Lovable ogre makes his way to Paducah

Perry Sook is no ill-tempered ogre, although he portrays one in the touring musical production of “Shrek.”

“Shrek” tells the story of an ogre who’s tough on the outside, but hides a tender heart. His mission to take back his swamp turns into a love story when the evil Lord Farquaad sends Shrek to rescue Princess Fiona on his behalf.

Sook seeks to bring a more fully formed Shrek to the stage of the Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center next week. “Shrek” will play at the Carson Center at 7 p.m. on Jan. 29 and 30. Tickets start at $32.50, not including fees, and may be purchased by calling the box office at 270-450-4444 or going online at www.thecarsoncenter.org.

Locals raising money for pet-chip reader

Compared to food and kennel space, a microchip reader may not sound like an important tool in saving the lives of animals.

But local animal lovers and staff at the McCracken County Animal Shelter say the readers are the ticket for conserving shelter resources and meeting the needs of more animals in the area.

Animal advocates Lisa Lauck and Christie Bell, of Missing Bella Rescue, are trying to raise enough money to purchase microchip readers for each of the three McCracken County Animal Control vehicles.

“It will save a whole lot of trouble, and save some space (at the shelter) for another animal that needs it,” Bell said.

Local artist gears up

for third Bowls event

Michael Terra carefully considers the aesthetics of each ceramic bowl he makes.

The clay artist thinks about the weight and volume of the bowl, how the light catches the rim, and how to create an appealing pattern on the bowl’s surface. This sounds like a lot of effort for a single bowl, let alone 1,500. But that’s how many vessels Terra and the numerous volunteers behind the Empty Bowls Project plan to create this year.

Terra and his family are the creators of Paducah’s Empty Bowls project. For $15, anyone who comes to the event can pick out a bowl and fill it with unlimited amounts of food. This year, the Empty Bowls lunch will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 23. All of the proceeds go to helping the Community Kitchen, which gives out free meals all year to people who can’t afford them.

Bowling making a comeback

with local teams

A new spin for an old sport is bringing attention to bowling in area high schools.

Nine teams Saturday traveled to Paducah from as far east as Warren County for the Region 1 tournament at Cardinal Lanes. Like most of their competition, Graves County and Paducah Public Schools formed teams following state-sanctioned play in 2011.

The districts have continued to steadily build programs.

Organizer and Paducah Tilghman coach Dale Beck had hoped familiar lanes would be more of a benefit to his squads. Tilghman’s girls finished fifth and the boys sixth on Saturday.

“For us, these are about the only wood lanes down this way,” Beck said. “Everybody else has synthetic. We should have had the advantage on that big time. Most of these teams play off synthetic, and the wood is a whole different world for them.”

Blood donations encouraged

While the fear of needles can keep many people from donating blood, that momentary pinch can help save up to three people in need of life-saving blood transfusions.

Every two seconds that pass, someone in the United States needs blood. As every blood donation can be separated into red blood cells, plasma and platelets, a single donation can go a long way in the treating patients with varying needs.

Blood is often needed for trauma cases, heart surgeries, joint replacements, organ transplants, premature babies, leukemia and cancer treatment.

Dancing With Our Stars gets a makeover

Organizers are fine-tuning plans for the sixth annual Dancing With Our Stars in hopes of breaking last year’s mark of $220,000 raised for cancer research and prevention.

Nineteen participants are working weekly with instructors to improve their dance skills while raising funds for Relay For Life. The stars will compete March 23 at Harrah’s Casino in Metropolis, Ill. Rita Bailey, chairwoman, said new technology should help set a new benchmark.

“This year we have a new website,” Bailey said. “People can read a dancer’s bio and donate through it. We have a silent auction every year, but this year will be a little different.”