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The Wilder Pageant in Walnut Grove was back with a special Flood Relief Night for area residents

Photos by Deb Gau The Wilder Pageant Singers — Elizabeth Johnson, Sami Hotzler, Amy Hesse, Nathan Hesse and Kerry Knakmuhs — performed at the pageant’s opening night on Thursday. The pageant has added shows, including special Flood Relief Nights, to its performance schedule.

WALNUT GROVE — Just the week before, the sets for the Wilder Pageant had been under three to 8 feet of water, after torrential rains flooded Plum Creek. And on opening night, thunderstorms brought more rain through the area, leaving wet spots backstage and on the road to the pageant site.

But none of that could stop the performance, or keep audience members from attending. A few at a time, people were climbing the hillside at the pageant site, looking for the best spot to set up their lawn chairs. Wabasso residents Carrie Bliss and Sara Burns said they brought their families to the pageant after hearing about special admission prices Thursday night.

Other audience members came to see family members perform. Don and Lori Johnson said their granddaughter was in the pageant.

“It was opening night for her,” Lori Johnson said, so they decided to attend Thursday’s performance.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant, “Fragments of a Dream,” kicked off its 41st annual production on Thursday with a special Flood Relief Night. Audience members in area communities affected by recent flooding could get general admission seats for a reduced price.

“We thought, let’s give them a deal,” said pageant technical assistant Bill Richards. A second Flood Relief Night will be held July 19.

It turned out the weather didn’t even let up for Thursday night’s performance. The pageant ended up being cut about 15 minutes short due to storms moving in.

“We got through the first act, and we had a shorter second act,” Richards said. Although it was shortened, he said the second act kept important scenes in the pageant’s story, which focuses on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s childhood experiences in Walnut Grove.

Flood Relief Night did bring out some area residents to see the pageant, pageant committee members Ron Kelsey and Dianne Raymond said. But there were a lot of people who had their tickets from last week’s cancelled performances instead, Raymond said.

It’s rare for weather to stop the pageant — there have been only five rainouts in the event’s history, Richards said. But last week’s severe weather was much more than an ordinary rainstorm. Performances were cancelled, while volunteers gathered to help clean up after floodwaters receded from the pageant site.

“On Friday, we had over 60 people here for four hours,” Richards said. Mud was washed away from sets with power washers. Lights and electrical systems that crew members removed when the flooding started were put back in place.

There were some buildings at the site, as well as costumes and generators, that were damaged by floodwater, Richards said. Flood damage and lost revenue from the cancelled performances last weekend could add up to around $30,000 or more, he said.

The Wilder Pageant has added performances, with Thursday shows on July 12 and 19. Cast members usually had Thursday rehearsals, so it was easier to add Thursday performances, Richards said. It also seemed like a good time to show support for area communities, with Flood Relief Night.

“We’re more looking, on a Thursday, for it to be a local crowd,” he said.

In some ways, southwestern Minnesotans today are going through similar experiences to the settlers of the Ingalls’ time, Richards said. Their families coped with natural disasters, like people are dealing with flooding now.

“I think it can be a healing thing, when you see how people people got through it,” he said.

The weather for today’s pageant performance is looking brighter. The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls is forecasting mostly sunny conditions Saturday and Sunday, with high temperatures in the 80s. A 20 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms is forecast on Sunday afternoon, and there could be more chances for showers and storms starting Tuesday night.

More information on the pageant schedule, ticket information and Flood Relief Night can be found online, at walnutgrove.org/pageant.

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