Amazing audiences all over the world as far afield as The Nethalands, Egypt and Japan, Rockford, Ill. magician and professional entertainer Percell will kick of the Fontana Public Library’s 2023 Summer Story Wagon program with a Tuesday, June 20 performance at 10 a.m. in the library at Fontana Elementary School, 450 S. Main St. in Fontana. Percell uses comedy, visual magic, mentalism, escape artistry, sleight-of-hand and more to create an unforgettable show that’s guaranteed to entertain.
The Fontana Public Library will be offering its Summer Story Wagon performances at a new venue this year.
The performances are provided by the Waterford-based Prairie Lakes Library System as part of the state’s collaborative summer reading program. The Prairie Lakes Library System serves Walworth, Racine and Rock counties in southeastern Wisconsin.
Chicago-based musician Ann “Little Miss Ann” Torralba will perform a variety of songs for the whole family” at the Fontana Public Library’s Summer Story Wagon program on Tuesday, June 27 at 10 a.m. in the library at Fontana Elementary School, 450 S. Main St. in Fontana. A first generation Filipina American and former Chicago Public Schools teacher, Torralba is a nationally touring kids musician who has made seven award-winning family music albums.
In the past, the programs have been held in the meeting room at Fontana Village Hall. Wanting to come up with an alternative location to make the programs more readily accessible, the Fontana Public Library, in consultation with Fontana Joint No. 8 School District Administrator and Principal Steve Torrez and the staff of the Walworth-based Big Foot Recreation District, will be moving Summer Story Wagon performances to the school library at Fontana Elementary School, 450 S. Main St. in Fontana.
Torrez
“We’re really excited to host the library stories for the summer,” Torrez said. “We have a great partnership with the library. They’re wonderful to work with. Our day care’s open all year. so they’re here in the summer, and we also partner with Big Foot Recreation in the summer and they run a summer camp out of our school all summer … We have over a hundred kids here during the week … so they’re gonna use our library and we’re going to try it out this summer having it (Summer Story Wagon) here.”
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The 14th Annual Swim 4 Freedom event was held Sunday morning, Aug. 7, starting in Williams Bay and making the 5K swim to Fontana.
It’s felt that offering the Summer Story Wagon performances at the school will be beneficial for Big Foot Recreation summer camp participants, Falcon Early Childhood Center daycare students and the larger community.
Summer Story Wagon performances will be held on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. on the following dates:
- June 20 — Zack Percell of TnZ Magic. Amazing audiences all over the world as far afield as The Nethalands, Egypt and Japan, Rockford, Ill. magician and professional entertainer Percell uses comedy, visual magic, mentalism, escape artistry, sleight-of-hand and more to create an unforgettable show that’s guaranteed to entertain.
- June 27 — Little Miss Ann. Chicago-based musician Ann Torralba will perform a variety of songs for the whole family. A first generation Filipina American and former Chicago Public Schools teacher, Torralba is a nationally touring kids musician who has made seven award-winning family music albums.
- July 11 — Racine Zoo. The Racine Zoo will present an educational wildlife program that features interactive wild animal demonstrations. The nonprofit Racine Zoo, established in 1923 and one of only 238 zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Museums, cares for approximately 75 different species and over 300 individual animals from Wisconsin and around the world, on its 32-acre lakefront campus. Drawing more than 140,000 visitors annually, the Racine Zoo is the winner of the 2022 Governor’s Tourism Service Excellence Award.
The Racine Zoo will present an educational wildlife program featuring interactive wild animal demonstrations at the Fontana Public Library’s Summer Story Wagon program on Tuesday, July 11 at 10 a.m. in the library at Fontana Elementary School, 450 S. Main St. in Fontana. The nonprofit Racine Zoo, established in 1923, cares for approximately 75 different species and over 300 individual animals from Wisconsin and around the world.
Learn more
The Fontana Public Library is located at 166 2nd Ave in Fontana.
For more information, call 262-275-5107 or visit
IN 16 PHOTOS: Fontana Elementary School presents “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition” – April 14.15, 2023
“Somewhere, over the rainbow…”
Tired of the dreary life on her guardian aunt and uncle’s farm on the “Tornado Alley” 1931 Kansas prairie, heroic and sweet-tempered orphan girl Dorothy Gale dreams for a brighter and livelier world “somewhere, over the rainbow” in the opening scene of Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.” Eventually, young Dorothy discovers “there’s no place like home.”
Eric Johnson
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em on their Kansas farm
Working hard on their hardscrabble “Tornado Alley” Kansas farm during the Great Depression and drought-stricken Dust Bowl era in 1931, farmers Uncle Henry (Roman Vilona) and Aunt Em (Kinley Robbins) also serve as guardians for their orphan niece Dorothy Gale (not pictured) in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
Miss Almira Gulch comes to take away canine Toto and have him destroyed
Strict, antagonizing neighbor Miss Almira Gulch (Ellie Clausius) arrives by bike at the Kansas farm of Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to take away orphan niece Dorothy Gale’s dog, Toto, and have him destroyed. Gulch, who had hit Toto with a rake, arrives at the farm and lies that Toto bit her, announcing that she got the sheriff to give her an order to have Toto put down. Taking Toto away in a basket on her bike, Toto escapes from Gulch and runs back to Dorothy. Realizing Gulch will return for him, Dorothy and Toto run away from the farm and get swept up in a tornado, which whisks them away to the strange and magical Land of Oz, where they encounter Gulch’s doppelganger, the nefarious Wicked Witch of the West, also played by Clausius.
Eric Johnson
Dorothy Gale consults with psychic reader Professor Marvel
Looking to both rescue her beloved dog Toto and also escape her dreamy life on her aunt and uncle’s Kansas farm, young heroine Dorothy Gale (right, Gianna Kud) consults with psychic reader Professor Marvel (left, Alex Kudnik) in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
The Mayor of Oz
The Mayor of Oz (Millie Ferretti) provides a welcome to new visitor Dorothy Gale (not pictured, Gianna Kud) upon her arrival in the Land of Oz in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
“Tot Munchkins” sing and dance in Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
Among the denizens of the magical Land of Oz are the singing and dancing Tot Munchkins — from left, Lily Grant, Natalie Petersen and Eve Hachmeister.
Eric Johnson
Scarecrow, Tin Man and Dorothy in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
As lost Kansan Dorothy Gale (right, Gianna Kud) travels the yellow brick road through the Land of Oz, she meets and makes several traveling companion friends along the way, including Scarecrow (left, Jacki Rambatt) and Tin Man (center, Cameron Cripe).
Eric Johnson
Jitterbugs swarm in
The “Jitterbug,” a musical number that was cut from MGM’s 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” is sometimes used in stage productions such “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition,” seen staged here at Fontana Elementary School on April 14-15. The Jitterbugs — (from left) Kinley Robbins, Millie Ferretti, Lily Grant and Natalie Petersen — are used by the Wicked Witch of the West to attack Dorothy Gale and her companions at they approach her castle, just before the winged monkeys swoop in to capture Dorothy. The bites of the mosquito-like Jitterbugs cause their victims to break into a frenetic dance.
Eric Johnson
Nikko, leader of the Winged Monkeys
Nikko (Millie Ferretti) is the leader of the Wicked Witch of the West’s winged monkey army in Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
“I’ll get you my pretty — and your little dog, too!”
“I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!” — In the dark and spooky haunted forest near her castle, the Wicked Witch of the West (Millie Ferretti) threatens Scarecrow (Jacki Rambatt) and Dorothy (Gianna Kud) as they make their way along the yellow brick road through the Land of Oz to see The Wizard at Emerald City.
Eric Johnson
Things look bleak for Dorothy Gale in the dungeon of the Wicked Witch’s castle as time runs out
As sand in the hourglass runs out. things look bleaks for imprisoned young heroine Dorothy Gale (Gianna Kud) as she awaits an ignominious end in the castle dungeon of the Wicked Witch of the West during the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
Arrival at Emerald City
Nearing the end of their long and perilous journey along the yellow brick road, having vanquished the broom-riding Wicked Witch of the West, lost Kansan Dorothy (second from left, Gianna Kud), Cowardly Lion (left, Sophia Jackson), Scarecrow (second from right, Jacki Rambatt) and Tin Man (right, Cameron Cripe) arrive at Emerald City to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz in the hopes of making their respective dreams come true.
Eric Johnson
The Wizard of Oz (Alex Cudnik) in the April 14-15, 2023 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” — Seated in the Emerald City, the highly venerated “Wizard of Oz“ (Alex Cudnik), ruler of the Land of Oz, turns out to be a rather ordinary man, a conman and circus magician from Omaha, Neb. who has been using elaborate magic tricks, props and special effects to remake himself as the “Great of Powerful Oz.”
Eric Johnson
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North
Beautiful and graceful Glinda (Kinley Robbins), the Good Witch of the North, helps guide Dorothy Gale once she arrives in the Land of Oz. Said Glinda of Dorothy’s desire to return to Kansas from Oz, “You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”
Eric Johnson
“There’s no place like home…”
After her many and sometimes harrowing adventures in the magical Land of Oz, young heroine Dorothy Gale (Gianna Kud) discovers that home back in Kansas is where the heart is as she clicks the heels of her ruby shoes three times and prepares to leave Oz’s shining Emerald City: “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!”
Eric Johnson
Dorothy awakens back in Kansas, surrounded by concerned family and friends
Following the trauma of a tornado that struck her family’s Kansas farmstead, Dorothy (seated on bed at right, Gianna Kud) awakens, surrounded by concerned family and friends in the closing scene from Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 run of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.” Dorothy puzzles whether her visit to the magical Land of Oz was a just a fevered dream, or was it indeed a surreal real life adventure? Pictured, from left, are Uncle Henry (standing, Roman Vilona), Aunt Em (seated at left on bed, Kinley Robbins), Hunk (Jacki Rambatt), Zeke (Sophia Jackson), Professor Marvel (Alex Cudnik) and Hickory (Cameron Cripe).
Eric Johnson