New Fundraiser Will Support Theater Arts in Inver Grove Heights

For years, Beverly Bushyhead’s family life has revolved, in part, around the theater program.

All three of Bushyhead’s children—Kyle, Loren and Hana—have been avid participants in the program, playing lead roles in school plays, learning valuable public speaking skills and mastering the technical side of acting.

Which is why Bushyhead would hate to see the theater program disappear. Although it was once a school district-sanctioned activity, the district could no longer afford to run the program, and handed it over last year to TriDistrict Community Education. Now the program is threatened by significant budget cuts, according to longtime theater director and program manager Rudd Rayfield.

The impending cuts have prompted a handful of community members, including Bushyhead and Rayfield, to organize the first-ever Taste of the Grove—a fundraising event scheduled for the weekend of Inver Grove Heights Days.

As part of the event, more than a dozen local restaurants and businesses will serve up samples off their menus at the Simley High School cafeteria from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 10, just prior to the Inver Grove Heights Days fireworks show at . Admission to the fundraiser is just $5 per person. The participating businesses include Applebee’s, B-52 Burgers and Brew, Old World Pizza and Celt’s Pub, among others.

Event organizer Kevin Pedelty hopes the event will raise as much as $3,000, which will be used to bolster the theater program’s quickly shrinking production budget, according to Rayfield. The organizers also hope the event will raise the profile of the theater arts program in Inver Grove and help promote local business owners.

But fundraising for the theater program won't stop here, according to Pedelty and Bushyhead, who have bigger aspirations. The two—along with Rayfield and Paul Bourgoins—have established a booster club for the theater arts and are working to get nonprofit status for the group. They hope the Taste of the Grove will be the first of many fundraisers for the program, and will help sustain the theater arts in the community for years to come.

"From my opinion, the stength of a community can be closely aligned with the viability of the arts in that community," Pedelty said. "If you lose the arts, it’s really hard to start them up and get them back."

Taste of the Grove

What: Sample menu items from more than a dozen local restaurants, including Celt's Pub, B-52 Burgers and Brew and more. All proceeds will benefit the Community Education theater arts program.
When: 6-8 p.m. on Sept. 10, just prior to the Inver Grove Heights Days fireworks show.
Where: Simley High School cafeteria
Cost: Admission to the event is $5.