The 1992 Grenora High School graduate loved to sing and to perform at the Medora Musical, which he did as a Burning Hills singer for five years, then as host for two years, “including the 40th anniversary edition of the musical, which was the last year he was in show,” said Randy Hatzenbuhler, Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation president and a good friend of Westin's.
Westin also served as marketing and public relations director for the Medora Foundation and “he wore that hat while in the show, til the time he died,” Hatzenbuhler said.
Westin died this past Feb. 13, days after his heart stopped while he was sleeping, leaving a gaping hole in the lives and hearts of all who knew him. That includes his immediate family -- wife, Lesley and children Hannah and Wyatt, and parents Harold and Lois.
To remember him and to celebrate his life, the Wade Westin Music Fest is at 2 p.m. MDT on Labor Day, Sept. 7, at the Medora Burning Hills Amphitheatre. Performing that day is the Bismarck Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Worship Team, of which Westin was a member. Also performing are Jared and Noni Mason and family, who are from “Minneapolis right now,” Hatzenbuhler said. “Jared was in the musical for six years in the late 1990s, and then he came back a couple of years ago and was the keyboard player and yodeler for the show. Both he and his wife were members of the show ‘Stomp.'”
Also participating are Medora Musical cast members and members of the Coal Diggers, which is the Medora Musical band.
“Wade was a part of the Medora scene for 10 years and we miss him,” Hatzenbuhler said. “We want to celebrate his life and the time he was here.”
The festival is actually something that Westin put together a couple of times through the years he was involved at Medora. “It is one thing he enjoyed doing at the end of the year,” Hatzenbuhler said. “He really enjoyed and appreciated the fact that the people in the show have other styles and other talents than what is displayed at the musical every night, as well as the fact that other North Dakotans have talent.”
The event is free to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 per person which is to go to the Wade Westin Memorial Fund. If you are unable to attend, you may send donations to TRMF, c/o Wade Westin Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 198, Medora, N.D., 58645.
“We really hope a lot of people will come out and celebrate his life, especially from the northwest corner of the state where he was from,” Hatzenbuhler said. “Wade was a special guy and a lot of people will be interested in this event.
He said the event performers are people Westin enjoyed playing music with and being part of their organizations.
"We figured that to celebrate his life, there would be no better place than the stage of the Medora Musical,” Hatzenbuhler said.
For more information, visit the Medora Web site at www.medora.com" or call 1-800-Medora-1.
Comments