This event is nearly sold out, so we're inviting friends early. It occurs in Room 13 at 3350 S Bell School Rd, Rockford. Please phone (815) 921-3933 for ticket information. For one event only, non-members may attend for the standard $15 fee to try out the Center for Learning in Retirement without joining. Visit https://www.rockvalleycollege.edu/Community/CLR/index.cfm to learn more about CLR. Scroll down and click "Spring Class Schedule" to see a listing of dozens of exciting courses and activities. After performing their February 2nd 1959 program at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson boarded a small chartered plane for Morehead, Minnesota, the host town for the next stop on their "Winter Dance Party" tour. Fellow headliner Dion DiMucci and the backup band members stayed on the ground, riding an unheated tour bus in dangerously cold weather that the three ill-fated stars were avoiding. When the plane crashed about 1 a.m. near Mason City, Iowa the landscape of American music changed forever. The tour went on, and backup bassist Waylon Jennings helped to hold down the Buddy Holly segment of the performance. When Fargo, North Dakota's fifteen-year-old prodigy Robert Velline was tapped to perform a fill-in set at the Morehead event, "Bobby Vee" was introduced to a national music audience. Ron's program includes performances of Holly, Richardson, Valens, DiMucci's, and Vee's music. It also includes songs and stories of other artists such as Bob Dylan and Waylon Jennings whose fate strangely links to the 2-3-1959 legacy. The program incorporates brief histories and stories of the Winter Dance Tour, the musicians, and their impact on American music.
