Dr. Strutt contributes time,
talent to Opera House Players

By Erin Meyer

 At the tender age of five, Dr. Craig Strutt, was literally pushed out onstage by his mother to sing a song at an annual event for the local tourist club. He was nervous because he couldn’t remember the first words of the song, but he sang well and received audience applause. That was the last time Dr. Strutt has had stage fright.
    For the last 16 years this McGregor native has showcased his talents as a part of the Opera House Players at the Elkader Opera House through acting, singing, directing, and working behind the scenes.
    During his adolescence, he took part in his high school’s first musical, Li’l Abner. He played the role of Marryin’ Sam. He was “the guy who marries everybody,” Dr. Strutt mused. His cousin was the vocal teacher at the time, therefore expecting him to take some part in the musical. And he was glad he did. “It was a wonderful experience, I loved it,” Dr. Strutt said. 
    Then in 1976 as a junior in high school, Dr. Strutt made his onstage debut with the Opera House Players in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum where his role was Hero. At this time the passion for the amateur theater took hold, but he didn’t return to the Opera House until 1992. 
    Dr. Strutt  went  on to college to pursue a career as a chiropractic physician. He and his wife Terri made their home in McGregor and had four children—Nichole, Peter, Cheri and Brian.
    Being part of the family chiropractic business, having a wife and four kids you would think that  would have kept Dr. Strutt busy, but he decided to give back to the community while indulging in one of his greatest passions. In 1992 Dr. Strutt rejoined the Opera House Players, but this time around his two daughters were the reason he and the Elkader Opera House rekindled the flame. The three of them went to auditions for the musical Annie. Nichole and Cheri were cast quickly, but the director vaguely stated that they would “find a part” for Dr. Strutt. Nichole was cast as an unnamed orphan and Cheri played the youngest orphan, Molly. A week went by and Dr. Strutt recalled asking if they had found a role for him. Smiling he said, “When they cast me as Daddy Warbucks, I was surprised.”
    From that point on the entire Strutt family has been heavily involved with the Opera House Players. Terri is the correspondence secretary for the Opera House Players as well as “ticket master,” and she played Ticket Lady in The Moto Guzzi Rally Show; Nichole was cast in Annie and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Cheri was involved in 14 productions.
    His sons—Brian, who participated in 10 shows and Peter, who had had roles in Secret Garden, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, were persuaded to be involved in theater. Dr. Strutt simply reminded them that the ratio of men to women that take part in the productions was in their favor.
    Dr. Strutt has been involved in 40-plus productions on some level, whether acting, directing, or participating in the annual membership drive. The euphoric feeling he gets each time he is on stage keeps him committed to the Opera House Players. “It truly is a high,” he emphasized.
    Dr. Strutt accepted the challege to direct Nunsense. Directing is different from acting, explained Dr. Strutt, in the fact that you have to “learn as necessary.”  He stated, “When directing you have to learn to achieve that effect you are going for because you are responsible for the overall production, not just one character.” And it is very rewarding for Dr. Strutt when the audience cries or laughs or gasps at a certain part that he tweaked.
    “My reaction to the audience’s reaction is ‘Yes! That was the reaction I was going for,’” he said.
    Dr. Strutt feels as though his acting and singing talents are natural. “I’ve always been a ham,” he chuckled. At times acting can be difficult for even the most talented. Last fall he sang a heart-wrenching song that brought tears to the eyes of the audience in the production The Baker’s Wife. “I really enjoyed the song, and I had to try not to cry because the character would not have cried,” he remembered.
    He has also used his web mastery skills to create a website for the Elkader Opera House.
    At  operahouseplayers.com anyone can get a “behind the scenes” look, find out what productions are coming up, post a message, or read actor/actress profiles. 
    All of the time and effort that goes into each production is voluntary. There is no pay. It’s the standing ovations and audience feedback that the Players get at the end of each production that keep Dr. Strutt and the many other volunteers coming back year after year. “That’s our pay. We do it because we love it.” 

Summer business is fair,  but tourism down slightly

By Trudy Balcom

 The season for visitors in this region is short, and this year it is even shorter. Area businesses that cater to tourists all report a slow June start to the season, and lower overall sales. Some are hurting more than others.
    This summer season has been marked by sharply rising gas prices and catastrophic flooding across Iowa and Wisconsin. This situation, plus a general nationwide economic downturn has taken a bite, or at least a nibble, out of  the pockets of tourist-related businesses.
    “It was a bit of a slow start, but I don’t have any complaints,” said Beth Regan, who along with her husband Zip, own three guest suite rentals in downtown McGregor known as McGregor Lodging.
    Other area business owners agree.
    Louise White of Paper Moon Books, says business was down somewhat in June.
    But, she also noticed that book sales were up compared to gift sales. “I think people can justify buying a book,” she said, but gift items might seem too frivolous in a tightening economy.
    Rogeta Halvorson of Eagles Landing Winery and Bed and Breakfast said that visitors are still coming to the area.
    “People love this area, they’re going to come, but maybe they will only come once this summer.” Halvorson said that the B & B stays booked with established, regular customers, but the winery was having a somewhat more difficult time. She said that customers from out of town tended to stock up on wine when visiting, instead of planning a return trip.
    Flooding seems to have affected tourism in two ways.
    First, many regular visitors to the area are from east central Iowa, especially the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City areas. When those areas were flooded, people who lived there were not travelling. Plus, flood victims are less likely to have the economic resources to take vacations.
    Secondly, many potential visitors were under the impression that this area was under flood waters.
    “I took at least five calls a day from visitors leading up to the July Fourth weekend asking about flooding,” said Sasha Dull, director of the McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce. “People had the idea we were flooded out,” she added.
    Patti Wacker, tourism coordinator for the Prairie du Chien Chamber of Commerce said that she also received many calls from potential visitors who were worried that it might be flooded here. In response, the Chamber placed ads in the Milwaukee newspaper and sponsor ads on Wisconsin Public Radio just before the July Fourth holiday encouraging visitors and highlighting the fact the area was not  flooded.
    Since then, the Prairie Chamber has applied for and received $12,500 in grant money from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism specifically aimed at boosting an industry that has been hit hard this year. The funding will be used to continue the radio and print advertising in major market newspapers not only in Wisconsin but also in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque. The ads will begin running in late August.
    “These ads have helped immensly…hopefully that will boost things up,” 
    While Marquette-McGregor was not flooded out, high water conditions on the Mississippi River definitely slowed boating. Merchants agree that the July Fourth weekend was the real beginning to the local boating season, and that with the arrival of the boaters, summer business was picking up.
    At the McGregor Marina Andrea McElwaine agrees.
    “Over half of our customers put their boats in on the Fourth,” McElwaine said. She said that they have had a very slow start to the season due to high water and gas prices. Not even fishermen have been getting out much until now, she noted. And gas sales are down dramatically at their fuel dock, perhaps half of what they were last year.
    Restaurant sales are down too.
    “The first thing people cut back is eating and recreation,” she explained. And the new smoking ban hasn’t helped. By law, smoking is now prohibited even in their  outdoor deck dining area. Customers from out of town are unaware of the new law, and some resent it, McElwaine said.
    At the Frontier Motel in Marquette, business is down as well. Owner Todd Kann says that his business began to drop last Memorial Day weekend, when gas went to over $3 per gallon. “Last year was the slowest year we’ve have in 18 years,” he said. He speculates that this year may be even slower.