Andrew Patrick McPeters This past Saturday, I made my first-ever trek to Eldridge's North Scott High School, to make my first-ever acquaintance with the Countryside Community Theatre, via Lionel Bart's Oliver!, the musical based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.

The Show. Once upon a time long, long ago (over a half century), in a far away fantasy land (innocent, simple Iowa) there was a wonderful family (the completely believable, wholesome Frakes) who looked forward to a magical event (the yearly state fair) each summer that made a lot of their hard work (putting up pickles, making mince meat, raising livestock, etc.) seem like something special.