Branson-style `The Clauson Family’ at Weill Center

Wisconsin’s own The Clauson Family will be entertaining the audience at the Weill Center on Sunday, March 14, at a 1:30 p.m. matinee with a songbook of memories of yesteryear benefiting the Sheboygan Chaplaincy Ministry.

The Clauson Family, whose roots are in Coloma, has been a popular venue in Wisconsin with their popular selections of ragtime, bluegrass, country-western, gospel and renditions of songs made famous by Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more.

In 2009, they performed at dinner shows, performing art centers and riverboat cruises throughout the state. They played to an enthusiastic audience for the Sheboygan County Chaplaincy Picnic at the Plymouth fairgrounds in June 2009, at which time many attendees requested that they return to the area.

Along with their music, the family has renovated a barn in an attempt to keep its original character while turning it into a theater where audiences could sit comfortably and enjoy a performance on a circular stage.

Spokesman, Brent Clauson said, “Now when you visit the barn, the first thing you hear as you are walking up the ramp are the strains of a ragtime piano playing, and the smell of popped popcorn.”

The crowd can enjoy the ambiance of the rustic wood interior as they listen to good old-fashioned fiddle music, accordion playing, and banjo strumming.

This show is being held as a fundraiser for the Sheboygan Chaplaincy Ministry, which provides spiritual services to the residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Sheboygan County.

This program has been in existence since 1972, with Rev. Tom Fleischmann serving as the current chaplain since 1997. Through his bedside visits, chapel services, Bible classes, and sacrament ministry, Rev. Fleischmann is able to reach the elderly, developmentally disabled, and infirmed. Since 2007, the ministry is totally dependent on donations for its existence, relying on congregations, church groups and individuals for support. Over 9,000 residents of area long-term care facilities attend chapel services annually. These residents, who face health challenges and issues of mortality, rely on Rev. Fleischmann to provide the much-sought-after spiritual guidance so important to them.

Advertised as a show for all ages, tickets for The Clauson Family performance can be obtained at the Weill Center Ticket Office, 826 N. Eighth St., Sheboygan, or from the following churches: Grace Lutheran Church, Elkhart Lake; St. John Lutheran Church, Random Lake; Bethany Lutheran Church, Kohler; St. Mark Lutheran Church, Sheboygan; and, St. John Lutheran Church, Plymouth. Advance tickets can also be requested by writing to: Chaplaincy Ministry, P.O. Box 351, Plymouth, WI 53073.

The show will begin at 1:30 with a short DVD titled “When I Was in Need, You Came to Visit Me,” a story about the ministry being done in the long-term care facilities, followed by The Clauson Family at 2 p.m. For more information, call (920) 892-2211.