did 4 songs to give you a great idea on what their show is like. I was kind of skeptical about them at first because I'm not much of a Patsy Cline fan, but after seeing there performance tonight, it is also on my list of must see shows in Branson. They are a family of 3, with the mother (who I guess also runs there show) being the Patsy Cline singer, and she sounds just like her too. And I think, by far, the most amazing part of the whole show tonight (that possibly even stole the show) was there son's drumming. He is now 15 years old, he first picked up the sticks at the age of 11. Everybody in the house even gave him a standing ovation. It is no wonder on there website they call him a teen drumming sensation. I'd like to call him a Drummer Extrodanaire, myself! One of the greatest drummers I have ever heard in my 27 years on this rock!!! Such a musical prodigy. You definitely can tell with his playing skills that he is gonna go far in the business. When it was over, I got a chance to meet the young lad and shake his hand and talk to him for a second. I wished him the best of luck in his future. Remember his name, because he could be performing near you someday. Josh Roberts. (http://www.patsyinbranson.net).

Be on the lookout for all these guys I saw tonight. They were all absolutely amazing, and extremely talented, and very inspirational. It just makes me want to pick up my axe and my harp, and never give up on the dream. I can only play one song well. And I don't even have the guts to show people the original stuff I have written. Someday maybe. If ever I get rid of the stage fright. I'd be happy to go on stage to do just one or 2 songs. Or maybe record a couple songs on CD and try to sell the CD instead. I love music, and I like to play when I do - even if it is "in the closet.” When you get a chance come see them perform where-ever it is they may be performing at.

Overall, it was a very awesome show, and it was too bad I couldn't shoot good pictures in there or good video. The lighting was really bad for my camera. I kept some that I took that were ok, but they could've been better. If you want a copy of the 2 videos I shot, let me know. but I'm warning you, they aren’t pretty.

On another note, I have been writing since I was 13. I started out writing short scripts (plays) and short stories, but than at around the same age I also started getting into writing poetry. Around 1995 (when I started getting into music, and playing guitar) I started trying to write my own songs, but none of them turned out any good. I have a folder I keep that has stuff I have written over the last 12 years in it, and of all the 12 years I have been writing the best stuff is now just starting to come out. Also in recent years, I have started writing articles for my own purposes, starting with my high school newspaper from 1997-1999.

I was 8 or so when I got my first guitar, but didn't have much of an interest in it. It wasn't until 1993 when I started getting an interest in people like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, etc, but it wasn't until I saw the Beatles Anthology special on ABC in 1995 when I sealed my fate as to what I really wanted to do in life. Play music. But than sometimes your dreams do fade away because you realize you're not as talented as other people are, but you can at least get close to the action by being a roadie. And who knows, I might actually be up there someday. I'm still young. I got a lot of years ahead of me still!

I guess you could say I'm an artist in my own right. I like to create things, and putting things creative together. I'm just not very well known for my craft because I don't try to sell myself, for obvious reasons. I would actually like to give my website a complete overhaul (perhaps all my websites). I started the Kingtut Blues Band site, and I really like what the new guy Tut hired has done to the band's website. I had to give up working on the band's website because my computer crashed and I still haven't had it fixed, so after a month he needed to find someone else to work on it. I just met the guy today who works on it now, and he's a really nice fellow and maybe perhaps sometime he and I can collaborate on ideas and designs for the website or something. I don't know. I didn't get a chance to talk to him much so I wasn't able to discuss business with him, but I would have liked to. When I do get my computer fixed (hopefully within the next year) I plan on giving my site a complete overhaul, and this time adding a blog so I can put articles like this one on the site. I have wanted to put a blog on my site for quite some time, but I don't always have much to say so I never did. Most days would be left empty, so the blog would've than been hardly updated. If you would like to check out my site and bookmark it so you can see when it is updated, I'm at http://www.mikeirvan.com. Thanks for reading. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. If you would like to contact me to chat or something, you can E-Mail me at mikeirvan@suddenlink.net. Oh, and stay tuned for my Chuck Berry performance article on Friday.