Medora Memories #101

So, as many of you may not know, I just celebrated my 20th year of being out of high school with a reunion back in Bismarck, North Dakota for a wonderful celebration...
I had not been back to Bismarck and the surrounding area for many years...
What follows are a large collection of photos and stories of events that transpired...STAY TUNED...

Medora Memories #101

Yes the picture is real.
Yes that is the signature BIG MOUTH smile...
And YES that is a doll made out of my likeness... please note the scary Exorcist BLUE eyes...

So here is the the story...

I performed in North Dakota's Number 1 Tourist attraction, "The Medora Musical" from 1991 to 1994, for four seasons. It was and still is a huge highlight of all of my years of performing, for so many reasons. From clogging out underneath the Badland starry skies to hiking in the buttes and being out amongst the buffalo and prairie dogs.

Medora is this amazing town nestled in the buttes of the Badlands of North Dakota. This sleepy little town comes alive every summer with the arrival of the Musical cast and crew. This town is not without it's crazy cast of characters. One of the campgrounds in town is run by this odd family, we soon affectionately called the IBTPG- The Inbred Trailer Park Gang...and every vision that comes to your mind is upheld in all its grandeur upon meeting this family.

You come into the park and go to check into your site and are greeted by this couple performing right by the door of the General Store. They are there, day or night, performing on their 18 key synthesizer and accordion/ drum set/ tuba/ tambourine/ karaoke combo. Just a husband and wife, much like the high school teachers of SNL days by alums Will Farrell and Ana Gastier...only SNL is MUCH MUCH MUCH more entertaining...I digress...

The daughter was pretty much a social introvert and yet was crowned North Dakota Miss Hospitality for 1993, 1994, 1995...yes it seems talentless wallflowers who have the personality of a door, with the right amount of Grandma and Grandpa's money, can have a sash and feel like they have the right to do pretty much anything... Can you sense the oddities going on here???

1993...The IBTPG decides they are going to spend lots and lots of money on creating life-like porcelain dolls of the Burning Hill Singers, the cast of the Musical, in their clogging costumes for that year. They painstakingly searched for the exact fabric AND created and baked each porcelain head and hand set with loving care. CREEPY, to say the least.

Rumor had had it that they were going to raffle off each of the dolls as a couple, depending on which ones clogged together during the dance. I had heard tell that they had decided to raffle off mine and Mary's dolls first. It seems the production company found out and issued a cease and desist order to this family, as the Burning Hills Singers, Co-hosts, and anything dealing with the likenesses of the Medora Musical were property of the production company and could not be used for monetary gain... IBTPG stopped, finished the dolls, and decided to place them under glass in their General store, a place that sells postcards, Vienna sausages and twine. ODD COMBO?? Uh YEAH!!!

So I have said for years, in telling this story, that Mary and I are under glass somewhere on a television set in Montana somewhere...the effects of the production company not getting there soon enough...

Jump ahead 17 years...I am finally able to get back for a much needed visit...and after being gone for 11 years...Medora had changed. My dear friend, Emily, whom I have known since 1993 is back this year as a Co-Host. We decided to go in search of the infamous dolls...To our surprise, there they were...and Emily then mentions...Huh, one of those dolls has a blonde moustache...I look up...and THERE I AM! Holy CRAP!!! That is just plain freaky...

Thought you would like to know...