Up with People
Encyclopedia
Up with People is an international education organization founded in 1968 by J. Blanton Belk, building from roots in the similar "Sing-Out" program of 1965. Up With People is best known for their musical performances by international casts consisting of 70–100 students from, on average, 20 countries. The main components of the Up with People program are international travel, intercultural living (group diversity and host family stays), performing arts, community service and leadership development.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Up with People tours with "casts" of young people (ages 18–29) who travel for one or two semesters of 5–6 months each, to communities in different places in the world. Along with performing the show, cast members participate in volunteer activities and assist local organizations as a way to give back to the communities that host them. Currently the organization has two casts traveling each year, one beginning in January and the other in July. The one-semester tour format began in 2004 when Up with People re-opened its doors after ceasing operations in 2000. Prior to that time there were on average five casts touring. Each traveled for one year.
Up with People has a long history which includes large numbers of participants, performances, and audience members. Since 1965, some 20 million people in 38 countries worldwide, have seen Up with People performances, some 3 million hours of community service have been provided, and 450,000 families have hosted cast members in their homes. There are over 20,000 UWP alumni in 79 countries.
These numbers keep growing every six months.
(MRA) on Mackinac Island, Michigan. MRA, an explicitly Christian
spiritual group founded by Rev. Frank Buchman in 1938 as an outgrowth of the earlier Oxford Group
(OG), continues to operate under the name Initiatives of Change
. Both Up with People and Alcoholics Anonymous
(AA) can trace their roots to MRA and the OG, respectively. MRA produced many plays and shows in the early years to promote its message; the performers were mostly adults.
The Executive Director of Moral Re-Armament in the mid-1960s, J. Blanton Belk, described MRA at that time as an "expeditionary force from all faiths and races engaged in a race with time to modernize the character and purpose of man. It is love of home, homeland, and humanity. It endorses absolute moral standards as a compass in personal and national life. It is the firm conviction that enough God-loving men and women can be found who, by example and dedication, will provide leadership whose aim is to right what is wrong in the world..." Belk left MRA in 1968 to found Up with People. The current Up with People organization has had no ties to MRA for more than 45 years and has no connection with "Initiatives of Change".
Young people from many countries were represented in the performance of "Sing-Out 65". The cast of Sing-Out 65 traveled to Japan at the invitation of the Prime Minister, with cast members staying in private homes, including the homes of members of parliament. The cast performed on Japanese television and on the Kabuki
Stage in Tokyo. Traveling throughout the country from the island of Hokkaido, in the north, to Tokyo and by train to Kobe, the cast then took a ferry to South Korea. In South Korea the cast performed at military facilities and visited the Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjom. Sing Out Asia was formed from the visits of the US national casts and several albums were recorded from Sing Out Asia.
Back in the U.S., the cast became "Sing-Out 66". The show toured around the country, attracting volunteers and leading to the formation of three Up with People casts (A, B, and C). These multiple casts sang and performed for audiences around the world, including mainland U.S. and Hawaii, Canada
, Europe
, Central
, South America
, and Japan
. Training and recruitment festivals were held at a deactivated army base, Fort Slocum, on David's Island off New Rochelle, New York, for several summers in the late-1960s. A doctor or nurse usually traveled with the troupe as well as a tutor for the kids still in high school, who took instruction during the day. Older members performed promotional duties, matinee assemblies, and small medley-shows and did venue and stage set-up for the full (usually evening) show.
In 1968, the name was officially changed to "Up with People" and incorporated as a non-profit organization with no ties to MRA. Up with People's relationship to local "Sing Out" casts waned in the late 1960s and finally broke affiliation with the Sing-Out Program in 1968. Without the support of UWP, the local Sing-Outs across the country began to fade. A loose confederation of Sing-Out groups, by the name of National Action Council (NAC), formed in 1971. NAC conferences, held three times a year, allowed the groups to share songs and regain a common spirit. NAC was the forerunner of the still-existent People International, Inc. (PII).
Over the years, Up with People played in diverse venues, including universities, dozens of military bases, high schools, hockey arenas, race tracks, the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, DAR Hall, Waikiki Shell, Royal Albert Hall, numerous TV Specials, National Conventions for Republicans and Democrats, the Air Force Academy, and many more. In 1974, Up with People spent the summer performing at Expo '74, the international World's Fair in Spokane, Washington, and in 1976, they performed the National Anthem
at the Indianapolis 500
. Most notably, from 1976 to 1986, Up with People performed in four Super Bowl halftime shows, more than any other performer.
Faced with dire finances, Up with People's Board of Directors voted in December 2000 to suspend operations. The organization had some problems in Denmark, where people strongly disagreed with the price-quality ratio. While it appeared to be the end of the popular upbeat performance and service group, many approaches to re-organization were explored. In 2004, Up with People re-launched as UWP's WorldSmart Leadership Program, and soon after reverted to their original brand as "Up with People."
, Japan, and Europe, starting off with an orientation session in Denver, Colorado
, United States
. Each crew spent a week in each city, living mainly with host families.
While there was a highly simplified performance element, it was not the core focus of the program. Known as the "Community Celebration", it was a short presentation of dance, music, singing, multimedia, speech, and acting, as well as sharing their experiences of the city. The Celebration's aim was to get the people of the local community together with people from all over the world.
Besides the Celebration, other main elements of the WorldSmart Leadership Program included:
Besides this, many other side projects and activities were also run and organized by both staff and students, allowing them to use the skills they learned through the program.
Today, participants in the Up with People program travel for 5 and a half months beginning in January and July of every year. Each cast has between 70-90 young people, from approximately 20 countries, learning how to work cooperatively while exploring the similarities and differences of people from other nations and cultures. Each tour visits over 18 communities on at least two continents providing personal insight from diverse cultural, political, and economic conditions. During their 22-week experience, cast members perform in a vibrant musical show that brings the community together and highlights local partnering organizations. Members also give back to each city through service projects to make an impact and improve the lives of others. Projects often contain painting and gardening because of the large scale group of people. The Up with People program underscores that it's not 'getting', but 'giving' that leads to personal growth and can make a positive difference.
Up with People exists today to "spark people to action in meeting the needs of their communities, countries and the world while building bridges of understanding as a foundation for world peace."
The documentary film
Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up with People Story premiered at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival
. It is an unofficial documentary of the organization's mission based on historical research and the troupe's own never-before-seen archival footage. The film was directed and produced
by Lee Storey who is married to early alumnus William Storey.
The film documents the troupe's history from a religious and political perspective from its origins in the late 1950s within Moral Re-Armament
and the Sing-Out groups, through its successful years in the 1980s and subsequent decline in 2000 with an annual $31 million budget. The film includes a post-script on the troupe's tours since Up With People re-opened in 2005, with a focus on community service.
Smile 'Til It Hurts includes commentary by P.J. O'Rourke, Peter Yarrow
and Mark Crispin Miller
, with rare archival footage from Up With People,and archival footage of the troupe with Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower
and Richard Nixon
, Bob Hope
and Glenn Close
, among others. The film reveals board membership with funding from corporate entities including Halliburton
, General Motors
, Exxon
, and Searle
, and highlights how the troupe carried a pro-Western political ideology with a corporate agenda to counter the hippie
subculture
and bring a more positive propaganda message of Freedom and Democracy from the troupe's inception through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War
. The film further reveals that the musical group emphasized extreme right wing politics, while participants allege that the troupe rules included aspects of a religious cult, including arranged marriages and control over sex in marriage. In later years, participants discuss changes in the cultish aspects of the organization and how it softened to happy groupthink persona.
Reviews have noted that while the film is a critique of the organization, the film has also shown respect for those who were involved and demonstrated their good intentions.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Up with People tours with "casts" of young people (ages 18–29) who travel for one or two semesters of 5–6 months each, to communities in different places in the world. Along with performing the show, cast members participate in volunteer activities and assist local organizations as a way to give back to the communities that host them. Currently the organization has two casts traveling each year, one beginning in January and the other in July. The one-semester tour format began in 2004 when Up with People re-opened its doors after ceasing operations in 2000. Prior to that time there were on average five casts touring. Each traveled for one year.
Up with People has a long history which includes large numbers of participants, performances, and audience members. Since 1965, some 20 million people in 38 countries worldwide, have seen Up with People performances, some 3 million hours of community service have been provided, and 450,000 families have hosted cast members in their homes. There are over 20,000 UWP alumni in 79 countries.
These numbers keep growing every six months.
History
The 1965 debut roster featured a cast of 140 volunteers performing at a summer conference of Moral Re-ArmamentMoral Re-Armament
Moral Re-Armament was an international Christian moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from the American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman, a Lutheran, headed MRA for 23 years, from 1938 until his death in 1961...
(MRA) on Mackinac Island, Michigan. MRA, an explicitly Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
spiritual group founded by Rev. Frank Buchman in 1938 as an outgrowth of the earlier Oxford Group
Oxford Group
The Oxford Group was a Christian movement that had a following in Europe, China, Africa, Australia, Scandinavia and America in the 1920s and 30s. It was initiated by an American Lutheran pastor, Frank Buchman, who was of Swiss descent...
(OG), continues to operate under the name Initiatives of Change
Initiatives of Change
Initiatives of Change is a global organization dedicated to "building trust across the world's divides" of culture, nationality, belief, and background...
. Both Up with People and Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
(AA) can trace their roots to MRA and the OG, respectively. MRA produced many plays and shows in the early years to promote its message; the performers were mostly adults.
The Executive Director of Moral Re-Armament in the mid-1960s, J. Blanton Belk, described MRA at that time as an "expeditionary force from all faiths and races engaged in a race with time to modernize the character and purpose of man. It is love of home, homeland, and humanity. It endorses absolute moral standards as a compass in personal and national life. It is the firm conviction that enough God-loving men and women can be found who, by example and dedication, will provide leadership whose aim is to right what is wrong in the world..." Belk left MRA in 1968 to found Up with People. The current Up with People organization has had no ties to MRA for more than 45 years and has no connection with "Initiatives of Change".
Young people from many countries were represented in the performance of "Sing-Out 65". The cast of Sing-Out 65 traveled to Japan at the invitation of the Prime Minister, with cast members staying in private homes, including the homes of members of parliament. The cast performed on Japanese television and on the Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
Stage in Tokyo. Traveling throughout the country from the island of Hokkaido, in the north, to Tokyo and by train to Kobe, the cast then took a ferry to South Korea. In South Korea the cast performed at military facilities and visited the Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjom. Sing Out Asia was formed from the visits of the US national casts and several albums were recorded from Sing Out Asia.
Back in the U.S., the cast became "Sing-Out 66". The show toured around the country, attracting volunteers and leading to the formation of three Up with People casts (A, B, and C). These multiple casts sang and performed for audiences around the world, including mainland U.S. and Hawaii, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Central
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Training and recruitment festivals were held at a deactivated army base, Fort Slocum, on David's Island off New Rochelle, New York, for several summers in the late-1960s. A doctor or nurse usually traveled with the troupe as well as a tutor for the kids still in high school, who took instruction during the day. Older members performed promotional duties, matinee assemblies, and small medley-shows and did venue and stage set-up for the full (usually evening) show.
In 1968, the name was officially changed to "Up with People" and incorporated as a non-profit organization with no ties to MRA. Up with People's relationship to local "Sing Out" casts waned in the late 1960s and finally broke affiliation with the Sing-Out Program in 1968. Without the support of UWP, the local Sing-Outs across the country began to fade. A loose confederation of Sing-Out groups, by the name of National Action Council (NAC), formed in 1971. NAC conferences, held three times a year, allowed the groups to share songs and regain a common spirit. NAC was the forerunner of the still-existent People International, Inc. (PII).
Over the years, Up with People played in diverse venues, including universities, dozens of military bases, high schools, hockey arenas, race tracks, the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, DAR Hall, Waikiki Shell, Royal Albert Hall, numerous TV Specials, National Conventions for Republicans and Democrats, the Air Force Academy, and many more. In 1974, Up with People spent the summer performing at Expo '74, the international World's Fair in Spokane, Washington, and in 1976, they performed the National Anthem
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
at the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
. Most notably, from 1976 to 1986, Up with People performed in four Super Bowl halftime shows, more than any other performer.
Faced with dire finances, Up with People's Board of Directors voted in December 2000 to suspend operations. The organization had some problems in Denmark, where people strongly disagreed with the price-quality ratio. While it appeared to be the end of the popular upbeat performance and service group, many approaches to re-organization were explored. In 2004, Up with People re-launched as UWP's WorldSmart Leadership Program, and soon after reverted to their original brand as "Up with People."
WorldSmart Leadership Program
In August 2004, the first semester of the WorldSmart Leadership Program was launched. Designed as a 20-week program, the first crew traveled to about 18 cities in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Japan, and Europe, starting off with an orientation session in Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Each crew spent a week in each city, living mainly with host families.
While there was a highly simplified performance element, it was not the core focus of the program. Known as the "Community Celebration", it was a short presentation of dance, music, singing, multimedia, speech, and acting, as well as sharing their experiences of the city. The Celebration's aim was to get the people of the local community together with people from all over the world.
Besides the Celebration, other main elements of the WorldSmart Leadership Program included:
- Direct Instruction — college-level courses and discussions on topics such as leadership, intercultural communicationIntercultural communicationIntercultural communication is a form of global communication. It is used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Intercultural communication is...
, and world conflict. Some students elected to take actual college classes offered by the University of Colorado-Denver, while others attended general discussion sessions (known as "Stone Soup"). - Regional Learning learning about the local area and community through tours, guest speakers, courtesy visits, and special activities (e.g. scavenger hunts, workshops, panels). Some of these activities included a visit to a juvenile detention center, a tea ceremony, the World Expo in Toyota, Aichi, and lunch in a high school made up predominantly of immigrants.
- Community Impact — various community service projects based on various issues, such as education, the environment, immigration, discrimination, the arts, and many more. Projects ranged from visiting schools and interacting with students, to learning about different world faiths.
- Professional Development — internships and special projects in various sections, such as external relations or applied education. Students were also free to organize and run special projects of their own — such projects included a Language ExchangeLanguage exchangeTandem language learning is a method of language learning based on mutual language exchange between tandem partners...
and an in-house magazine.
Besides this, many other side projects and activities were also run and organized by both staff and students, allowing them to use the skills they learned through the program.
Up with People - Global Education Program
In 2006, under the direction of a newly constituted Board of Directors composed principally of UWP Alumni, a restructured Up with People program was introduced. Essentially, the program combines elements from UWP's four decades of success: a commitment to exploring leadership in a global context, host family living, international participants, service learning and using musical performance - a universal language - as a means to share a message of hope for the world.Today, participants in the Up with People program travel for 5 and a half months beginning in January and July of every year. Each cast has between 70-90 young people, from approximately 20 countries, learning how to work cooperatively while exploring the similarities and differences of people from other nations and cultures. Each tour visits over 18 communities on at least two continents providing personal insight from diverse cultural, political, and economic conditions. During their 22-week experience, cast members perform in a vibrant musical show that brings the community together and highlights local partnering organizations. Members also give back to each city through service projects to make an impact and improve the lives of others. Projects often contain painting and gardening because of the large scale group of people. The Up with People program underscores that it's not 'getting', but 'giving' that leads to personal growth and can make a positive difference.
Up with People exists today to "spark people to action in meeting the needs of their communities, countries and the world while building bridges of understanding as a foundation for world peace."
Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up with People Story
The documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up with People Story premiered at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival
Slamdance Film Festival
As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent in the film industry; it is also the only major film festival fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the...
. It is an unofficial documentary of the organization's mission based on historical research and the troupe's own never-before-seen archival footage. The film was directed and produced
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Lee Storey who is married to early alumnus William Storey.
The film documents the troupe's history from a religious and political perspective from its origins in the late 1950s within Moral Re-Armament
Moral Re-Armament
Moral Re-Armament was an international Christian moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from the American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman, a Lutheran, headed MRA for 23 years, from 1938 until his death in 1961...
and the Sing-Out groups, through its successful years in the 1980s and subsequent decline in 2000 with an annual $31 million budget. The film includes a post-script on the troupe's tours since Up With People re-opened in 2005, with a focus on community service.
Smile 'Til It Hurts includes commentary by P.J. O'Rourke, Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow is an American singer who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote one of the group's most famous songs, "Puff, the Magic Dragon"...
and Mark Crispin Miller
Mark Crispin Miller
Mark Crispin Miller is professor of media studies at New York University, and the author of the book: Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Elections. He is known for his writing on American media and for his activism on behalf of democratic media reform...
, with rare archival footage from Up With People,and archival footage of the troupe with Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
, among others. The film reveals board membership with funding from corporate entities including Halliburton
Halliburton
Halliburton is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people....
, General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
, and Searle
G. D. Searle & Company
G.D. Searle & Company or just Searle was a company focusing on life sciences, specifically pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and animal health. It is now part of Pfizer.- History :...
, and highlights how the troupe carried a pro-Western political ideology with a corporate agenda to counter the hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
and bring a more positive propaganda message of Freedom and Democracy from the troupe's inception through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The film further reveals that the musical group emphasized extreme right wing politics, while participants allege that the troupe rules included aspects of a religious cult, including arranged marriages and control over sex in marriage. In later years, participants discuss changes in the cultish aspects of the organization and how it softened to happy groupthink persona.
Reviews have noted that while the film is a critique of the organization, the film has also shown respect for those who were involved and demonstrated their good intentions.
Notable former members
- Actress Glenn CloseGlenn CloseGlenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
- Author Tim Gallwey (The Inner Game of Tennis)
- Composer, Performer, Writer, Lyricist Cecil BroadhurstCecil BroadhurstCecil Arthur Broadhurst was a Canadian artist, songwriter, actor and playwright, who had a passionate interest in and love for all things Western. At age 15 he began his lifelong commitment to painting, studying under LeMoine Fitzgerald and Frank Franz Johnston A.R.C.A. members of Canada's...
- Oarsman Rusty WailesRusty WailesRichard "Rusty" Donald Wailes, a.k.a. Perfect Oarsman was an American rower....
- All American Record Holder Ross Anderson (skier)Ross Anderson (skier)Ross Anderson is a FIS World Cup/Professional alpine Skier as well as Native American speed skier. He broke the former American Indian Record in 1997 with a speed of 137.86 mph flying by the former American Indian Record Holder held by Stew Young from the Tulalip tribe with a speed of...
- Country music artist Travis RushTravis RushTravis Benjamin Rush is a country music singer from Oregon.-Biography:Travis Rush was born in Orange, California, where he lived for 9 months and then moved to Gold Beach, Oregon. By the age of 10, Rush was singing in contests and playing the piano for local fans in his home town...
- Contemporary Christian artist Mark SchultzMark Schultz (musician)Mark Schultz is a Contemporary Christian music singer/songwriter. He grew up in Colby, Kansas and graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in marketing. At Kansas State, Mark was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he served eight years as a youth group...
- Real Estate Expert John T. ReedJohn T. ReedJohn T. Reed is an American author and investor. He is a former real estate investor who has authored and self-published books on real estate investing, football coaching, baseball coaching, success, and self-publishing...
- Dutch singer and actor Bastiaan RagasBastiaan RagasBastiaan Johannes Ragas is a Dutch singer and actor. Born in Lisse, he was the youngest of three brothers. Ragas learnt piano and guitar at school. He also participated and traveled with the international musical group Up With People during their 1989-1990 tour...
- Dutch TV-host Tooske BreugemTooske BreugemAntonia Grietje Ragas-Breugem is a Dutch actress and television host. She played a stewardess in 06/05, a movie by Theo van Gogh about the murder of Pim Fortuyn. She was video jockey at TMF Netherlands and presented the Dutch version of Idols.-Life:Breugem was born in a Dutch Reformed family,...
- Filmmaker Tag Purvis (Red Dirt)
- Country Music Radio Personality of the Year 1996 and Nationally Syndicated Radio Host, Barry Keith Marlow
- Producer Tina Kendrick
- Actress Amy Hunter-Cornelius
- Jazz Drummer Randy Brush
- Biggest Loser Contestant Allen Shepherd
- Filmmaker & Actor Keith L. Davis
- Actor Kurt KrakowianKurt KrakowianKurt Krakowian is an American former child actor and a guest star in a few TV programs: Days of our Lives, Cheers, Vega$, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Love Boat, According to Jim and a few episodes of Saved by the Bell...
- Fostering & Adoption Advocate Marc Judson
- Former Much Music VJ (Host of Rap City) Michael Williams