John q hammons biography of martin

Hammons Hall presents a full season which includes touring Broadway musical productions, single performances covering the gamut of entertainment from classical music to jazz to dance to theatre, children’s shows, and an emerging concert artists recital series. In keeping with Hammons Hall’s mission to serve the student population, Missouri State University concerts, recitals and lectures are also a part of the season’s schedule. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra has presented their concert season in the Hall since the venue opened in ; other community arts organizations perform in the Hall and/or partner with the Hall to present performances by touring artists, and Visual Artist Alliance of Springfield, and Springfield Public Schools have ongoing art exhibitions hanging in the Hall’s lobby gallery spaces. To complete each season, the Hall is available for rental to touring companies, for concerts, conferences and large-scale receptions.

The amazing variety of artists who have trod the boards at Juanita K. Hammons Hall include Broadway greats Robert Goulet, Carol Channing, Theodore Bikel; plus stars like Frankie Avalon, Cathy Rigby, Jack Jones, Tim Conway, Barbara Eden, Ted Neeley and Melissa Gilbert starring in Broadway touring productions; the casts of Cats, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Riverdance, Hairspray, Mamma Mia!, Annie, The Producers, STOMP, Blue Man Group, Grease, and many other Broadway shows, from the classics to cutting-edge. Also taking the stage through the years at Hammons Hall: entertainers Marvin Hamlisch, Judy Collins, Gregory Hines, The Smothers Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Hal Holbrook, Tom Jones, The Righteous Brothers, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, The Chieftains, Jim Brickman, Kris Kristofferson, Garrison Keillor, George Carlin, Joan Rivers, and Jerry Seinfeld; the legendary Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Lou Rawls and Gregory Peck; classical artists from the New York City Opera, the BBC Philharmonic, the Academy of

There is an old saying that, if you are living your dream, you’ll never really work a day in your life.

That’s true for Martin Mac Donald, who since his college days has championed the outdoors and, even better, found a tremendous platform 24 years ago to showcase his passion. That’s when he accepted an offer from Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris to become Director of Conservation, Youth Development and Public Relations.

It’s been a terrific career ever since, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame soon will induct Mac Donald as an Conservationist, Outdoorsman and Runner with the Class of during the Enshrinement presented by Killian Construction on Sunday, Jan.

The Enshrinement features an 11 a.m. reception presented by Meek’s The Builder’s Choice at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield and then a 4 p.m. reception at the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, followed by the 5 p.m. dinner and ceremony. For tickets or to support Martin&#;s induction in some way, call

“John is my personal hero for his unwavering passion for inspiring people to love, enjoy and conserve the great outdoors – not to mention him letting me do a lot of crazy stuff,” Mac Donald said.

Mac Donald has initiated countless conservation programs, sports events, outdoor recreation events and educational initiatives, reaching thousands of individuals. He co-founded Wonders of Outdoor World National Outdoor Recreation and Conservation School, working with his mentor, Glenn Weaver, at the University of Missouri. That program is now in four Missouri locations.

He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for his work in establishing America’s first Fish Habitat Initiative. In cooperation with Morris and the Sportfish Boating Partnership Council, that initiative has created projects in 50 states and restored more than 28, acres and 1, miles of rivers.

Mac Donald also had established the Bass Pro Shops Out

Words and dirt are what Martin Hintz does best. The author of more than books and articles enjoys writing the story of Wisconsin’s agriculture while farming on Milwaukee’s urban edge.

“I enjoy words,” Martin said. “My dad was a poet and my sister is a librarian. Words are in my blood. Well, that and dirt.”

He was raised by his mother and grandmother, in rural Chickasaw County, Iowa, after his father died serving in World War II.

“A lot of my pals were farm kids,” Martin said. “I have an affinity for farmers and what they go through.”

Aside from the one summer he traveled with a carnival, Martin spent most summers working on a road crew for Chickasaw County and occasionally visiting his uncle’s farm. After earning his master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Illinois, he wrote for a Milwaukee newspaper in the s and 70s before becoming self-employed as an author of articles, guidebooks and columns.

Martin’s wife, Pam Percy, is also an author. The twosome have a column called “Boris and Doris On the Town” in Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express where they write reviews of events, artists, authors and exhibits. Among the books they have written together are the “Off the Beaten Path Wisconsin” guidebook and “Wisconsin Cheese: A Cookbook and Guide to Wisconsin Cheese.”

“I think we gained a couple of extra pounds that year,” Pam joked since each recipe for the cheesy cookbook had to be tested several times.

As a self-proclaimed chicken lover, Pam has raised chickens and traveled the nation to speak about them for 25 years. The couple usually has between laying chickens and some broilers. Among her best known books is the page “The Complete Chicken.”

Farming on the Fringe
Martin and Pam also operate Pampered Produce, a small farm whose crops are sold through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Their home is a former dairy farm, located just 13 minutes north of downtown Milwaukee. What started as a sma

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On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, that’s how several Springfield residents characterize the community’s effort to embrace and accept people of different color, religion or philosophical mindset.

On Monday, rain or shine, many people from wide-ranging backgrounds will gather to walk across the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge linking north Benton and Kimbrough avenues in a symbolic celebration of the civil rights leader’s message of peace and unity. The theme of this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom March and Celebration is “Fulfilling the Dream: Changemakers.”

“Are we making progress? That’s the million-dollar question,” said Cheryl Clay, president of the local NAACP chapter. “Springfield is improving, but there’s also a lot of work to be done for our community to be more accepting of our growing diversity. Our community is changing to reflect more people of color.”

Clay called the annual MLK walk across the bridge “an almost indescribable moment, when you look behind and see hundreds of people crossing the bridge, for all races and all faiths, to unite behind the vision Dr. King had for this country.”

The Rev. Phil Snider, pastor at Brentwood Christian Church, said it’s important to remember why King’s legacy is celebrated with a federal holiday and with local community events every year.

“Martin Luther King Jr. was the greatest moral theologian in the history of the United States,” Snider said. “His vision represents what is best about us. Perhaps most importantly and most valuable is that we’re celebrating his vision very publicly. By walking across this bridge we can honor and respect the values of what he represents.”

Snider said the MLK Bridge in Springfield works in two ways — as a symbol of the divide that existed between races in the past, and as a pathway that helps unite them as the community mov