A ray of sunshine has emerged though the dark winter sky as the Festival of the Arts looks to kick off another schedule of events introducing various forms of art to the community.

The Festival of the Arts was started 75 years ago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ferris State University by Dr. Dacho Dachoff, former director of Music Activities. The campus based activity died in the mid 90s when school functions were being cut.

The Festival of the Arts was resurrected as Professor Bruce Dilg approached President David Eisler a few years ago. “Two years ago at a football game, I approached President Eisler about starting the idea based on experience, Ferris State University and the Big Rapids community,” Dilg said. “This year's events are a $50,000 project that was sponsored and funded by Ferris State, Big Rapids and Art Works.”

This year's festival takes place starting with the opening ceremony this Thursday, Jan. 29 and is full of events that run everyday until the closing ceremony on Sunday, March 1. The opening of the festival is a wine and cheese reception on Thursday, Jan. 29 inside the Rankin Art Gallery as architect Gretchen Minnhaar gives the keynote address.

Taking part and building the events for the festival are talented individuals; Bill Donahue, FSU Music professor; Dr. Scott Cohen, director of Instrumental Ensembles at FSU; Dr. Ed Mallett, Tuba Bach Artistic Director; Mark Gifford, City of Big Rapids and Bruce Dilg, Chairman of the Festival of the Arts.

“We spend a year just thinking about ideas and who would be available for our price and time to come to Big Rapids,” Dilg said. “This year we have artists coming from as far as Philadelphia, Chicago and North Carolina.”

Some of last years’ highlighted events included the Grand Rapids Symphony and the sculpture unveiling. Welding professor Dave Murray and his students cut out and welded a sculpture of half inch steel designed by art professor Robert Barnum and donated it to the City of Big Rapids. Today, the steel sculpture sits outside of City Hall.

The Grand Rapids Symphony is making a return to Big Rapids. “I’m very excited about their return. Grade school children from around the area will be bused to Ferris for a special concert just for them,” Dilg said.

One other event headed this way is the Saline Fiddlers. They will be performing at Wink Arena and Williams Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 21. They have been honored with performances at the White House, Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center and the State of Michigan’s Presidential Inaugural Ball.

A couple more events to look forward to are the introductory welding for the artist or hobbyist on Feb. 2, 9 and 16 and a digital photograph workshop hosted by Bill Bitzinger and Matt Yeoman held on Feb. 4 and 18. See the art of the political cartoon as Detroit Free Press’ editorial cartoonist Mike Thompson comes to Art Works on Saturday, Feb. and blacksmith artistry comes to the welding lab on Wednesday, Feb. 11 as Tim Carr explains the art of blacksmithing.

Art Works, the Rankin Art Gallery, Williams Auditorium, Pepper’s Café and Deli, the Big Rapids Public Library and the Ferris State welding lab are just a few of the locations throughout the community that will be hosting events.

“I’m tired of hearing the community and students tell me there is nothing to do in the winter,” Dilg said. “I want to build bridges between the community and the campus. These events will get people from the community onto the campus and involved with our facilities and see the talent we have.”

For more information on the Festival of the Arts, visit the Ferris State Web site.

Big Rapids born and raised, musician Billy Craig brings home the country hits that have been making waves on radio stations all over the U.S.

Craig, who now resides in the upper east side of Detroit, calls his music a combination of folk, rock and country. His newest CD release “This Side of Somewhere” holds 14 of his original songs including the hit “Flip Flops” which reached No. 5 on the allaboutcountry.com new music playlist and was a No. 1 requested song on Grand Rapids’ K94 New Country.

Scott Gordon, a long time music industry professional and radio consultant, stated in a press release about the song, “K94 has a very wide listener base which provides a great test market for the song, which is already showing positive upward momentum. The traction this single is already gaining truly shows that listening audiences from all demographic profiles do respond in a very positive way to this Jimmy Buffet-ish, laid back tune.”

The CD, which covers an array of country sounds from soft acoustics to roaring country riffs, began production in Memphis, Tenn. at the landmark Sun Studio which has seen classics from Elvis to Johnny Cash.

The chance to witness this rising star comes on Saturday, Jan. 31 as Craig sets stage in the Big Rapids High School auditorium. The show will run from 7 to 8:30 pm and to guarantee your seats, free tickets can be picked up at the Ferris State box office in Williams Auditorium or at Artworks in downtown Big Rapids.

Craig, who has opened for country star John Michael Montgomery, has also performed live on “The Mitch Albom Show” and on the “Over Easy Show with Pam Rossi.”

In a recent press release, Ray Prosser, an engineer for “the Mitch Albom Show” said, “Billy Craig has been on our show a few times and gives a terrific performance each time. His songs are easy to remember, fun to listen to and a perfect fit for our audience. The harmonies with the band are terrific too.”

In December Craig was also featured on two more radio shows, “Country Legends in the Making” and “The American Collection,” which included three songs off his current album.

Aside from co-writing, Craig’s current focus has been on the production of his follow- up album to “This Side of Somewhere.”

Craig, who has been performing since childhood, credits his earlier musical influences on his older sisters who danced to Motown and an older brother who played AC/DC and Van Halen albums.

The event is a part of Ferris State’s Festival of the Arts and is sponsored by the Old Pioneer Store and Emporium.

Jen Kober comes to town bringing in her wits and charms hoping to give us some big laughs.

“She’s the caustic cupcake of comedy—quick, biting and sweet all at the same time,” said Saudika Hardy from the Chicago Reader.

“I, personally, never heard of Jen Kober, but it’s always good to see something new, exciting, and most importantly, funny. I’m interested in what show she has in store for us,” said FSU student, Amanda Nieman.

Kober, from Lake Charles, La., went to the Theatre School of DePaul University in Chicago. She became an actress and has appeared in shows like “White Boyz in the Hood,” “Love Spring International,” “Comics Unleashed,” and hosted “Up For Laughs.”

She’s had a lot of one woman shows and was successful with all of them, including her original show “sUbcIty,” which won The Director’s Choice Award at The Kennedy Center Theatre Festival.

According to her Web site Kober “was the Runner Up in the MySpace ‘Stand Up/ Sit Down Comedy Challenge,’ which aired on TBS and ‘Comic Relief 2006’ on HBO.”

She also has been to many colleges all over the U.S.

As her Web site, jenkober. com, says, “She has bounded onto the national stage bringing crowds to their feet with her original blend of stand-up, story telling, and improvised rock-n-roll comedy. Her hardhitting hour is phenomenally funny as Kober commands the stage and dares you not to laugh.”

Kober’s “Delicious Tour” show is Tuesday Feb. 3 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Rankin Center Dome Room. It is free for all and open to the public.

For more information contact Shanyn Leonard at shanynlee@ferris.edu.

The Ferris theater students will be showing off their acting skills in “Months on End,” a play about life, love, and hardships.

This play is “kind of like a sitcom,” as its director, Katherine La Pietra, describes it. “Months on End” will show the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and heartbreak.

According to a press release, “Greg Pospisil’s play ‘Months on End’ is a charming mix of comedy and drama. In a series of comic scenes—one for each month of the year—we follow a circle of friends and family whose lives are poised between happiness and heartbreak. The diverse scenes and characters in this play reveal an emotional range from happiness to sorrow and everything in between.”

The FSU Theater cast includes Keith “Keebler” Horvath, Jake White, Jessica Wunderle, Rebekah Wolf, Jack Wilband, Jackie Norey, Dustin McLaughlin, Sara Galdys, Lindsay Cyr, Jeff Norey, Jasmine Clark, and Jordan Cyr.

The moral of this story is “that life is full of joys and sorrows for everyone and that we’re at our best when we work together to live and care for life and each other,” La Pietra said.

Theater goers are reminded that no photography is allowed during the show, even if flash is not used.

The play is from 8 to 10 p.m., Thursday Jan. 29 through Sunday Feb. 1, in the Williams Auditorium.

Tickets are $4 for students, $6 for seniors and $8 for adults. Seats are limited to 100 people per showing so buy tickets now online or at the Williams ticket office.

They are available at ferris.edu/ arts/tickets.htm, at x5600, or at the Williams Auditorium ticket office from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information contact Katherine La Pietra at x2108 or x2704, and at lapietrk@ferris.edu.

Through most of our more formative years the soundtrack to our lives has been comprised of a certain band whose stylings range from tragically poetic and immodestly rebellious while flirting with that dreaded label of “power pop”.

Fall Out Boy released their fifth studio album, “Folie a Deux,” in late 2008 to hesitant fans who feared the worst from a band that started with anthemesque choruses and robust guitar licks in years prior. “Folie a Deux” is no disappointment. Though tossed aside by some and branded as “sell outs” or too commercial, Fall Out Boy has produced a consistent and enjoyable record. Songs like the first single, “I Don’t Care,” recognize the need for simplicity in the progression of the music garnished with a steady revalidation to its defiant chorus.

Fans can expect a level of musical dynamic that is not present on past Fall Out Boy albums. “20 Dollar Nosebleed” features a boisterous horn section that promotes the hard hitting complexity of the lyrics.

Fall Out Boy’s continued success has less to do with the manipulation of the audience via clever advertising and more about crafting the music that they like. In this instance, they’ve hit a homerun and safely maintained their spot on the playlist of people everywhere, not just Disney channel watchers.

In the not so distant future when the radio begins to play the songs of today with the label as “oldies” Fall Out Boy’s “Folie a Deux” will certainly be among the tracks played.

A new year means new fashion and somewhere between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, a handful of hideous fashions slipped through to 2009.

In the past five years we have seen fashion put in reverse as more and more trends are getting their influences from decades like the 70s and 80s.

From skinny jeans and shirtdresses to neon pumps and leather boots, our generation has successfully, in some cases, turned ancient styles into bearable wear.

But, there are some trends that should be forever locked up and seen only in VH1 music videos and mom and dad’s high school yearbook or should just be burned.

“Don’t Touch Those” Harem Pants
Harem pants are also known as the drop-crotch MC Hammerstyle pants. From what I hear, this latest fashion faux pas has caught on like wild fire in Europe and has even showed its face on American catwalks and celebs like Katie Holmes. Harem Pants may be good for hiding common trouble spots for women (a.k.a the thigh and butt regions), but unfortunately for me, all they do is provoke a reaction mixed with horror, fear and confusion.

Cellulite-Hugging Leggings
I have seen people really pull off the “legging-look,” which makes this fashion trend hard to diss. Sadly, its usually only a small fraction of wearers who do. And you know if you can pull it off. Leggings can be cute with longer shirts or skirts and flats, but it’s the people who wear them as pants who make this trend go from bad to worse. Cotton or spandex, they hug all the wrong places and are the fashion equivalent of too much information.

Too Cool for Boots
Can someone please invent a fashionable boot for the guys? I have to say, if it hadn’t been for the Ugg epidemic, us women would still be parading around in the snow in our high heels. You can argue that Uggs are the most hideous thing to grace a woman’s foot, but the fact of the matter is she looks better (and warmer) than the guys trudging through kneedeep snow in sneakers.

Skinny Jeans… On Him
I’m not sure which is worse, sagging or suffocating. It has been quite some time since I’ve witnessed the plumber-look, but things aren’t looking any better, from either direction. It seems some guys are throwing out the baggy pants and opting for their girlfriend’s drawers, literally. Some look so snug that the blue in their jeans matches their face. Stop trying to be a rockstar and get realistic.

Like it or not, we all use clothing to send messages about ourselves and our personalities. Fashion is an important part of any society or culture, and an everchanging industry. It stirs people, like myself, to criticize and idolize. Overall it is a fascinating area of human interaction.