In their third year, the Celtic Highland Games of the Quad Cities have reached a certain stature. The one-day festival and competition, which will be held Saturday at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, has attracted top-flight performers rare for an event so young.
Say the word "scooter" to most people, admits Dean Wright, and "they picture you on a Honda moped." But that's not quite what Wright and his friends are into, and when they're on the road, they draw attention.

What Now?

Last week's announcement that the Vision Iowa board will contribute $20 million to Davenport's $113 million riverfront-revitalization project was, with good reason, greeted with smiles all around the Quad Cities.
When Mike and Amy Finders began playing music together four years ago, they were playing folk rock in the bars around Dubuque and Galena, where they lived. But they decided to change direction. "Let's not just try to be loud and entertaining to people who aren't exactly paying attention," Finder said of the thought process behind the decision.
Minor-league baseball has erupted into a major-league furor in the Quad Cities. On the one hand, Davenport Mayor Phil Yerington has complained about the composition of a task force appointed by Moline Mayor Stan Leach to explore ways to keep professional baseball here when the Quad City River Bandits pack up for Ohio in the next two years.
At the inaugural ArtStroll, MidCoast Fine Arts and the River Cities' Reader gathered 110 visual artists and their supporters for a group portrait by area photographer Dennis Fretty. Now we're bringing the music community together for a picture at the site of the planned River Music History Center, coming even closer to the spirit of the famous 1958 photograph "A Great Day in Harlem.
In its first year, the ArtStroll street-fair event in downtown Davenport drew an estimated 2,000 people. "That's pretty good for a first-year event," said Dean Schroeder, executive director of MidCoast Fine Arts.
Tim Sievert's motivation for applying to the Quad City Arts Metro Arts program was pretty simple: "I was looking for a summer job," said the 18-year-old. That statement is a bit surprising, because it's easy to forget that these 75 teenagers playing music, dancing, painting, and writing and acting are getting paid; the Metro Arts spread in The District of Rock Island resembles a summer camp.
Oh, the perils of outdoor theatre. There are the mosquitoes. The heat. And of course,the threat of rain. At a rehearsal for two one-act plays on Monday, director David Wooten told the cast he wanted strong efforts for the next few days.
Last month in Washington, D.C., Bettendorf resident Scott Morschhauser ran into people a lot like him. "I can't sleep at night," somebody would say to him. "I can't sleep at night, either!" Morschhauser would reply.

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