Erin Dolph and Abbey Hugo
Entertainment and Sports Editors
and entered far too excitedly.
Once inside, the receptionist
kindly informed us that it was not in
fact where the legendary ice cream
was made. So we sprinted back out to
the car, ecstatic for the real deal.
It only took six minutes, but
it felt like a lifetime with all of the
excitement boiling within us.
We took a joy lap around the
factory and soaked in all the glory,
but…we didn’t go in. Unfortunately
visitors are never admitted into the
factory.
Supposedly this is for sanitary
reasons but we’re thinking they’re
just hiding something big in there,
like an ice cream breathing dragon.
Feeling not so accomplished but
still thoroughly entertained, we headed back to Lincoln with our hearts,
minds and stomachs full.
PHOTO BY ERIN DOLPH
Le Mars, Iowa: the self-proclaimed ice cream capital of America,
where life is sweet. As told by a banner on every light pole in town.
It houses one of the world’s largest producers of ice cream, the Blue
Bunny Factory.
So, we whipped out our Carrie
Underwood classics, jumped in the
car and hit the road.
Nearly three hours and a whole
generation of Carrie Underwood hits
later, we finally reached the “coolest”
(because ice cream’s cold) town in
America. It may have been the abundance of ice cream or the fact that is
was three hours north that resulted
in the frigid temperatures outside as
well.
Before we even got to the ice
cream itself, we were amazed by the
town’s ice cream spirit. The town
revolves around its ice cream culture. Their streets are garnished with
gigantic ice cream cone sculptures
and murals galore.
After exploring the many
adorned alley ways and such, we
turned our gears back to ice cream.
We waltzed right into the ice
cream parlor. It was a glorious oldtimey ice cream parlor and miniature
museum.
When we swished open the double doors and headed up the grand
staircase, we were bombarded by ice
cream artifacts. Cases displayed Blue
Bunny products from their extensive
history.
Within the well-crafted cases,
were everything from antique ice
cream equipment and vintage ice
cream casing to images of old Blue
Bunny mascots and other dairy related relics.
Then we hopped (bunny reference) back down the grand staircase
to the main event: the ice cream.
Our eyes feasted upon the large,
old school ice cream bar before our
stomachs feasted upon the fabulous,
freshly made ice cream.
There were all sorts of ice
cream options. One could even get
a sampler of six flavors all at once!
Unfortunately, we are lame and did
not do that.
But, fortunately for our stomachs, we got some generously portioned multi-flavored waffle cones.
The most difficult decision of the day
was deciding which two of the wonderful flavors we should try.
In the end, we decided on a wonderful combination of both classic
and more uncommon flavors, including lemon sherbet and bunny tracks.
After scarfing down the decadent ice cream, we headed off to
check out the reputable factory and
enormous corporate offices.
These offices were so large that
we nearly mistook them for the factory itself. By nearly, we mean truly.
We truly mistook it for the factory
The Blue Bunny parlor and statue
await hungry ice cream fans.
Annual winter band concert amazes
Abbey Hugo
Sports Editor
The annual Winter Band Concert took place on
Feb. 21, featuring all seven of the Pius band divisions:
the Concert Band, Pius Jazz Ensemble, Bolt Big Band,
and the Symphonic Band. The differing bands allowed
for a wide array of music.
“The key to picking songs is knowing what the
band’s strengths are,” band director Jared Wilhelm said.
“I also try to find a song that inspires me and hope it
inspires them.”
Most of the music for Districts will be from these
songs as well. The concert was a way to practice as well
as entertain.
The concert started off with The Bolt Big Band, a
jazz band directed by Mike Murphy.
Next up was the Concert Band, consisting of freshman and sophomore band members.
As he would continue to do with all the songs,
Wilhelm introduced each song with a short history or
story of each. Doing so added depth and understanding
to each song. Particularly because majority of the large
band pieces were narrative, it really helped the audience
appreciate each song.
After four songs from the concert band, it was back
to some jazz with the Pius X Jazz Ensemble.
Their second song Feeling Good featured vocals by
Natasha Pierce.
“The band loves playing with a vocalist so they tend
to play their best,” Wilhelm said.
It seemingly transferred everyone into the classic
jazz clubs of earlier years.
An anonymous adult audience member could be
overheard saying, “Woah, that’s good enough to be
played in a bar!”
The concert went on to finish with the Symphonic
Band, comprised of all the juniors and seniors.
Two real crowd pleasers were “In Memoriam:
Kristina” and “Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song.”
“In Memoriam: Kristina” was an emotional piece
in memory of the composer’s private student who had
been struck by lightning. It was truly electrifying, leaving multiple spectator with watery eyes.
Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song was another
narrative, this one about a young girl adapting to a new
culture. Wilhelm took the time to identify each component of the song in order to give the crowd a clear view
of what was happening.
“Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song was one of my
favorites. I love the story behind it and the different
themes that told about different cultures,” Wilhelm said.
The band was rather proud of their performance.
“We’ve all been working really hard in class with
some really challenging pieces,” junior Sophie Daily
said. “It was gratifying to hear our hard work pay off.”
March 10, 2016
Fun, delicious cake in just two minutes!
Ingredients needed:
1/2 Cup of just-add-water pancake batter
1/3 Cup of water
A dash of cinnamon
1 Tbsp. of sugar
1 Tsp. of vanilla
2 tsp. of canola oil
1/3 Cup of chocolate chips
RECIPE BY MADDIE CONDON
The X-Change
Erin and Abbey's foodventure Chocolate Chip Mug Cake
8 Entertainment
1. Add your pancake batter into the mug
2. Add your water and oil
3. Mix the batter until it has a smooth consistency (comparable to regular pancake batter)
4. Add all other ingredients excluding chocolate chips, then mix
5. Add chocolate chips, mix and microwave for two minutes
*you may want to stop and check it at the one minute
mark to prevent it from exploding
REVIEW:
Though this may not be as big as a normal cake, it sure
is just as delicious. Very few dishes are needed for the
making of this, which is very convenient.
The cake itself is very spongey. It is not as sweet a regular cake but the chocolate chips make up for the lack of
sweetness.
It is a very quick and easy cake to make, and is perfect
for an after-school snack.
Review: Oscars overglorified, too long
Reagan Scott
Editor-in-Chief
On Sunday, February 28, popular comedian Chris Rock hosted
one of the biggest entertainment
events of the year, the 88th Academy
Awards.
While I normally don’t take
time out of my evening to watch
awards shows, I decided to devote
some of my time to watching it in
order to see if Leonardo DiCaprio
would finally win an Oscar.
The event, which lasted over
four and a half hours (not including
the hour and a half of red carpet
coverage), allowed the best and the
brightest in the entertainment industry to walk away with the coveted
Oscar statuette.
However, controversy began
to circulate long before the night
even began. After the nominees
were announced, it was quickly realized that no African Americans had
been nominated for such esteemed
categories as Best Actor/Actress
and Best Actor/Actress in a Leading
Role.
The hashtag #ocscarssowhite
quickly surfaced, a throwback to
last year when thousands of people
across the nation boycotted the
event because of its lack of diversity.
The issue wasn’t glossed over
during the event though. Rock made
sure to address the lack of diversity
in his opening monologue to the
crowd.
The event seemed to go on forever as more and more pairs of stars
paraded out to announce the winners
of different Oscars for categories
such as costume design, writing and
directing.
The biggest announcement
of the night came when Leonardo
DiCaprio won his first Oscar for
best actor. This award comes after a
23 year acting career and four lost
Oscar nominations in the past.
The announcement took the
internet by storm, generating more
than 440,000 tweets per minute
according to Twitter. This makes
DiCaprio’s win the most highly
tweeted event in Oscars history.
Despite all of the hype for one
of the biggest awards ceremonies
of the year, it was too long to leave
me dazzled and I don’t see myself
watching the whole thing again in
the future. #oscarssolong
School: Lincoln Pius X High School
Student: Erin Dolph