What’s The Good News For May, Quad-Cities?
Even in the age of covid, when there’s plenty of depressing stuff going around, there’s a lot of good news in the Quad-Cities!
And every month, as usual, I put together a collection of some of the awesome things happening in and around town, and share them with you here and on KWQC-TV6’s “Paula Sands Live,” airing at 3 p.m. weekdays! So, tune in to PSL, and read on here on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and good news, QuadCities.com!
Beck And Woods Teaming Up With Raimi For Sci-Fi Film
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are teaming up with filmmaker Sam Raimi (best known for the Evil Dead series and the 2002-2007 Spiderman film trilogy) for an untitled science-fiction project, Variety reported this week. The filmmakers, who grew up in Bettendorf, worked with Raimi on the Quibi series “50 States of Fright.” Beck and Woods handled the Iowa segment.
Bryan Woods, left, and Scott Beck
The original script is being kept secret, as per usual with Beck and Woods.
After more than two decades of working their way up and making countless films of their own in the Quad-Cities and elsewhere, the duo shot to fame as the screenwriters of “A Quiet Place.” Last year they continued their success with their directorial debut on the big screen, “Haunt,” which also starred local actor Justin Marxen.
“Raimi Productions is proud to be teaming up with Scott Beck and Bryan Woods,” said Raimi in the Variety story. “They have exceeded all expectations in my experience with them at Quibi and we have the utmost confidence in their brilliant story. I am honored to once again be joining forces with our partners at Sony Pictures. We have a wild and thrilling blockbuster that we can’t wait to share with the world.”
“After ‘A Quiet Place’ we knew we had a responsibility to reinvest back into the ecosystem of original ideas,” said Beck and Woods in the Variety piece. “We are so proud to have partnered with a studio that believes in a theatrical landscape that looks for launching new stories. Our producing team at Raimi Productions helped foster our vision for this film as directors before we introduced the spec script to the town. Sam Raimi is not only one of our heroes, but one of the only filmmakers to successfully master both independent film and the studio blockbuster. We can’t imagine a more perfect mentor to help us transition into big studio filmmaking.”
For more information on Beck and Woods, check out QuadCities.com’s Spotlight on the duo.
Rock Island School District Serves Over 39,000 Meals To Kids
Rock Island Milan School District 41 has been doing an awesome job in helping to feed kids in need during the covid break — feeding both their minds and bodies.
Since March 23 they have served more than 13,000 meal kits to our students. That equates to more than 39,000 individual meals (based on the three-day meal packages in the kits).
While schools are closed, RIMSD #41 is offering a DRIVE THROUGH pick up meal service for ALL STUDENTS (PreK – Grade 12) who live in the boundaries of RIMSD #41.
The meal kits (3 day meal packages with breakfast and lunch) will be available for drive through pickup from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on upcoming dates t.b.a. at the following locations:
- Earl Hanson Elementary, 4000 9th Street, Rock Island
- Rock Island Academy, 930 14th Street, Rock Island
- Frances Willard, 2503 9th Street, Rock Island
- Longfellow Liberal Arts, 4195 7th Avenue, Rock Island
- Thomas Jefferson Elementary, 1307 W 4th Street, MILAN
- Rock Island High School, 1400 25th Avenue, Rock Island
- Ridgewood Elementary, 9607 14th Street West, Rock Island
For more information on meal items in the kits, contact the Nutrition Services Department (309) 793-5900, ext. 10212.
For Cooking instructions for meal kit items >> click here.
For more information, see https://www.rimsd41.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1694629&type=d&pREC_ID=1853622
Beaux Arts Goes Virtual!
Keep the Mother’s Day tradition going! The Spring 2020 Beaux Arts Fair is going VIRTUAL!
As previously reported on QuadCities.com, the fair’s 114 local and regional artists will feature their handmade creations online at https://www.beauxartsfair.com/ on Saturday May 9 and Sunday May 10. Shoppers are asked to visit the “Meet the Artists” page, where they can peruse and purchase directly from the vendors.
Walk through some of the area’s best craftspeople and fine-art creators. Price ranges are suitable for all, from art lovers to art collectors! Artists that have a flower by their name will be even offering something special! New flowers are being added daily, so check back often at https://www.beauxartsfair.com/featured-artists.
Don’t miss this opportunity to check out the Midwest’s finest artists!
Ballet Quad Cities Goes Online With The Dance
Students in the Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance are continuing their lessons online, through Zoom, and students have submitted their own videos for a new collage. Artistic director Courtney Lyon (who recently received an Iowa Arts Council emergency relief grant) has choreographed, taught, and edited a new piece with three dancers on Zoom.
Executive director Joedy Cook and artistic associate Emily Kate Long are continuing BQC’s year-long commitment to promoting the 2020 Census with a new video based on the company’s “Dance Me A Story: Exploring Literature through Ballet” programs. They connect ballet and literature to provide a new, creative understanding of beloved stories and characters to individual of all ages and abilities.
“You just have to go with it,” Lyon said Monday of creating with new media. “That’s why Ballet Quad Cities keeps truckin’ along. We like to say, we have grit. We’re just gonna keep going. You give us a challenge, some limitation, we’ll find a way to build a ladder to get over the wall.”
“Dance Me a Story” began as an interactive, in-person experience of using movement and music to create danced versions of familiar tales and has grown to reach over 15,000 in the last three years. Now, BQC is expanding it into a virtual format, with five new videos to come this month.
In each 10- to 15-minute video, participants see and hear the story read aloud. They then get to dance along, learning and creating their own choreography to music that captures the characters, action, and emotions in the story. The first edition of this new format is the book “Look Where We Live! A First Book of Community Building,” and Long leads each video.
Take A Quarantine Cruise For A Cause
Does this beautiful spring weather have you more than ready to take your most prized possession for nice afternoon cruise?
MMR Car Meets and Cruises will be hosting the 2020 Quarantine Cruise for Cause this Sunday May 10, and you are invited!
The group will meet up at Muscatine Mall (1903 Park Avenue Muscatine) around 1:30 p.m. The cruise will start at around 2:15 (so don’t be late!) and will travel around Muscatine. Back roads included! The group will head down past Sunny Brooks Assisted Living for chance to show off those cars. The cruise will end around 4 p.m. or when everyone starts getting bored.
It is asked that you do not get out of your cars and huddle in groups. The goal is to keep this cruise as safe as possible for everyone. Feel free to take pictures though!
Check out MMR Car Meets and Cruises on Facebook for more info or if you have a route suggestion!
Local Author Connie Wilson Is In Rare Company
Local author Connie Corcoran Wilson is being honored among some pretty elite company.
Connie Wilson
The area scribe’s novel Khaki=Killer, third book in The Color of Evil trilogy, was named one of the 100 Best Indie Novels in a competition sponsored by “Shelf Unbound” magazine that drew more than 120,000 entries.
All three books in the series can be purchased from Amazon in both paperback and e-book versions. The first six chapters of Book #1, The Color of Evil, can be obtained free at Connie’s blog, www.WeeklyWilson.com.
Local Author Jason Platt Debuts Another Hat
Jason Platt is a man who wears many hats, and he talked about those various artistic chapeaus as well as his latest book about a certain hat, “Operation Hat Heist,” with Spotlight Theater’s Brent Tubbs for Spotlight Live Q&A this past Monday, Apr 27.
Jason, a middle grade graphic novelist, is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (in Savannah GA). He was accepted into the National Cartoonists Society in May 2015, and his first graphic novel, Middle School Misadventures, made national recommendations. His second novel, Middle School Misadventures: Operation Hat Heist! was just released on April 21st. He and his family live in Davenport with their cat who lets them live with her.
To check out the Q & A, click here.
Check out this QC Uncut episode with Jason Platt, as he discusses his nationally released book “Middle School Misadventures”.
Quad-Cities Disaster Recovery Fund Passes $1 Million In Contributions
The Quad-Cities Disaster Recovery Fund has now surpassed $1 million in contributions to support the community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund was activated by the Quad Cities Community Foundation six weeks ago with lead contributions from the Community Foundation, United Way of the Quad Cities, and Regional Development Authority.
In the first week of the fund’s activation, United Way of the Quad-Cities Board Chairperson Linda Bowers stepped up with a $50,000 challenge gift to spur local, individual, and business giving to the fund. Now, she is gifting another $50,000 challenge to the Quad-Cities so that the fund can continue to meet basic needs for those most vulnerable people during this pandemic.
The next $50,000 donated to the Quad-Cities Disaster Recovery Fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Gifts can be made online at www.QCCommunityFoundation.org or by mailing a check made payable to the Quad-Cities Community Foundation to 852 Middle Road, Suite 100, Bettendorf, Iowa 52722. Include “Disaster Recovery Fund” in the memo line.
Think And Drink With Think And Drink Trivia Online
As most of us continue to stay safe at home in the Quad Cities, our need for entertainment and social interaction is starting to really kick into overdrive. Luckily, one local company has continued to provide fun-filled evenings for all to enjoy, from the comfort of home!
Think & Drink Entertainment, which started out with “Tuesday Night Trivia” at Uptown Neighborhood Bar & Grill in Bettendorf, back in 2007, has gone through many changes over the years. They now provide Rock Star Bingo, Trivia Night Live, Survey Says and POP QUIZ all over the Quad Cities! And with the recent health crisis in our country, they have evolved yet once again to bring these entertaining evenings right into our own homes!
Check out the upcoming Think & Drink Entertainment Events This Week:
Wednesday May 6 at 7 p.m.
Friday May 8 at 8 p.m.
Saturday May 9 at 8:30 p.m.
Have some fun with Think & Drink Entertainment this week!
