Manito Musical Advocates

10/07/2026

Dinner theater tickets go on sale TOMORROW at 7:00 a.m. in the HS lobby or by contacting the HS office! These $30 advance tickets cover the special dinner and show on Saturday, Oct. 24th at 6:00 p.m. Standard tickets ($10 Adult / $5 Student) for any performance on Oct. 22, 23, and 24 are sold at the door. We hope to see you there!

Dinner theater tickets for “Anything Goes” will go on sale on Wednesday, October 7, at 7:00 AM, in the high school lobby. The dinner theater will be held at 6:00 PM, October 24, before the Saturday night’s performance. The tickets are $30 each and include the dinner and the show. Tickets for the dinner theater must be purchased in advance. Please make checks payable to MCHS. The remaining tickets will be available for purchase in the HS office.

Pictured are cast members of “Anything Goes.”

10/06/2026

Moments like this warm our hearts! We are humbled to be able to support the Midwest Central Middle School Band and their amazing students. Keep making beautiful music!

A huge thank you to their educators for nurturing such a fantastic band program. It is an honor to help provide the tools these young musicians need to succeed!

A huge thank you to the Manito Musical Advocates for funding a new lightweight marching snare and marching baritone for our Middle School Band!

Fallan and Elaina are loving their new instruments and were pretty excited to show them off!

We are so grateful for MMA’s continued support of our students and music program!

10/04/2026

We are absolutely blown away by the generosity of our amazing community! We raised an amazing $1,600 for our local music programs at last night's Mouse Races! 🎵🐭

A special shout out to Wanda’s Little Vegas in Forest City for being such fantastic hosts and providing the perfect space for our event.

Thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, and contributed. Your support directly helps our local talent and keeps the arts thriving. What a fun and unforgettable night! Thank you!!!

10/01/2026

We were humbled to speak at the recent Midwest Central school board meeting and to be featured in this week's Manito Review! We are so proud of our ongoing partnership with the district and excited for many more projects in the future.

Read the full story on Section A - Page 7 by grabbing the Sept. 29th paper at Country General or other local spots. For just $1.00, it’s a great way to see what we’ve accomplished together while supporting local journalism!

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1706947310904278&set=pcb.1706947650904244

09/27/2026

Grab your friends and make your Saturday night plans! 🍻🐁

We’re down to the final 4 tables for the 2026 MMA Mouse Races on Saturday, October 3rd at Wanda's Little Vegas. If you're looking for an easy excuse to get the group together for some laughs, drinks, and friendly wagers, this is it!

A reserved table for up to 8 people is just $80 in advance. That’s only 10 bucks a head for a full night of entertainment—plus, it’s a great excuse to get out of the house, and your night out happens to support the Manito Musical Advocates, too! 🎵

What’s on deck:
🎲 Live Mouse Races & Mouse Roulette
🎟️ 50/50 Drawing & Raffle Baskets
🍻 Cold drinks and a great time with friends

These last four tables will get snapped up, so claim yours soon! Call Wanda's at (309) 597-0061 or reach out to Matt Dobey at (217) 299-1586 to book your spot.

(Don't need a full table? General Admission tickets are $15 at the door. See you there!)

09/15/2026

🎵 Big news for Midwest Central music students! 🎵

Manito Musical Advocates is thrilled to have partnered with the Forman Valley Community Foundation to provide matching donations totaling over $11,000 to fund 100 brand-new Wenger Nota music posture chairs for the Midwest Central School District! 🎶

These chairs will be used across Midwest Central High School, Midwest Central Middle School, and Midwest Central Primary School.

These specialized chairs replace 30 to 50+ year-old folding chairs, providing our student musicians with:
🧘 Better Posture & Health: Designed specifically to support proper breathing and playing technique.
🌟 Lasting Impact: High-quality equipment that will serve generations of students in rehearsals, concerts, and community events.

A huge thank you to the Forman Valley Community Foundation and all of our supporters for making this investment in our students possible! 👏

09/15/2026

Come hang out at Wanda's on October 3rd for some Mouse Races and help us support our local students on their musical journeys. Reach out to Wanda's at (309) 597-0061 if you want to reserve a table for your group, or just grab a ticket at the door!

08/22/2026

WOW!!! Thank you Ma-Mi's Salon for hosting this event. We are so thankful and humbled that you chose us for this amazing donation! We appreciate all you do for our community!

08/12/2026

Check out this great event!

🎉💈 KUTZ 4 KIDS IS BACK! 💈🎉

That time of year is here again! ✂️ It’s time to get those kiddos looking fresh and ready to head back to school! 📚✏️

📅 Saturday, August 22nd⏰ 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM📍 Ma-Mi’s Salon – Manito, IL

💈 FREE HAIRCUTS FOR EVERYONE! 💈

LUNCH IS ALSO PROVIDED FREE TO ANYONE WHO IS HUNGRY AND AS WELL AS THE LEMONADE SHAKE-UPS!!!

For the past several years, Kutz 4 Kids has been about more than just haircuts — it’s about giving back to the community we love. ❤️

All proceeds are donated to local charities, and this year 100% of the proceeds will go to the MANITO MUSICAL ADVOCATES! 🎶🎭

Come get the kids cleaned up for the new school year, support a great local cause, and help us make this another BIG year for Kutz 4 Kids!

💰 Donations are welcome and greatly appreciated!

Bring the kids, bring your friends, and let’s kick off the school year looking sharp! ✂️🔥

Kutz 4 Kids — Great haircuts. Great kids. Great community. ❤️

07/20/2026

WOW! Minipalooza 2026 was an absolute blast! 🎉

Thanks to everyone's incredible support yesterday, we raised almost $3,000 for the Midwest Central music and arts programs!

There is a LOT of "Thanks" to go around today. Please forgive us if we missed anyone—it certainly wasn't intentional, and we are grateful for every single person who chipped in!

🍔 The Venue, Food, & Drinks

* A massive thank you to Laurie's for hosting us, and to the hardworking staff for keeping everyone refreshed all day: Tascha Galvin, Penny Grafton, Meghan Galvin, and Jessica Howard! Thank you as well to owner Jeff Neikirk for opening your doors to us for this great event.
* Thank you to Laurie's and Lauren James for your matching $0.25 donation for each b**r to our cause!
* A huge shoutout to Lori Canada for doing a fantastic job arranging and managing the gun and 50/50 raffles! She even jumped in to help serve a few drinks while Meghan was busy capturing photos and videos. Honestly, our entire team pitched in wherever needed yesterday, and it was amazing to see everyone working together so well. 🍻🎟️
* Thank you to everyone who showed up in the morning and helped with the preparations! A special shoutout to Jay Galvin who helped out with anything and everything we needed throughout the day, including selling apple pie! 🥧
* Thank you to Brett Caulkins for being our amazing chef for the day!

🏆 The Bags Tournament
Thank you to everyone for braving the heat to participate in the tournament! A huge, special thank you to Meghan Galvin and Darian for generously donating their winnings right back to our cause!

☔️ The Music
We weren't about to let a few brief rain showers dampen our night! While they set us back a bit, the show must go on!

* Thank you to (3/5ths) of The Band Small Town for keeping our guests entertained during the rain, and for jumping right in and opening the event! 🎸
* Thank you to Amanda Kay Pettijohn and Tami Meyer for stepping outside your comfort zone and playing your ukes for us! 🎶
* Thank you to Jordan Keith, Sara Neulinger (and Michelle Martin), Ken Moll, and Matt Dobey for an awesome hour of totally unrehearsed and improvised music! 🎤
* Thank you to Passed Out Penguin for closing the night! We really appreciate your support—you guys rocked it! 🐧

🎟️ The Winners

* Congratulations to the lucky winner of BOTH the 50/50 drawing and the Peoria Chiefs tickets (generously donated by Five Star Water)! ⚾️
* Congratulations to Mindy Sue for winning the cooler (donated by Laurie's and Tascha Galvin)! 🧊
* Congratulations to the winner of the Wi******er SX4!

Thank you to everyone in the community for your support! We couldn't do this without you!!! ❤️