Interested persons from around the county joined together in January 1978 with the purpose of forming an organization that would be able to bring artistic talent to Carrington for concerts. An affiliation was formed between this group and the Allied Concert Series from Minneapolis which was responsible for setting up the concerts and finding the talent. The name chosen for the new organization was the Central Performing Arts Services.
Admission to the concerts was through membership only. The talent was chosen from a list of performers that were available to go out on tour for a specified amount of money. Some of the performers were:
"St. Olaf's Orchestra",
"Mennonite Children's Choir" from Winnipeg
A guitarist, Jorge Morel from Brazil
"Annapolis Brass Quintet",
Kathy Kienzle, a harpist
Robert Guralnik in "Chopin Lives"
Barberi, a bass soloist
Jack and Sally Jenkins with a program from Gershwin
Jerome Kern
Cole Porter and others
The Central Performing Arts disbanded after the 1981 season mainly due to the high cost of getting the artists and the lack of people interested enough to buy membership. The consensus of the people who attended the concerts was that it was a very rewarding experience to be able to attend concerts of this caliber.
The first officers were:
Lucile Zink, president
Linda Butts, vice-president
Mary Middleton, secretary
Dr. Ed Tuhy, treasurer. There were 24 people that served as a board of directors.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 256