Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts

RavensFire on stage at the Mabel Tainter

The RavensFire Band played for a benefit concert at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts last weekend. This concert raised awareness and funds for ongoing operations at Stepping Stones of Dunn County, which aims to prevent hunger, homelessness and isolation throughout the county through its three programs: food pantry, emergency shelter, and community connections. .

The Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts, in downtown in Menominee, Wisconsin, was built in 1889, and is on the National Register of Historic Places, a charter member of the League of Historic American Theaters, and a designated Wisconsin Historical Marker Site. The venue has been lovingly restored to original grandeur, acoustics and warmth. As a medium sized auditorium, the audience and musicians share the elegance of a late nineteenth century space.

RavensFire at the Grand Opening of Duke and Dagger in Menomonie WI

The audience reacted warmly to the two sets, especially to familiar songs like Danny Boy and Bonnie Hieland Laddie. To introduce Laddie, Melissa related how history could be taught through music. The lyrics to this song can take you on a ’round the world tour to ports of call from Cape Horn (where it’s never warm) to loading timber on the deck in Quebec. Can you picture a history teacher using those two phrases to start a conversation about world trade in the middle of the nineteenth century, when this song was written? The kids wouldn’t forget that lesson!

After the concert at the Mabel Tainter Center, most of the audience joined RavensFire at the Grand Opening celebration of the Duke and Dagger in downtown Menomonie. Everyone had a chance to visit with the band, request their favorite tunes, and enjoy a glass of Guinness. The owners and staff of the new pub gave RavensFire a warm welcome.