I have to admit, when the idea of a speaker series was initially proposed, it was hard for me to get excited.\u00a0 After all, we are a performing arts center, I thought.\u00a0 Well, now that we have had numerous speakers at the Niswonger, I find myself not only enjoying, but looking forward to the next one.<\/p>\n
It now is quite obvious what our mission is when you drive by on State Route 118 South.\u00a0 Three big, colorful banners hang on the front of the Performing Arts Center stating our mission: educate, inspire, and entertain.<\/p>\n
Last night (Monday) in the Van Wert County Foundation Saltzgaber Music Hall, we discovered what inspiration is all about.\u00a0Buckeye football All-American and NFL All-Pro linebacker Chris Spielman talked to about 800 people and you could have heard a pin drop.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t the sporting accolades that caught everyone\u2019s attention: it was his message of hope and courage that captivated the audience members.\u00a0His wife, Stephanie, battled breast cancer five times before finally succumbing to the deadly disease in 2009.\u00a0She left four children and a devoted husband.<\/p>\n
If you are not familiar with the Stephanie and Chris Spielman story, and if you were not able to attend last night, you can google and read on line or better yet, purchase and read the book That\u2019s Why I\u2019m Here<\/i>.\u00a0It was a night of laughter, tears, and certainly inspiration.\u00a0This is quite often what we experience at our Niswonger Speaker events.<\/p>\n
Next up in that series will be another story of immense courage and forgiveness when Luke Zamperini shares the story of his father, Louis Zamperini.\u00a0 This will be on March 6 of next year.\u00a0 Many of you may have seen the movie Unbroken<\/i>, which was in theaters this summer.\u00a0The book titled the same is an incredible read and can be purchased or checked out at the Brumback Library.\u00a0A community read is being held where those who have read the book can come together to discuss it.\u00a0 That first community read will be held in the First Federal Lecture Hall on November 12.<\/p>\n
The Louis Zamperini story is an amazing one of courage and redemption.\u00a0 I can\u2019t recommend it enough.\u00a0Then to have the opportunity to hear his son, Luke share first hand experiences with us will be truly amazing.\u00a0Louis was a World War II soldier who survived 47 days on a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean before finally being rescued, only to have it be by a Japanese warship.\u00a0 He then became a POW and went through the most gruesome treatment imaginable.\u00a0The real story however, is the redemptive side of Louis Zamperini.\u00a0You just must come and hear his son, Luke, on March 6.\u00a0He grew up hearing his dad tell stories we could not imagine.<\/p>\n
Inspiration?\u00a0We could all use some, and probably more often than we think.\u00a0This is what many of our speakers offer and I, for one, am glad I was talked into a Speaker Series at the Niswonger.\u00a0 I invite you to be inspired at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.<\/p>\n
FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have to admit, when the idea of a speaker series was initially proposed, it was hard for me to get excited.\u00a0 After all, we are a performing arts center, I thought.\u00a0 Well, now that we have had numerous speakers at the Niswonger, I find myself not only enjoying, but looking forward to the next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 00:43:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}