The Luverne comedy duo “Marlene and Darlene” will return to the stage Thursday night for a dessert theater fundraiser at the Generations Event Center on South Estey Street.
The actresses (Brenda Winter and DJ Luethje) will join Luverne musicians Ron and Jane Cote and auctioneer Yvette Vander Brink to raise money for the Generations building fund.
In her Star Herald column this week (see page 4), Winter offers a glimpse of Thursday night’s act.
“We will play the roles of two hapless, elderly sisters trying their best to recover from the Covid lockdown,” she writes.
“The message of this performance is that people can’t just sit at home letting life pass them by. … The elderly, like Marlene and Darlene, have been hit especially hard by the isolation caused by the corona virus response.”
While the skit carries an important message, Winter said she and Luethje are part of Thursday’s entertainment mainly to make people laugh while raising money for Generations.
“And we hope the beautiful new building our seniors now have will become a community hub where people gather to laugh and eat and exercise and … maybe have just a little bit of cake.”
Dessert theater serving begins at 6:30 p.m. and entertainment is at 7. Admission is $20 per person.
Proceeds will help Generations cover costs of remodeling the former Grand Prairie Events building purchased last summer.
The event center’s “food prep” kitchen was turned into a full-scale commercial kitchen for the Lutheran Social Services senior meal site, currently at the Lincoln Street location.
LSS prepares more than 150 meals per day, which includes in-person noon dining and hot meals for pickup and delivery in Luverne, Pipestone, Worthington and Adrian.
Twice per week drivers deliver hot meals to Magnolia, Hardwick, Jasper, Beaver Creek and Hills, and those recipients have the option of adding frozen meals to carry over between delivery days.
The new Generations kitchen has walk-in coolers, a welcome upgrade from the 11 freezers currently in use on Lincoln Street.
The former Grand Prairie building was also remodeled to create office space for A.C.E. of Southwest Minnesota, which currently leases space from Generations at the Lincoln Street building.
A.C.E., which stands for advocate, connect and educate, was formerly known as RSVP — retired senior volunteer program. It now has an east-side entry and window. Linda Wenzel is the A.C.E. director.
Generations has been working to raise money over the past year to cover construction expenses and to continue paying off the mortgage.
Generations president George Bonnema said a recent matching fund challenge generated new pledges and he continues to be surprised by local generosity.
“Also, the fact that we will continue to host events will be another source of revenue,” he said.
To support the Generations capital fundraising campaign, contact the Luverne Area Community Foundation at 507-220-2424 or email emily@luvacf.org.