For the first time in 30 years, two of the three Glee Club's Christmas Variety Show performances were postponed due to an ice storm.

(CEDAR FALLS, IOWA) An ice storm ripped across the state of Iowa during the early hours of December 1, plastering a wide area of the Midwest, stranding motorists and complicating the Saturday afternoon and evening performances of the Varsity Men's Glee Club.

Dr. John Vallentine, director of the UNI School of Music, made the decision to postpone the Saturday shows by 24 hours. The Friday night show went ahead as planned.

Several alumni events also went ahead as scheduled during the Saturday winter storm, including an alumni coffee at Seerley Hall, an O.P. "Seminar", dinner at The Brown Bottle Restaurant, and a "before" After-Party at Neighbors Pub & Grill.

Many alumni braved the bad weather to get to Cedar Falls. One alumnus, Tyler Terpstra, drove over 8 hours from Chicago to get to UNI. Tyler's car slid off the road once, north of Cedar Rapids near Center Point, and was pulled out by passing motorists.

The first-ever Sunday performances were greeted warmly by concert-goers.
Alumnus John Rodriguez said, "What a great show on Sunday. We were there at the 2:30 show. I'm glad it was postponed, as there was no way we could get there on Saturday."

Not everyone was pleased about the postponement, however. Several parents of Glee Club members could not attend the Sunday performances. Saturday tickets were honored for the Sunday shows, but tickets for the shows could not be refunded. One alum, Kevin Graves, made the flight on Thursday, but had to fly back to his home in Colorado Springs Sunday morning. Kevin missed the shows entirely.

The Glee Club has endured severe winter weather during the Variety Shows before, but never an ice storm of the magnitude seen Dec 1. Ice that was one-eighth to one-quarter inches thick covered almost everything, and roadways were treacherous.

The Sunday shows were still very well attended, as weather conditions were more favorable.

Despite the schedule changes, the Glee Club sounded better than ever, according to many who attended the performances.

The Glee Club recorded the Sunday evening performance, and will offer the recordings from the Dec 2, 2007 show for sale.

To help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Christmas Variety Shows, Alums Steve Heinle and Kevin Graves hosted the Alumni Coffee at Seerley Hall on Dec 1, and donated funds to pay for an excellent lasagna dinner from The Brown Bottle Restaurant for every Glee Club member between the shows on Sunday. They also gave a commemorative T-shirt to each Glee Club member.

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