Wednesday, April 29, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Local alpaca debuts in Bend Follies
By Jodi schneider McNamee
Correspondent
When Bend Follies pro-
ducer Brad Ruder asked
Marlene Baldock, Sisters
resident and owner of Desert
Song Alpaca Ranch, if they
could use one of her alpacas
during a skit in the Follies, she
was delighted — and nervous.
“It was exciting to think
about, but Hakon, the alpaca
I chose to be in the skit, has
never been in a building
before,” said Baldock. “You
never know how an alpaca
will react in a new environ-
ment, especially with lights
and noise. So I have been
practicing by bringing him
inside the house for a few
minutes each day.”
The Bend Follies is an
photo by Jodi schneider mcnamee
hakon the alpaca and Marlene Baldock on stage at Bend follies.
annual fundraiser that ben-
efits The Tower Theatre
Foundation. The Follies are
two nights of comedy starring
local personalities performing
sketches, singing parodies,
and making sure Bend laughs
at itself.
Ruder explained why they
wanted to use Hakon in a spe-
cific skit at the follies.
“Less than a year ago
Anheuser-Busch bought
out 10 Barrel Brewing in
Bend, and some fans haven’t
been that enthusiastic about
our small town craft brew-
ery being sold out to a huge
corporation, even though
Budweiser claims nothing
will change,” Ruder said.
“So this skit is to make fun
of Budweiser using Bend’s
version of a new marketing
phenomenon, an alpaca over
a Clydesdale. It’s between a
good joke and what fits Bend;
we are being Bend-centric.”
The Baldocks used a ramp
to get Hakon up the steps that
took him backstage behind the
scenes for the two-night show.
Hakon was a smashing suc-
cess and everything went off
without a hitch. In fact Hakon
delighted in walking across
the stage with his handler for
his moment of fame at the
Bend Follies.
19
Sisters business
at a glance
photo by Jim cornelius
A work crew was enclosing hardtails’ stage last weekend.
• Hardtails Bar and
Grill is enclosing its corral
stage as the new summer
season of outdoor music gets
underway.
• The Cottonwood Café
is now open at 403 E. Hood
Ave., serving breakfast and
lunch Wednesday through
Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• The Garden Angel has
added numerous updated
pieces of turf equipment,
enhancing productivity and
service for their clients. They
have also earned their land-
scape irrigation and back-
flow license, LCB#9352, to
better serve their clients in
Sisters Country.
• Your Care introduces
Dr. Eric Wattenburg’s new
radio talk show, “Your Care
America,” on the Open Line
to America Sunday nights, 8
to 11 p.m.
The show is open to
all callers, and covers
many topics including the
medical world. Call in at
800-449-8255 to join the
conversation.
Stream online at www.
ksco.com, www.kpay.com or
www.kmed.com, or listen to
podcasts at www.trn1.com.
Learn more at www.face
book.com/yourcareamerica.