Keokuk
Our names in lights at the stately Grand Theater in Keokuk, IA
KEOKUK, IA - The town of Keokuk sits at the southeastern tip of the state, separated from Illinois and Missouri by the Mississippi River. We performed Pigs for a large group of schoolchildren on Tuesday morning, then had a performance of Così in the evening. In between, I had a rare opportunity to see the area through the eyes of locals.
In one of the great coincidences of this tour,
Keokuk is the hometown of the music director at the church where I sing in New
York. His parents, Wes and Sheri, still live here, and they were eager to meet
me when I came through town. Wes picked me up from the theater after our morning
performance, and he took me on a tour of Keokuk and some of the surrounding
areas in Illinois and Missouri. Afterwards, he and Sheri hosted me at their home
for a wonderful lunch of salad, sumptuous roast beef with mashed potatoes,
homemade grapefruit sorbet, and a freshly baked homemade apple pie. Though I
have long been accustomed to how welcoming Iowans are, the warmth of Wes' and
Sheri's hospitality far exceeded anything I could ever have
imagined.
One of the places Wes showed me before lunch was nearby Nauvoo, Illinois, the site of a gigantic Mormon temple. I never knew this, but Nauvoo was settled in the 1830s and 1840s by Mormon pioneers, headed by their leader Joseph Smith. Smith and his brother, Hyrum, lost their lives in nearby Carthage in 1844, and this region of Illinois has consequently held a great significance to the worldwide Mormon community. In 2002, the Mormon church erected this humongous structure.
Statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith face the Mormon Temple in Nauvoo, IL
Whatever your views may be about Mormon practices, you can't argue with the fact that they know how to get your attention with a building. This temple is the centerpiece of a huge plot of real estate owned by the Mormon church. The landscape is dotted with small brick houses, some of which are occupied by Mormon artisans and tradesmen. Others of the brick houses are apparently museums of some sort, and quite a few of them are actually marked as private residences. The Mormons are apparently building an entire historic community here in Nauvoo, which Wes guesses could someday rival Willilamsburg, Virginia in terms of its size, scope, and number of visitors.
Adjacent to the visitor center for the temple, there's a circle of bronze statues that pays tribute to Mormon women. This was, for a number of reasons, a fascinating display. Mormons are probably most notorious for two things among non-Mormons: polygamy and tithing. I knew that, as I approached the statues, many of my friends and family would be similarly interested to see Mormon depictions of women. Here are three of the statues with their titles:
Woman (the centerpiece of the display)
In Her Mother's Footsteps
Fulfillment
Pretty fascinating, right? Nauvoo was unlike anything I had seen on this tour. Looking around at the Main Street of what would, without the Mormon presence, be a typically sleepy Midwestern town, I could just imagine the enormous number of visitors that the temple and developing Mormon community will generate in the years to come. Joseph Smith and his followers ran into trouble in the 1840s when the non-Mormons in the surrounding areas grew wary and suspicious of the increasingly conspicuous practices of their devout neighbors. It's not hard to see how, more than 150 years later, the old delineation between "us" and "them" may still be just as much of a divisive factor for the folks who live in and near Nauvoo.
Back in Keokuk, Wes showed me his family's business: Keasling's Pharmacy and Gifts. At the age of 14, he worked there as a soda jerk ("the original," as he cheerfully told me). He became a pharmacist and, eventually, the business became his and Sheri's.
Keasling's Pharmacy & Gifts in Keokuk
The gifts at Keasling's are far from the usual fare that you find in your typical drug store. A quick perusal of the aisles revealed to me that a person could, in one convenient trip, pick up his allergy prescription, a bottle of Chanel No. 5, a Le Creuset sauce pan, a new set of designer china, and a Lladrò porcelain figurine. Eat your heart out, Wal-Mart.
I can't overstate how grateful I am to Sheri and Wes for being my gracious hosts for the afternoon. They had never met me before, yet they took care of me as if I were a blood relative. A freshly cooked meal in the sanctity of someone's home is a rare treat on this tour, made even more special with the knowledge that my colleagues were meanwhile being subjected to an authentic school lunch down the road.
We had a good performance this evening of the Mozart opera, and the fine citizens of this town hosted a reception for us after the show. This community welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts, which made it a true pleasure to perform for them. In the few remaining days of the tour, we would be fortunate to find another town like Keokuk.
One of the places Wes showed me before lunch was nearby Nauvoo, Illinois, the site of a gigantic Mormon temple. I never knew this, but Nauvoo was settled in the 1830s and 1840s by Mormon pioneers, headed by their leader Joseph Smith. Smith and his brother, Hyrum, lost their lives in nearby Carthage in 1844, and this region of Illinois has consequently held a great significance to the worldwide Mormon community. In 2002, the Mormon church erected this humongous structure.
Statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith face the Mormon Temple in Nauvoo, IL
Whatever your views may be about Mormon practices, you can't argue with the fact that they know how to get your attention with a building. This temple is the centerpiece of a huge plot of real estate owned by the Mormon church. The landscape is dotted with small brick houses, some of which are occupied by Mormon artisans and tradesmen. Others of the brick houses are apparently museums of some sort, and quite a few of them are actually marked as private residences. The Mormons are apparently building an entire historic community here in Nauvoo, which Wes guesses could someday rival Willilamsburg, Virginia in terms of its size, scope, and number of visitors.
Adjacent to the visitor center for the temple, there's a circle of bronze statues that pays tribute to Mormon women. This was, for a number of reasons, a fascinating display. Mormons are probably most notorious for two things among non-Mormons: polygamy and tithing. I knew that, as I approached the statues, many of my friends and family would be similarly interested to see Mormon depictions of women. Here are three of the statues with their titles:
Woman (the centerpiece of the display)
In Her Mother's Footsteps
Fulfillment
Pretty fascinating, right? Nauvoo was unlike anything I had seen on this tour. Looking around at the Main Street of what would, without the Mormon presence, be a typically sleepy Midwestern town, I could just imagine the enormous number of visitors that the temple and developing Mormon community will generate in the years to come. Joseph Smith and his followers ran into trouble in the 1840s when the non-Mormons in the surrounding areas grew wary and suspicious of the increasingly conspicuous practices of their devout neighbors. It's not hard to see how, more than 150 years later, the old delineation between "us" and "them" may still be just as much of a divisive factor for the folks who live in and near Nauvoo.
Back in Keokuk, Wes showed me his family's business: Keasling's Pharmacy and Gifts. At the age of 14, he worked there as a soda jerk ("the original," as he cheerfully told me). He became a pharmacist and, eventually, the business became his and Sheri's.
Keasling's Pharmacy & Gifts in Keokuk
The gifts at Keasling's are far from the usual fare that you find in your typical drug store. A quick perusal of the aisles revealed to me that a person could, in one convenient trip, pick up his allergy prescription, a bottle of Chanel No. 5, a Le Creuset sauce pan, a new set of designer china, and a Lladrò porcelain figurine. Eat your heart out, Wal-Mart.
I can't overstate how grateful I am to Sheri and Wes for being my gracious hosts for the afternoon. They had never met me before, yet they took care of me as if I were a blood relative. A freshly cooked meal in the sanctity of someone's home is a rare treat on this tour, made even more special with the knowledge that my colleagues were meanwhile being subjected to an authentic school lunch down the road.
We had a good performance this evening of the Mozart opera, and the fine citizens of this town hosted a reception for us after the show. This community welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts, which made it a true pleasure to perform for them. In the few remaining days of the tour, we would be fortunate to find another town like Keokuk.
Posted: Wed - April 6, 2005 at 02:06 AM
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Published On: Apr 06, 2005 02:19 AM
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Published On: Apr 06, 2005 02:19 AM